Double standards, again!

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It wasn't the first time the US managed to upset the international community. Acting in the same way it did in Kyoto, the US has sabotaged the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference. The US was eager to denounce Iran and North Korea over their nuclear activities, but wouldn't abide any criticism of Israel's nuclear programme.

As a result, the conference -- held regularly every five years to ensure the implementation of the treaty -- failed. The last two conferences, held in 1995 and 2000, had set a goal of eliminating nuclear weaponry from the world via a 13-step programme. This time, the US refused to honour its disarmament commitments or acknowledge Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Egypt held its ground, calling for sanctions against Israel for its refusal to join the treaty.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan deplored the failure of the conference, which brought together countries both party to and who haven't joined the NPT. A successful review, he maintained, would have boosted world security and removed a major international threat.

Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Director- General Mohamed El-Baradei described the outcome as "sad", noting that a whole month of deliberation was wasted. The conference, attended by 188 countries, failed to reinforce the NPT goals of removing nuclear weapons, establishing national guarantees, and allowing for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Both Iran and China blamed the US for the conference's failure. The Iranian ambassador to the UN said that if the world faced any nuclear threat, that threat came from the US and Israel, not Iran. China's official newspaper said the US followed a despotic nuclear policy and undermined international cooperative efforts.

The international community needs to find a way out, perhaps through a new conference or a new mechanism. The international community needs a genuine and fair revision of the NPT. It needs a comprehensive agenda that is free from US manoeuvres. Since the US is too self-centred to think of the common good, the world has to figure out a way of ending double standards.