During a United Nations Security Council meeting this week, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield launched a full-throated condemnation of Russiaās bombing of Ukraineās largest childrenās hospital on Monday. The attack was a part of a Russian bombing campaign that killed more than 30 Ukrainian civilians.
āWeāre here today because Russia ā¦ attacked a childrenās hospital,ā Thomas-Greenfield said. āEven uttering that phrase sends a chill down my spine.ā
Thomas-Greenfield went on to list a string of Russian attacks on other Ukrainian hospitals throughout the war. She described Russiaās aggression as a ācampaign of terrorā and labeled its attacks on civilian infrastructure as violations of international law. Representatives of other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, echoed Thomas-Greenfieldās denunciations. (Russiaās ambassador denied responsibility for the Monday bombing.)
āIām very glad the U.S. is coming out and so vocally condemning all of those actions,ā said Jessica Peake, an international law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, referring to Thomas-Greenfieldās comments toward Russia. āBut at the same time, we donāt get any language anywhere near as strong as that when weāre talking about Palestinian hospitals, or Palestinian schools, or Palestinian children.ā
Couple reasons. First, thatās just false. The US cannot prevent an ICJ ruling, and it would definitely impact Netanyahuās govt on multiple levels with a great many countries including his own. Second, US support is not actually unconditional, as we saw when the bomb shipments got paused. US support is still partial, and could become either stronger or weaker.