Whose global rules do we follow?

High cost: A file photo from 2003 of US Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holding an Iraqi child in central Iraq on March 29. Civilians paid a high price during the Americans’ ‘War on Terror’. — Reuters

FEBRUARY 2023 marked the first anniversary of the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. March 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq by the US-led multinational force “Coalition of the willing” that comprised Australia, Poland, the United King-dom and the United States.

Both invasions were condemned by the United Nations and its secretary-general as illegal and against the UN charter. Yet, international sanctions were only enforced against Russia and not the United States or its coalition partners.