Leaders of the Free World!

وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمُهَيْمِنًا عَلَيْهِ فَاحْكُم بَيْنَهُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءهُمْ عَمَّا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا وَلَوْ شَاء اللّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلَـكِن لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِي مَآ آتَاكُم فَاسْتَبِقُوا الخَيْرَاتِ إِلَى الله مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ

And unto thee have We revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it. So judge between them by that which God hath revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which hath come unto thee. For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced out way. Had God willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (He hath made you as ye are). So vie one with another in good works. Unto God ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ.
(The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 5, Verse 48)

So this is how US aims to claim back "its rightful position as the leaders of the free world”! The world at last took notice of the massacres and the gross human right violations going on in the Middle East, and the UN Security Council finally got its act together to hammer out a token resolution, UN Resolution 1860, to call for an “immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza”.
The resolution was passed in the Security Council by a 14-0 vote.

And USA abstained!

Explaining the United States decision to abstain, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said:
While her Government had agreed with the goals and objectives of the resolution: “The United States thought it important to see the outcomes of the Egyptian mediation efforts in order to see what this resolution might have been supporting.” Still the United States believed that, by adopting the resolution, the Council had provided a road map for a sustainable, durable peace in Gaza.’

What a shame! This is what it has come down to: our government no longer has the backbone to support a resolution for a call to peace, one that its own state department was involved in drafting! It is time when the US government grows a spine to promote a foreign policy that is consistent, fair and favors its own interest rather than the interests of its allies at risk to its own security. And it is time for Mr. Silent Spectator (President elect Obama) to start being consistent (after speaking up against violence in Mumbai, India) and speak up in support of peace and equality for all.

Meanwhile, the US Congress, now with a good Democratic majority and led by speaker Nancy Pelosi, finally sprang into action and voted 390-5 in favor of resolution ‘H.RES.34’:
“Recognizing Israel's right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirming the United States' strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process”!

Not a word regarding the untold suffering of 1.2 million strong population of Gaza! Not a word regarding the bombing of a girl’s elementary school run by the UN, killing 40 civilians, mainly kids, even though the UN itself decried the claim that Hamas militants fired on the IDF soldiers from that compound! And nothing regarding the report that the IDF has forcibly entered civilian houses and fired on militants from there without letting the occupants leave the house, thus effectively using them as Human Shields! And nothing regarding various other war crimes committed by Israel during the course of this invasion:
Gaza Victims' Burns Increase Concern Over Phosphorus
Criticism of Israel's war crimes mounts :: 'We are very violent', says Israeli commander
Probe war crimes: UN rights chief
A mission to expel and annihilate

It is a shame of the highest order that the greatest military and economic superpower in the world does not have guts to stand up to the lobby group of a foreign country!