Commentary: The U.S. original sin of exporting turmoil

Displaced children play at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 16, 2021. (Photo by Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua)

The United States, the self-claimed "world's policeman," acts as a bad cop with its intention to maintain American hegemony in the name of safeguarding peace. It has shown its true colors as the world's largest destabilizing force, the perpetrator of regional turmoil, the violator of international order, and the saboteur of world peace.

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- "Well, the CIA would want to destabilize China, and that would be the best way to do it, to foment unrest and join with those Uygurs (in Xinjiang) in pushing the Han Chinese in Beijing from internal places rather than external."

These are the words said by Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity in August 2018 when explaining the reasons why his country should have a military presence in Afghanistan, which borders China.

Wilkerson did not hide Washington's sinister intention to contain China by destabilizing its Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Facts have proved that exporting turmoil and jeopardizing the world for Washington's own gain is engraved in the DNA of American hegemony. Destabilizing the world by exporting turmoil is an original sin of the United States that cannot be glossed over.

Activists try to burn a mock U.S. flag during a protest rally near the U.S. Embassy in Manila, the Philippines, April 29, 2014. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

And China was not the only U.S. target in its such sinister drive. Over the years, the United States, in order to maintain its hegemony, has repeatedly launched wars and incited terrorist activities, creating turmoil in other parts of the world.

Figures show that between the end of World War II and 2001, 201 of the 248 military conflicts in 153 countries and territories were launched by the United States. Research by American scholars shows that between 1947 and 1989, the United States was involved in 64 "regime change" attempts against other governments.

The United States was behind the "Arab Spring" uprisings in West Africa and North Africa, the "Color Revolutions" in Eurasia, as well as "peaceful evolution" campaigns across the world.

The United States, the self-claimed "world's policeman," acts as a bad cop with its intention to maintain American hegemony in the name of safeguarding peace. It has shown its true colors as the world's largest destabilizing force, the perpetrator of regional turmoil, the violator of international order, and the saboteur of world peace.

By exporting turmoil, the United States has brought enormous atrocities to the world, and created terrible humanitarian crises. The Afghan War, the Iraq War, and the Syrian War that the United States launched or was involved in displaced tens of millions of people.

The Gulf War and the ensuing sanctions led to the death of about 500,000 children. Earlier wars, such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War, caused millions of civilian deaths.

A U.S. military vehicle runs past the Tal Tamr area in the countryside of Hasakah province, northeastern Syria, on Nov. 14, 2019. (Str/Xinhua)

Depleted uranium bombs used by the U.S. military in Kosovo War have caused a surge of cancer and leukemia cases. Some 60 million barrels of oil were spilled into deserts as a result of the Gulf War, creating enormous contamination. The defoliant used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War led to the destruction of one-fifth of forests in the Asian country.

The world should be alert to how the United States disguises its real intentions of seeking hegemony when exporting turmoil.

During the Cold War, the United States exaggerated the dangers of a Soviet invasion in order to tie its European allies to its chariot of war of NATO. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, declassified files showed that the U.S. allegations were totally groundless.

The United States notoriously used a small tube of detergent as proof of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before it launched the Iraq War. Washington also used fake photos to claim Russia violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

The United States also manipulated public opinion and systematically spread lies to brainwash people to make them slavishly follow the U.S. narrative.

Iraqi protesters take part in a demonstration against the presence of U.S. troops in the country, in Baghdad, capital of Iraq, Jan. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

What's appalling, former U.S. Director of Central Intelligence (CIA) Allen Dulles launched a mind-control project called MK-Ultra in 1953. Under the project, the CIA conducted cruel experiments on humans through brainwashing and psychological torture to control the mind. "An intelligence service is the ideal vehicle for a conspiracy," Dulles said.

Today's world is trending toward the democratization of international relations, where the norms of sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs are universally accepted and highly respected.

It is time for Uncle Sam to do much-needed self-reflection and change course. The United States will certainly be isolated should it choose to be on the wrong side of history.