Washington should not be vengeful

Time seems to be ripe for the United States to settle its old scores with Germany for the latter's opposition on a number of international issues.

An article in Germany's Financial Times Deutschland quoted an unnamed US diplomat on Friday as saying that the United States did not want Germany on the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

The diplomat said Berlin's opposition to the US-led war against Iraq makes the United States reluctant to support its pursuit of a UN Security Council membership.

He also stated other "troubles" Germany had given the United States in the world body, such as Berlin's opposition to Washington's long pursuit of immunity for American overseas peacekeeping soldiers from prosecution on the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The United States, as a permanent UN Security Council member, has a legitimate right to express its own opinions about which country is qualified or not for a permanent seat.

But at the same time it should be just and objective regardless of its relationship with the applicant, or the applicant's degree of compliance with itself.

As the most powerful body of the UN, whose principal purposes are to safeguard world peace and security, any new members to the Security Council should help the world advance in this direction.

Germany, as the world's third largest economy, said it deserves such a seat, given its past contribution to the world. The country has recently stepped up a diplomatic offensive toward this goal.

Whether or not Berlin is qualified for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council is to be evaluated by the world members.

But its independent diplomatic posture, although disliked by Washington, should not become an obstacle to its bid for permanent membership.

The remarks made by the US diplomat has given an impression that the United States would have supported Germany's efforts if Berlin had not opposed it on international affairs.

This is really insightful.

Whether it will succeed with this stance remains to be seen.

However, one thing is for sure: Washington is willing to use its position as a permanent UN security council for its own selfish purposes.

Source: China Daily