In case anyone wasn't watching: Darfur

[Occhidiangela]

Security Council Approves U.N. Control of Darfur Force
Thursday, August 31, 2006

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Thursday that would give the United Nations authority over peacekeepers in Darfur as soon as Sudan's government gives its consent -- which it has so far refused to do.

The resolution is meant to give more power and funding to a force, now run by the African Union, that has been unable to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur. The violence has only gotten worse in recent months.

The document passed 12-0 with China, Russia and Qatar abstaining

When "the sole remaining superpower" bestrode the world like a Collossus in the fall of 1991, the man who would lead the "New World Order" was hard at work to make the UN a more effective collective security organization in the long term.

That dream has not come true. Until the government who supports the slaughter of some of its own inhabitants agrees to outside intervention, no outside intervention to suppress that slaughter can come in. Catch-22, or just a bad joke?

The Chinese vwto shows their ambivalence to international collective security and stability. They use the UN and their position there to advance their own objectives. (In that regard, they are in very good company with the other major powers. <_< ) The Russians don't seem to buy into any grandiose vision that the UN is the answer to Africa's myriad of problems. On the bright side, no veto. Their abstension speaks volumes to me: Darfur is a regional problem that requires a regional solution. I suspect the Russian subtext was "just like Bosnia and Kosovo were."

I was browsing through The Economist the other day, and noted a number of positions open for hire in Darfur. I wonder if I should send in a resume. :rolleyes: The Kumbaya crowd could use a few realists on staff.

Occhi

[Rhydderch Hael]

Ah, the old U.N. refrain, "Stop! Or I will say 'Stop!' again!"

[Merlinios]

Ah, the old U.N. refrain, "Stop! Or I will say 'Stop!' again!"

If we work hard enough, we might get it up to

"Stop, or I shall threaten you!"

--me

[ShadowHM]

For those who *may* want to see the destruction for themselves, the United States Holocaust Museum has a Google Earth add-on available.

[Jester]

How anyone believes this slaughter is acceptable, I will never know.

Get rid of the veto, revamp the security council. Give the general assembly the power to raise an army in the case of severe human rights abuses.

The United Nations has been toothless for too long, and the poor and vulnerable of the world are dying by the millions because of it.

-Jester

[Nystul]

While the Security Council may be out of date, the veto power is probably worth keeping. The U.N. cannot afford to draft a resolution for military action, and then find one of the 3 or 4 strongest national armies fighting on the opposite side. The U.N. has only as much power as the economic and military powers of the world are willing to give it. And the world powers are only willing to give the U.N. authority on a case to case basis when it suits their own purposes. I don't see that changing any time soon.

[Occhidiangela]

How anyone believes this slaughter is acceptable, I will never know.

Who has taken that position?

Get rid of the veto, revamp the security council. Give the general assembly the power to raise an army in the case of severe human rights abuses.

Says a Canadian. Motes and railroad ties, Jester. Someone must do something, so long as it is someone else, who can. (Note: The Canadian Forces have earned a good rep as peacekeepers, it's just that there are so few . . . ) So, with that in mind, whose blood and treasure do you wish to use for your altruism?

The United Nations has been toothless for too long, and the poor and vulnerable of the world are dying by the millions because of it.

-Jester

The millions are dying due to man's fundamental inhumanity to man. The UN, for all of its faults, has mitigated that in many cases, so that the slaughter has not been worse. The cause is not the UN, the cause is the nature of man.

Occhi