The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled the anniversary of Powell’s speech with a test tube at the UN

The United States will have to get rid of the permissiveness syndrome, and one should not hope that the memory of the staging of the “Powell test tube” in the UN Security Council will be buried in the quicksands of history. This was announced on Saturday, February 4, by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

“The image of Colin Powell, demonstrating a test tube with alleged anthrax powder, has long become a household name as the personification of hypocrisy and the belief of the US ruling elite in their own impunity. <...> One should not hope that the memory of what happened 20 years ago will be buried in the quicksands of modern history,” Ryabkov told RIA Novosti, commenting on the anniversary of the UN Security Council meeting at which the United States tried to justify its intention to invade Iraq.

The diplomat noted that Washington took this step in order to maintain its own global hegemony and subsequently did the same in other countries. However, as Ryabkov added, Powell, as a man of conscience, did not hide in the future that he was forced to lie and performed this shameful staging, following the order, which, according to the diplomat, does not change the essence of the matter.

“Most importantly, unlike the situation in the early 2000s, international robbery will not get away with Washington. In the rapidly changing geopolitical realities, the United States is not able to resort to the use of force every time it wants to, without serious consequences for itself,” Ryabkov said.

As the Deputy Foreign Minister emphasized, Washington will still have to get rid of the permissiveness syndrome that was so clearly manifested in the test tube scandal, as well as to reckon with Russia, China and other major international players that are forming a more just multilateral world order.

On February 5, 2003, at a meeting of the UN Security Council, Powell reported information about Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s alleged biological weapons production technologies and demonstrated a test tube with some kind of white powder. In March of the same year, the US operation began, which was carried out without UN sanctions. Later it became known that no biological weapons were found in Iraq, and the Secretary of State admitted that the test tube was fake.

Earlier, on January 30, Ryabkov accused the United States of violating the preamble of the START Treaty on the indivisibility of security. He explained that Washington “in the most rude and cynical way” does not comply with the agreements prescribed in the agreement, carrying out a frontal-aggressive containment of Moscow.