Is Regime Change a Violation of International Law?

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00:00Donald Trump has said he doesn't want regime change in Iran now because he doesn't want to

00:03see everything turning to chaos. I guess regime change in the region, many people have a lens on

00:09that from the past with everything from, you know, in terms of Syria, Iraq, and so on. Regime change

00:14hasn't got a good record in the Middle East, has it? You know, it's hard for me to assess it. First

00:19of all, I hate euphemisms. It's not huge regime change. You're overthrowing a government.

00:24Let's be honest. You know, regime change sounds so sanitary. You're engaged in the illegal,

00:33the most gross breach of the UN charter when you carry on in this way, and we should be honest

00:46about it. It takes Kofi Annan. It took him a very long time. I think he was out of office already.

00:53Kofi Annan, again for the listeners, because time flies. He was the Secretary General of the UN

00:59during the US invasion of Iraq, and he finally came out, I think when he was already retired,

01:06and said it was an illegal war. He wouldn't say, well, it was actually going on.

01:11It was difficult for him to do so.

01:13Well, you know, if it's difficult for you to do so, you know, Mahatma Gandhi famously said

01:22the most powerful word in the English language is no. You could have just stepped down.

01:29If you stay silent, nobody was putting a gun to Mr. Kofi Annan's head. Nobody was putting a gun

01:41to the IAEA head when he stayed silent that there was no evidence that Iran was engaged in a program

01:53to build nuclear weapons. So I don't accept it was hard. You always have the option to step down

02:02and not do dirty work by your silence. You have the option. In any event, I don't like this

02:11sanitary language like regime change. You are in grotesque, brazen, outrageous breach of the UN

02:25charter. And we should just say that out loud. It's not regime change. It's overthrowing a government.

02:34It's record. You know, I think, do many people care that Libya was destroyed as a country?

02:43Do many people care that Syria was destroyed as a country? Do many people, people in power,

02:50do they really care that Iraq was destroyed as a country? I don't think they give a darn.