American diplomacy in Azerbaijan continues to “hit new lows.” The U.S. Embassy recently posted on X a statement that calling “controversial” would be an understatement.
According to American diplomats, “International criticism of the government’s crackdown on free media and civil society is a result of one thing: the government’s crackdown on free media and civil society.” As stated in the post, “since November 2023, nearly three dozen journalists and bloggers have been arrested.” Then the diplomats go even further, adopting street slang to ask, “Is it ‘cowardly’ to ask why? Or is the actual ‘cowardly’ act here the attempt to distract the Azerbaijani public from this fact?” To cap it off, they attached a clip from the analytical program Həftə (Week), which they seem to have taken offense to.
This brief post could be dissected point by point. First, one could ask the diplomats: are they aware of what freedom of speech actually entails? Do they understand that sulking, banging their heads against the proverbial wall, and throwing tantrums in response to a journalist’s comments is unbecoming for diplomats? Especially for those who claim to champion free media? Or is it, according to these diplomats, permissible to spread fake news about Azerbaijan’s government while criticizing the U.S. State Department is strictly forbidden? Gentlemen, perhaps you’ve had one too many glasses of whiskey? Are you unfamiliar with the Soviet “Glavlit,” the censorship body, and its practices? It is not your place to dictate what Azerbaijani journalists can or cannot broadcast. If you have arguments, please respond with facts—and preferably without distortions.
A glaring distortion, for instance, is the claim that “since November 2023, nearly three dozen journalists and bloggers have been arrested” in Azerbaijan. First, being a journalist does not grant immunity from criminal responsibility, such as for currency smuggling, financial fraud, extortion, or blackmail. And bloggers? By the Embassy’s logic, does anyone who opens a social media page automatically gain legal immunity? How do they even imagine this?
But the most striking and outrageous aspect is undoubtedly the use of street slang and criminal jargon in the official embassy tweet—terms like “cowardly.” Professionalism, you see, is not optional. Diplomats are expected to smooth over conflicts, not provoke new scandals. As journalists well know, the use of emotional language is the first sign of a lack of solid arguments. If the U.S. Embassy wants to know what cowardice and treachery look like on the international stage, let us explain.
Cowardice and treachery, if you must know, include adopting the discriminatory Section 907 Amendment in 1992 during the height of Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan—an amendment that punished the victim, not the aggressor. It includes suspending this amendment when the U.S. needed Azerbaijan’s logistical support in Afghanistan, only to “resurrect” it once the operation concluded.
Another example of treachery is Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Recall: on February 5, 2003, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell brought his infamous vial to the UN Security Council, claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that needed to be found and destroyed. Based on this pretext, the U.S. invaded Iraq, leaving the country devastated, its existing governance structure dismantled. Building a viable system under U.S. leadership proved much harder than bombing the country into the Stone Age.
The world witnessed even greater cowardice and treachery in Afghanistan. In 2002, in response to the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. initiated a NATO intervention in Afghanistan. NATO forces remained in the country until mid-2021, when Washington decided the operation was too costly and began withdrawing troops. They evacuated even their service dogs but deemed it unnecessary to extract Afghans who had collaborated with NATO’s administration, fully aware that these individuals would be executed under the Taliban—if they were lucky to face a quick death.
Those old enough remember the Vietnam War, where the U.S. not only distinguished itself by its brutality against civilians but also abandoned its allies in South Vietnam.
The list of treachery and cowardice involving entire nations goes on. Consider Georgia, where the U.S. applauded Mikheil Saakashvili’s reforms but provided no real support during the Five-Day War. Now, Washington imposes sanctions on Georgia because its citizens voted differently than the U.S. desired. Or take Ukraine, promised substantial military aid by Washington, only to receive far less than pledged. In a real war, such unfulfilled promises cost Ukraine hundreds, even thousands, of lives—both soldiers and civilians.
Faced with this record, we must address U.S. diplomats in their own street jargon. First, stop acting like self-appointed “overseers” of the neighborhood. No accredited diplomatic mission in Baku has the right to dictate how Azerbaijan enforces its own laws or to grant immunity for violations of financial transparency laws. Do not act as a criminal “protector.” Such tactics do not work in Azerbaijan.
