Syria continues to give the international community headaches. While investigating reports of this week’s massacre, it is reported that United Nations monitors were fired at by Syrian loyalists. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Clinton was again reiterated that Assad must go, as though perhaps the strength of her breath will somehow blow him from power.
Sorry for the cynicism, but I am concerned that Syria is becoming the 2012 Rwanda. We have a dictatorial regime that is killing its’ own people combined with an international community that seems unable or willing to stop it.
Like Rwanda, Syrian forces can fire on U.N. officials because the international community is restrained from action both because Russia and China back Assad, and the questionable political will of the U.S. to enter into a military situation.
How seriously are we supposed to take United Nations efforts, if the seven Security Council Members can’t get on the same page? This constant flow of words and emphatic finger pointing is only permitting the forces loyal to Assad to kill more people.
This boys and girls, is how Rwanda happened.
Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts
Friday, June 8, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Outrage Inc. : The International Response to Syria
The Friday before last, there was a massacre of hundreds of people, including many children in Houla.
The international community was promptly outraged. The international community excels at being outraged as though it were an Olympic sport. Yet, all they seem to muster is being outraged.
The Syrian people do not need our outrage and our words, they need our actions. Unless someone is willing to do something tangible to uproot Bashir Al Assad, then we might as well just save our voices for something we are willing to act on.
Russia has continued to back Assad and accept this lame terrorist explanation for the massacre.
Eyewitnesses reported tank fire. No terrorist group I’ve ever studied used a tank. Tanks are weapons of states, not Al Qaeda inspired terrorists.
Without Russia’s help, I’m afraid that we’re just going to allow this garbage to continue. We can be outraged until we’re choking on the floor, but what do such displays accomplish
? It’s not like Assad is going to wake up one morning and say “God, I’ve been a bastard for years, maybe I should become a leader that bends to the will of his people.
I have a better shot of dating Hannah Teter.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Why all the U.N. Hate?
Fair question, given that the United Nations emergence on the global stage opened new doors for diplomacy. Talking about things has probably averted a conflict or seven over the years, and United Nations reports are typically plentiful sources of information that provide guidance to the issues of the world.
For all the criticism lobbed at the United Nations, it beats the alternative of tanks rumbling through the streets of Berlin, rioting in the streets and burning buildings in downtown Paris.
I think the hatred for the United Nations comes from its’ performance in the big moments. It's sort of like if your a really nice person, but tend to shoot your mouth off when people are listening. You'll get a reputation as a jerk and a blowhard whether its deserved or not.
The United Nations has frozen in some pretty big spots. I'm thinking particularly about the Rwandan genocide. The U.N. failed to listen to their people on the ground and now the death toll in Rwanda is over a million.
The U.N. has done great works throughout the world, but they've also had occasion to falter when it mattered most. Rightly or wrongly, their failures have been broadcast to the entire world and stand out more than their successes.
For all the criticism lobbed at the United Nations, it beats the alternative of tanks rumbling through the streets of Berlin, rioting in the streets and burning buildings in downtown Paris.
I think the hatred for the United Nations comes from its’ performance in the big moments. It's sort of like if your a really nice person, but tend to shoot your mouth off when people are listening. You'll get a reputation as a jerk and a blowhard whether its deserved or not.
The United Nations has frozen in some pretty big spots. I'm thinking particularly about the Rwandan genocide. The U.N. failed to listen to their people on the ground and now the death toll in Rwanda is over a million.
The U.N. has done great works throughout the world, but they've also had occasion to falter when it mattered most. Rightly or wrongly, their failures have been broadcast to the entire world and stand out more than their successes.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Cocaine Diplomacy
Imagine my shock when I discovered that a sizeable amount of cocaine showed up at U.N. headquarters.
Was this done by some drug cartel to prove a point? Find it difficult to believe that any drug cartel would bother themselves with what the U.N. thinks when there's money to be made hand over fist in any number of global locales.
An alternative view is that someone within the U.N. is trying to send a message that the organizations efforts in this area are lacking.
The Oliver Stone conspiracy theorist in me, suggests that someone at the U.N. is engaging in large-scale drug trafficking. But that scenario feels like the next Stephen King novel rather than a likelihood.
I’ll be keeping tabs on this very bizarre story as events warrant.
Was this done by some drug cartel to prove a point? Find it difficult to believe that any drug cartel would bother themselves with what the U.N. thinks when there's money to be made hand over fist in any number of global locales.
An alternative view is that someone within the U.N. is trying to send a message that the organizations efforts in this area are lacking.
The Oliver Stone conspiracy theorist in me, suggests that someone at the U.N. is engaging in large-scale drug trafficking. But that scenario feels like the next Stephen King novel rather than a likelihood.
I’ll be keeping tabs on this very bizarre story as events warrant.
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