The Biden administration has yet another epic fail on its watch regarding foreign policy.
But this is a failure that is actually good for the country.
Talking Points…
- W.H.O. Global Pandemic Treaty
- Treaty fails
- Analysis
As the COVID pandemic was playing out, I think most of us would agree that we saw how corrupt the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) really was. Even so, as much as it became clear that the W.H.O. and China were in cahoots, the Biden administration started to back the idea of allowing the W.H.O. to dictate the shots during the next pandemic.
In December 2021, the nearly 200 nations belonging to the W.H.O. agreed to start negotiating the International Treaty on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response or Global Pandemic Treaty. When the governing body had convened only a month earlier, it stated that the goal was:
"To establish (...) an intergovernmental negotiating body open to all Member States and Associate Members (the 'INB') to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response."
The pushback among conservatives was immediate, as Biden would basically be ceding control of the taxpayer dollars to the W.H.O. to dispense as it saw fit during the next pandemic. Liberal groups, however, were pushing Biden to get on board with this, more or less guilting the United States into putting other countries first in terms of dispensing equipment and vaccines in a future pandemic. For instance, Gregg Gonsalves, a public health professor at Yale University, stated:
"If we 'want to go back to normal,' it doesn't happen without vaccinating the world.
"It's like having a no-peeing section in a swimming pool."
World Health Organization (W.H.O.) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Friday that the negotiations to secure the treaty had ended with no deal signed. Negotiations had been taking place for two years in Switzerland, but countries are just not coming aboard in the way the W.H.O. had hoped. Tedros, however, stated that he was not giving up, stating:
"This is not a failure.
"We will try everything — believing that anything is possible — and make this happen because the world still needs a pandemic treaty. Because many of the challenges that caused a serious impact during COVID-19 still exist."
As long as the GOP controls at least one chamber of Congress, they are going to fight Biden or any Democrat on turning over control during a pandemic to the W.H.O., but they are not alone. For instance, the U.K. is also pushing back, citing much of the same concerns the House Freedom Caucus has expressed in terms of violating our country's sovereignty. A spokesperson for the Britain's Department of Health and Social Care stated:
"We will only support the adoption of the accord and accept it on behalf of the U.K. if it is firmly in the U.K. national interest and respects national sovereignty."
I have never hidden the fact that I don't trust the W.H.O., and I am very uneasy with the idea of giving up our control over how to address any pandemic that hits our country, especially if it means taking care of other countries before we ensure every American has been taken care of during such an incident. We can only hope this treaty is held up long enough for Biden to get removed from office, with a Republican in the White House to take any treaty sent to the United States from the W.H.O. and place it directly into the shredder. I am sorry, but in my eyes, the W.H.O. cannot be trusted.
