By\u00a0Thalif Deen<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNITED NATIONS (IPS)\u00a0<\/strong>– Judging by the mixed signals coming out of the White House, is the Board of Peace, a creation of President Donald Trump, eventually aimed at replacing the UN Security Council or the United Nations itself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland last week, Trump formally ratified the Charter of the Board \u2014 establishing it as \u201can official international organization\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump, who will be serving as the Board\u2019s Chairman, was joined by Founding Members* \u201crepresenting countries around the world who have committed to building a secure and prosperous future for Gaza that delivers lasting peace, stability, and opportunity for its people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Norman Solomon, executive director, Institute for Public Accuracy and national director, RootsAction.org, told IPS President Trump\u2019s \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d is being designed as a kind of global alliance akin to the \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d that fraudulently tried to give legitimacy to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump, he said, is recruiting submissive governments to fall in line with his leadership for pushing the planet ever more in the direction of war for domination and plunder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The price that members of the Orwellian-named \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d will pay is much more than the sought amount upwards of $1 billion each. In a global gangster mode, Trump is making plans and putting up structures on imperial whim, he pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the same time, the methods to his madness are transparent as he seeks to create new mechanisms for U.S. domination of as much of the world as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump continues to push the boundaries of doublespeak that cloaks U.S. agendas for gaining economic and military leverage over other countries. The gist of the message on behalf of Uncle Sam is: \u201cno more Mr. Nice Guy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whereas Trump\u2019s predecessors in the White House have often relied on mere doubletalk and lofty rhetoric to obscure their actual priorities and agendas, Trump has dispensed with euphemisms enough to make crystal clear that he believes the U.S. government is the light of the world that all others should fall in line behind, said Solomon, author of \u201cWar Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked about the Board of Peace, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters last week: \u201cLet\u2019s be clear. We are committed to doing whatever we can to ensure the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 2803, which as you will recall, welcomed the creation of the Board of Peace for Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And as you know, he said, part of that resolution and the plan put forward by President Trump talked about the UN leading on humanitarian aid delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we have delivered a massive amount of humanitarian aid in Gaza, as much as we\u2019ve been able to allow. And we\u2019ve talked about the restrictions, but you know how much more we\u2019ve been able to do since the ceasefire. As part of that, we\u2019ve worked very well with the US authorities, and we will continue to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The UN, Dujarric reaffirmed, remains the only international organization with universal membership. \u201cWe\u2019ve obviously saw the announcements made in Davos. The Secretary-General\u2019s work continues with determination to implement the mandates given to us, all underpinned by international law, by the charter of the UN. I mean, our work continues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked about the similarities between the UN logo and the logo of the Board of Peace, he said he saw no copyright or trademark infringements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement released last week, Louis Charbonneau, UN Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the United States played a leading role in establishing the UN. Now, US President Donald Trump is undermining<\/a> and defunding<\/a> large parts of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the past year, he said, the US government has taken a sledgehammer to UN programs and agencies because the Trump administration believes the institution is \u201canti-American\u201d and has a \u201chostile agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In UN negotiations, US officials have tried to purge words like \u201cgender,\u201d \u201cclimate,\u201d and \u201cdiversity\u201d from resolutions and statements. Diplomats have described to Human Rights Watch how US officials aggressively oppose human rights language they see as \u201cwoke\u201d or politically correct, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an apparent attempt to sideline the UN Security Council, Trump has proposed a so-called Board of Peace<\/a> that he personally would preside over. Trump has reportedly<\/a> offered seats on his board to leaders of abusive governments, including Belarus, China, Hungary, Israel, Russia, and Vietnam, Charbonneau pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally the Board of Peace was meant to oversee<\/a> the administration of Gaza following over two years of onslaught and destruction by Israeli forces, with which the United States was complicit. But the board\u2019s charter doesn\u2019t even mention Gaza, suggesting that Trump\u2019s ambitions for this body have expanded enormously since first conceived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The board\u2019s proposed charter<\/a> doesn\u2019t mention human rights. And it makes clear that Trump, as board chairman, would have supreme authority \u201cto adopt resolutions or other directives\u201d as he sees fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n