> The UN shouldn't "be in charge", nor could it be. It exists to allow > a place for nations to collaborate and define "right" vs "wrong". > What it does once it determines that it's fully defined and it's what > we're debating.
The UN exists to prevent war, foster respect for international law, individual rights, and strive for the general progress of humanity on the planet. That's more or less what the preamble of the UN charter states, and its goals are noble. The sad reality is that thugs like Saddam, tinpot dictators like Bashar Assad, and outright lunatics like Kim Jong Il have a voice in interpreting the UN charter. Trusting people like that to define right versus wrong is exactly what we can not afford to do. Don't bother asking the UN whether they think taking down Saddam was the right course of action. Ask the Iraqi people what they think, they are the ones whose lives are at stake. And there we come to the heart of the dilemma for the UN. Morally, taking out Saddam and dismantling his criminal enterprise posing as a government was the right thing to do. But the UN can't acknowledge that because it would in effect be an acknowledgement that many of its member states are morally bankrupt criminal enterprises posing as governments, just like Saddam's. > > "democratic imperialism" is an oxymoron > > Is your point that previous to Mr. Bush the Afghans said, "Hey, we > want to be dominated by religious psychos"? my point is that they had no choice > Of course they say they want self-determination - who wouldn't? > Whether they care to do what it takes to preserve democracy is the > question. Previously they haven't. Not because they didn't care to, because they were being tortured and killed by thugs who had no intention of giving them any rights whatsoever. The resolve of the US gives them an opportunity to throw off the yolk of oppression and live in a free world. As you suggest, whether they fulfill that promise remains to be seen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Purchase from House of Fusion, a Macromedia Authorized Affiliate and support the CF community. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=36 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:132179 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
