Posted on 03/05/2003 12:38:24 PM PST by CharacterCounts
Edited on 05/07/2004 7:09:14 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
If the United Nations doesn't back the latest resolution imposing a strict deadline on Saddam Hussein, says President Bush, it will render itself "irrelevant." But was there ever a reason to think a bureaucratic blob of 178 nations, most of whom wouldn't know democracy if they fell over it, could ever be terribly relevant?
(Excerpt) Read more at detnews.com ...
History repeats.
Notice how France played the obstructionist role with Ethiopia and then totally capitulated in the ensuing war.
Many had tried and failed to untie the knot, and Alexander's generals were undoubtedly a bit nervous about the bad mojo that would result if Alexander failed in the task. In fact, it was a bold move to enter Gordion and attempt the feat, for failure would demoralize an army that was highly superstitious.
Alexander walked up to the acropolis, entered the temple and stood before the knot, deep in thought. Presently, he spoke. "It doesn't matter how the knot is loosened". He drew his sword, cutting the rope and thereby achieving an untying of the knot.
It's time for us to cut the Gordion Knot that is UN politics. We can have Colin Powell try to untangle the diplomatic wishes of Cameroon, Mexico and Angola. Or we can unsheath our sword, cut through that morass of filth and stench, and do what we wish to do.
Alexander went on to conquer Asia (at least, the part that was known to the Greeks, and some parts beyond). Let's cut our own Gordion Knot and be done with Iraq, the UN, and the terrorists beyond.
so why does this crowd get a vote on what my elected officials choose to do IN MY NAME?
We should get out of the UN (and make them pay for all of their parking tickets before they leave)
.
"The United Nations is a rectal threshold through which ill-mannered guests egress, but never go home."
"Any guest that treats you as discourteously in your own home . . .
deserves to get his .. .. .. *** kicked (( link )) - - -
all the way back to the Third World - and possibly to the Fourth."
*** . . . my addition !
The UN is a collection of dysfunctional and blackmailed countries ganging up on the successful !
The second time was in the first Gulf War, right after the end of the cold war. The Soviet power still had to be respected, and the process gave us a way to get what we wanted with the Soviets going along.
There was some utility to the UN during the cold war, as it gave a way for the 2 opposing sides to have some dialogue with each other and was a vehicle that might not have existed had there been only embassies. But, the UN was set up in 1945 with rules that presupposed an alliance of the large powers with good will and common interest in world peace, and allowed some input from the lesser powers in the process. The cold war ensured that it would become a debating society for the most part, except with respect to some limited areas where both sides agreed.
After the cold war ended, there was some hope that the UN could fulfill more of its original goal of policing world conflicts where the US interest was not implicated. That did not come about, and in the age of terrorism, where the main role of the UN has been to hog-tie the US and limit its power, the UN is no longer either necessary, and is in fact, detrimental to US interests, insofar as its opposition to US policies causes useful idiots to oppose the war on terror at home and in allies.
The UN should be kept as a debating society, but the US should never again submit an issue with national security implications to the security council. New organizations, formed only with like-minded democracies, should be created over the next few year, which will be charged with the fight against terror and rogue states, and perhaps later, with taking care of horrible dictators who don't directly threaten us, like Mugabe.
Easy: Never.
My take on the author's logic is that the UN restriction placed on the Gulf War resolution created the situation we are in today and we would have been better off ignoring the UN in 1991.
I disagree that it should even be kept. As long as it exists in any form, it will try to exert its worthless will on the world and stick its nose where it doesn't belong. It's useless IMO on every level, as is any organization that attempts to equate the voice of entities whose goals and means are not remotely equal or compatiable and can never hope to be. The thought that the United States, on a matter of national security for 250,000,000 people, should be running around begging for votes from Angola and Cameroon, sums up the ludicrous nature of the organization. The world is not a democracy and it's never going to be.
MM
MM
Fast forward 12 years. Now, we don't give a damn what the Russians say. We have grown massively more powerful, while they have waned tremendously. In fact, if it weren't for their nukes, they would not give us much trouble. Unless we attack them directly, they won't start a war with us. Hell, the states on their border that were in their Warsaw Pact are now part of Nato, and, until they started jacking us around on this Iraq war, there was talk of making the Russians allies, too. (We will eventually need an alliance with Russia to deal with China.) So, it's a much different situation.
Now, since we don't need the Russians, we don't need the "good offices" of the UN to help us put together a coalition to get Saddam.
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
Having all these tinhorns in NY yakking at each other can do some harm, but if we keep them occupied with a few minor projects we can avoid major damage. Shut down the UN entirely, and these same nutballs will set up shop in Paris or Vienna, and be even whackier than when they are here, enjoying NY, constrained just a little by the fact that their organization depends on us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.