US war spending in Iran could have saved 87 million lives: UN
Head of UN’s humanitarian agency, Tom Fletcher frustrated that $2bn weekly cost of conflict comes amid big cuts to aid budgets
The $2 billion a week that Donald Trump was spending on his reckless war in Iran could have funded saving more than 87 million lives, the head of the UN's humanitarian agency Tom Fletcher said yesterday (20 April), according to The Guardian.
He also warned that the normalisation of violent language, including threats to "bomb Iran back to the stone ages", is dangerous as it encourages other "wannabe autocrats" to adopt similar rhetoric and tactics, including targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Speaking at Chatham House in London, Fletcher, a former UK diplomat, criticised prolonged UK aid cuts, saying they had left the country in a "defensive crouch" and weakened its global leadership role.
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He said the scale of recent aid reductions had been so severe that claims of UK leadership on development are now met with scepticism at international forums.
Fletcher, who leads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the global humanitarian system is facing a "cataclysmic" funding crisis, with his budget reduced by about 50%.
He said the war in Iran is driving global economic pressures, warning that rising food and fuel inflation could push millions into poverty, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
"For every day of this conflict, $2bn is being spent," he said, adding that his $23bn humanitarian target could have been met in less than two weeks of war spending.
Fletcher also criticised the growing normalisation of wartime rhetoric and warned it undermines international law and civilian protection norms.
He described relations with the Trump administration as an "absolute rollercoaster ride" and contrasted "statecraft" with what he called "real-estatecraft" approaches to diplomacy.
Fletcher also said UN funding cuts, driven by the US and other donors, are creating a severe global aid shortfall and threatening humanitarian operations worldwide.
There should also be greater protection for humanitarian workers, he said, pointing out that more than 1,000 had been killed in the past three years, many victims of drones.
He added, "We are the emergency service, the fire engines, the ambulance worker going to support survivors, yet somehow it has become acceptable that we are being killed in these numbers. There is no accountability for those that are killing us."
He said he is worried that since 2016, "there has been a tendency to vandalise the crown jewels, the real assets the UK has, leadership on aid, the BBC, the creative industries, the soft power, the military strengths.
"The UK tend to be over-confident where we should be humble and too modest where we should be confident. Right now quiet competence is good," he added.
