When UN Ambassador Nikki Haley first warned that there would be an accounting for the failure of UN members to vote with the US, it was over Israel. But this report goes well beyond Israel.
When Nikki Haley started as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, she warned she'd be “taking names” of countries that do not have “our back.” Now, a newly released annual State Department report on voting records at the world body will tell her who exactly is in America’s corner – and who is not.
The report found that U.N. member states only voted with the United States 31 percent of the time last year on resolutions at the U.N. General Assembly – down 10 percent from the prior year. Reacting to the new report, Haley said in a statement that it was not an “acceptable return” on the United States’ investment and suggested this could factor into aid decisions.
“Either way, this is not an acceptable return on our investment. When we arrived at the UN last year, we said we would be taking names, and this list of voting records speaks for itself. President Trump wants to ensure that our foreign assistance dollars – the most generous in the world – always serve American interests, and we look forward to helping him see that the American people are no longer taken for granted.”
No other country has to put up with this. Aid from most countries does buy political support. But the United States has long been treated like a sucker. It hands out the most aid, yet repeatedly takes a beating at the UN. From the Republic of China crisis to the annual condemnation of the Cuban embargo, we take a beating and keep handing out cash.
According to the report, the country that voted least with the U.S. was Zimbabwe – having voted zero times with America. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) foreign aid explorer website, Zimbabwe received $58 million in aid for this year.
Rounding out the bottom 10 nations not aligned with the U.S. were: Burundi, which received $2.9 million in U.S. aid; Iran (no U.S. aid); Syria ($72 million); Venezuela ($230,000); North Korea (no U.S. aid); Turkmenistan ($200,0000); Cuba ($115,000); Bolivia ($115,000); and South Africa ($100 million). All figures are from the USAID explorer website.
Most of those are not too surprising. Most of them are officially or unofficially enemies of the United States.
The real problem kicks in with something like the Cuban embargo vote.
A generation ago the Communist tyranny in Cuba demanded that the United Nations condemn America for the embargo. The brutal Castro regime’s rant accused the United States of threatening “nuclear annihilation,” “countless acts of sabotage and plans to assassinate Cuban leaders.”
On a cold day in October, the European left-wing activist serving as UN Ambassador announced to applause that her administration would no longer be voting to defend the US at the UN.
"UN Member States have voted overwhelmingly for a General Assembly resolution that condemns the U.S. embargo and calls for it to be ended. The United States has always voted against this resolution. Today the United States will abstain," Samantha Power said.
"Thank you," she added, acknowledging the applause.
Ben Rhodes, the close Obama adviser who sold the media on the Iran sellout, curtly tweeted his justification, “No reason to vote to defend a failed policy we oppose.”
That's right. The Obama enemy regime had actually refused to vote with the US at the UN. (A little reminder of how horrifying Power and Rhodes are.)
But here's what the last UN vote on the embargo looked like in 2017.
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution underlining the need to end the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba.
The resolution enjoyed favorable votes from 191 of the 193 UN Member States. The United States and Israel opposed the text.
There should be consequences for countries that vote against the United States in this way.
Not voting with the US is one thing. Voting to condemn the US should have consequences.