Hello jttmab,
I gather that you’ve tussled with Hawkmoon on this board, but I couldn’t find the post or infer a context for your comments. I see that you’ve discussed WH Christmas/Holiday cards in November and the general question “do the ends justify the means” without much success. This last post was one of your longer entries, so I’m hoping that you’d have more time on your hands to entertain my questions.
I can’t follow some of the points made on this board because it seems as if people are using other people’s opinions to justify their own. I struggle to mine a fact here and there. It’s also very hard for me to follow the exact feathering of “fascistic” ideologies from all the slings and arrows here. You’ve done among the best jobs in creating an argumentative flow, but I have questions.
To begin:
you've tossed out the Geneva, Vienna, NPT, GATT, NAFTA, the Law of the Sea…as international law. …I think there are more than a couple…folks that would disagree with you.
What does this mean? Do you feel that none of these conventions or treaties represent international law? I would guess that you think that Hawk does believe “they’re the closest thing to international law, Yes/No? You seem to be responding to Hawkmoon’s comment: His response was essentially that he felt the UN was not legitimate and had no right to issue such resolutions.
If you have time to elaborate, I’d like reading your views. Do you believe that the UN has the authority to issue binding resolutions and call for military actions in this regard? Has Hawk confused you with another of his detractors?
1441 was closer to a court order to comply than it is international law, …ut 1441 did not specifically authorize military action. The US and UK prepared a separate draft UN resolution to specifically authorize military action against Iraq.
I’ve haven’t see Hawk use 1441 as justification for the invasion, but rather for pointing out the intransigence of Saddam during the run-up to the war. What happens when someone doesn’t obey a court order? Saddam was at his wily best during this time. Others have pointed to South Africa’s cooperation with the UN when it decided to dismantle it nuclear weapons program as the ideal. SA allowed UN inspectors access to every facility and every worker away from supervisors, and had documentation prepared for the UN at every step. Contrast this with Saddam Hussein’s approach: yearly confrontations with inspector at the gates of facilities after permission was initially granted. No useful documentation was presented and the location of demolished facilities forgotten (more likely, un-remembered) when their existence became known. For me, Saddam did EVERYTHING in his power to thwart UN inspectors. Was this a casus belli? No, but cumulatively, his every action since the beginning of the Iran/Iraq war could very well be. Could you cherry pick his “good” actions since then? Even the French had a hard time doing this, but there’s gotta be something. Yes, the US aided Iraq, but that wouldn’t preclude the US from acting now, in my opinion. Is all this workable now? I truly don’t know, but that's another post. <g>
I would more likely use the word "hypocritical.” …I'm not terribly worried about that inconsistency. These two suggestions seem opposed to one another.
I don’t know if there’s enough hypocrisy to go around the world a few times, but OK. I’m not that smart, but I think I can categorize two different decisions so that they seem hypocritical. I’m up for a challenge if you want to pose one. I need to exercise my imagination to stay up with Canyon Dweller.
The UN was set up as a world body to prevent/resolve conflict
We agree, let’s start the evangelizing!
Which the US uses readily to shield Israel from binding UN resolutions.
Is this inconsistent? Are all these resolution warranted in your mind? If Israel accedes to these resolutions, do they therein get security from the surrounding Arab states? Do you remember the Cold War climate that produced some of these resolutions. How does all this work now? I’ve been trying to figure this stuff out for at least 30 years. Any help would be appreciated. I’m a UN supporter myself, but I’m not smart enough to understand how these resolutions can be effectively implemented, given the current security situation in the ME. I do understand 1441 and some follow-on resolutions, though.
I wish you well. |
