2001-09-14 15:16:35+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments
NY Times: Bush vows to erase terrorist networks, singling out Osama bin Laden. No. No. No. This needs to be taken in front of the UN Security Council and tried as a war crime. It's the frat-boy bar-fight attitude towards foreign policy that got us this hated to begin with.
[ related topics: Politics History WTC/Pentagon attacks ]
comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:32:43+00 by: Dylan
The problem is this...the UN has gotten increasingly...well how do I put this...
Ok, I have no polite way.
The UN are pussies when it comes to trying war criminals. How long did Milosevic evade...well, the entire world??? When the UN knew exactly where he was?
I agree that our foreign policy caused this. I agree that we'll make things worse by stomping all over some Arab nation to "fix it".
But I have serious reservations about the UN's ability to deal with it.
When they have a war criminal they *know* needs to be tried, convicted, and preferably executed...what happens? He sits in his home country laughing his ass off at the UN resolutions calling for him to appear in the Hague.
When the UN has teeth...IF the UN ever has teeth...
#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:32:44+00 by: Elton
I also think it would be great if the UN could take care of this kind of thing. But the UN is weak because if it was too strong, Jesse Helms and his counterparts in other countries would reel it in. Many countries consider America's application of the death penalty a crime against humanity. Would we brook any criticism from the UN over this? Would we let the blue helmets send security forces into Austin to stop executions?
Well, that's an exaggeration and I don't really think the death penalty is equatable with war crimes. But the UN has to be weak because otherwise it would inevitably do something to piss off the permanent members of the security council.
But I am also repelled by the bar-fight attitude. I'm an American living abroad in the Netherlands now, and the other Americans here seem to agree that in the long view, a protracted war where we push more groups against the wall will only harm our security. Such temperance doesn't seem to be on display much in the States.