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FIGHT THE RIGHT!
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The UN < is a body to which nations states belong and they (or rather the
Security Council) decide what it will do>:
None belongs to the UN. This "belonging" a very notion of the UN
bureaucracy-"makers of history" driven with and acting for very national
interests where natural resources and monopolies dictate.
As usual, conclusions of some self-declared academics, in Australia for
instance frequently, do not reflect elementary reality gained with hands-on
experience rather than from imaginations.
Garth Cartledge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
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FIGHT THE RIGHT!
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At 02:55 PM 12/5/2004, Michael Kerjman wrote:
>As seen from a far-away, a recent US politician's call for change is NOT
>silly and stupid, but a generous attempt to tackle an issue by an American
>way, appealing to some MORAL principles.
>
With the utmost of respect, America is not ruled by moral principles. Abhu
Ghraib, Falluja, Guantanamo Bay, My Lai, the Florida voting system, the US
Vice President having hundreds of thousands of shares in a company
(Haliburton) which gets exclusive government contracts arising out of an
illegal and immoral war that his administration pushed for regardless of
right or wrong (in 2003 when it looked as though Saddam Hussein might
resign in order to satisfy US demands Bush said it did not matter what
Saddam did he would invade), 1900 (odd) freeing the Philippines from the
Spanish only take it over as US Empire (killing thousands of Filipinos in
the course of this), - one could go on forever with items that counteract
the claim to moral rectitude - and one could go on pointing to moral
actions and attitudes of the other 190 odd nations of the world (well most
of them anyway).
Moreover, contrary to what is implied here, America certainly has no
greater claim to morality than most other nations which have a genuinely
democratic form of government. This is why people dislike America so much
- this offensive assumption of moral rectitude/superiority and the arrogant
projection that only America has any real moral standards, both of which
are generally based upon an appalling ignorance of anything outside the
US. But I suppose with the Media that the US has that is
understandable. This type of thing does more harm as it alienates the
friends of the US. This is one for the self indulgent "Why do they hate
us" school. The only real superiority the US has is its military and
economic might which allows it to throw its weight around.
Certainly there are faults in the UN but the UN is only as good as its
members allow it to be. It is a body to which nations states belong and
they (or rather the Security Council) decide what it will do. Annan and
the bureaucracy that sit in New York and Geneva are only secretariat, a
bureaucracy which runs the continuing programmes of aid and, when called
upon by some large operation called for by the Security Council, provide
the framework to build the organization with contingents supplied by those
countries who are willing to do so. It is not a world government - if it
was it would have stopped the US invading Iraq.
It is, however imperfect, the first real hope for a place the world can use
to avoid conflicts - it was a place where nations could look beyond their
narrow selfish ends at the bigger picture or rather it was until America
said we don't care, we want our war regardless of what damage we do to
world security. And, if you look back over the relationship of the US and
UN there has always been an element in Congress that wants to disband/do
away with the UN. But that is not new - in 1919 President Wilson forced
the other nations to agree to form the League of Nations (for collective
security) the US Congress scuttled it by refusing to ratify thereby letting
the then aggressor nations such a Japan see that there was no effective
collective security - that the law of big battalions ruled. So we had WWII.
If you know anything about the UN or its predecessor, or had read their
Charters you would know that they were based on moral principles - better
ones than those currently governing the US.
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