Opinion: When human rights meet missiles

Xinhua
02 Mar 2026, 13:15 GMT+10

Joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran have resulted in heavy civilian casualties. An airstrike hit a girls' elementary school in southern Iran, killing at least 148 people, many of them children.

For decades, the United States has professed human rights as a guiding principle of its foreign policy, positioning itself as a global judge of others. Its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices routinely address "Conflict-related Abuses" and the "Protection of Children." Yet when classrooms are reduced to rubble while the language remains unchanged, its double standard speaks for itself.

Human rights carry weight only when they are applied universally. Invoked to hold others to account but seldom turned inward, they risk becoming rhetoric rather than principle.

Missiles do not resolve disputes; they deepen conflicts. Protecting civilian lives is the most basic test of any genuine commitment to human rights.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service

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