« The new-new Iraqi goverment | Main | Pressure Brahimi? Little Old Us? »
June 02, 2004
The "United Nations" "Security Council" "Debates" "Revised" Resolution
Maybe the UN Security Council should just be renamed the UN "Governing Council" and be done with it. Why not just let the United States appoint the ambassadors and end this charade?
At least the Iraqis have a rather valid excuse whenever they capitulate: they are under occupation.
So, the U.S. and the U.K. have presented a revised draft of the resolution providing shameful legal cover for their occupation in line with their classic strategy of making outrageous demands, followed by slightly less outrageous demands.
Here's the heart of what's basically unchanged:
8. Decides that the multinational force shall have the authority to take all necessary measures to contribute to the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq including by preventing and deterring terrorism, so that inter alia the United Nations can fulfil its role in assisting the Iraqi people as outlined in paragraph five above and the Iraqi people can implement freely and without intimidation the timetable and programme for the political process and benefit from reconstruction and rehabilitation activities;
Everything after the "inter alia" is the usual fuzzy language. After all, it’s “inter alia” for a reason.
The short of it is the "multinational force" --i.e. the U.S. led occupation force-- has the authority to do whatever it wants to do -"take all necessary measures"- under the heading of whatever it chooses to define as "preventing and deterring terrorism."
This is incredible. It should generate outrage around the world. How can the United Nations give a force not under its control, a force which explicitly rejects international laws, the authority to do whatever it wants under such vague terms? Even recognizing that a transitional force needs to be in place and an Iraqi state constituted while an expeditious withdrawal of the occupying forces is called for, this is unacceptable. At the minimum, the United Nations should insist on the applicability of the Geneva Conventions, all relevant international laws and the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. And that is a minimal, minimal demand.
This is truly outrageous given the ongoing revelations of systematic torture and egregious misconduct by the occupying forces and the ongoing clashes of very dubious legality which have resulted in thousands of Iraqis being killed. All of these quite possibly constitute war crimes if anyone could get to investigate them. Passing a resolution authorizing these unaccountable forces to “take all necessary measures” without imposing specific conditionalities of international law is disgraceful.
All there is regarding this matter in the resolution is a sentence that notes the "commitment of all forces promoting the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq to act in accordance with international law and cooperate with relevant international organisations." How can one "note" "the commitment" of a party that keeps claiming exemption from such laws? What if this "commitment" turns out to be less than full, as it is now, what then?
Meanwhile, The United States and the United Kingdom continue to deny they are bound by international law, or Iraqi law, and make agreements with themselves or councils appointed by themselves to the effect that they are exempt.
The United Nations has no right to authorize this state of affairs.
It should at least pay a little more lip service to international law and its own charter.
In other parts of the resolution, we can note that the conditions of the withdrawal are slightly changed:
10. Decides further that this mandate for the multinational force shall be reviewed at the request of the Transitional Government of Iraq or twelve months from the date of this resolution, and that this mandate shall expire upon the completion of the political process set out in paragraph three above and declares its readiness to terminate this mandate earlier if requested by the elected Transitional Government of Iraq;
This sets the terms back to 1511. But don’t be fooled by the news reports which suggest this means that there is an expiry date. There isn’t. It’s when and if the political process outlined in the resolution is completed -- and the expected date is end of 2005 or beginning of 2006. But if it isn’t completed, for whatever reason, there is no built-in expiry date.
In the meantime, the “Transitional Government” to be supposedly elected at the end of the year, which is different than the current Interim Government, can ask the troops to leave. But, unsurprisingly, this would also require a new resolution subject to a U.S. veto. The resolution only expresses readiness to terminate this mandate but does not promise and does not guarantee it. Why not? They either have the right or they do not, right? Especially if elected as envisioned, that government would be a lot more legitimate than many around the world whose right not to have unwanted foreign troops on its soil is perfectly recognized by the United Nations.
There is also a lot of lack of clarity on how much control the Iraqi government actually has over the actions of the foreign troops. “As much as we want to” seems to be the general tenor.
Here’s my favorite part of that dismal document being added to the United Nations hall of shameful resolutions:
Recognising the request of the incoming Interim Government of Iraq 1/8as conveyed XX 3/8 to retain the presence of the multinational force,
What’s with the XX’s and all you say? That’s the fill in the blanks part. They haven’t made the request yet. But you know they will.
Posted by zeynep at June 2, 2004 04:08 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.underthesamesun.org/mt-tb.cgi/37
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The "United Nations" "Security Council" "Debates" "Revised" Resolution:
» how to win at roulette from how to win at roulette
Please check out the sites on tips for roulette gambling press [Read More]
Tracked on July 3, 2005 04:38 AM
» פוסטרים from פוסטרים
Look for this symbol of פוסטרים resources. It signifies that the Web site you are visiting was reviewed by פ&#... [Read More]
Tracked on July 8, 2005 11:42 AM
» ברזים חמת from ברזים חמת
ברזים חמת gets rid of the reactive mind. Its the only thing that does. Our free ברזי... [Read More]
Tracked on July 8, 2005 11:42 AM
Comments
I agree with what you say - makes sense to me.
Looking for some propecia?
Posted by: propecia at November 21, 2004 11:49 PM
You are invited to check some information about online poker online poker http://www.mcdortaklar.com/ phentermine phentermine http://www.reservedining.net/ viagra viagra http://www.paramountseedfarms.net/ credit cards credit cards http://www.rethyassociates.net/ casino casino http://www.ingyensms.net/ poker poker http://www.bigyonet.com/ online casino online casino http://www.zalaszentgrot.com/ texas holdem texas holdem http://www.darkangelclan.com/ texas hold em texas hold em http://www.middlecay.net/ texas holdem poker texas holdem poker http://www.hasslerenterprises.net/ pacific poker pacific poker http://www.hdic.net/ party poker party poker http://www.hometeaminspection.net/ empire poker empire poker http://www.mor-lite.net/ poker games poker games http://www.parkviewsoccer.net/ generic viagra generic viagra http://www.targetindustries.net/ cialis cialis http://www.tclighting.net/ levitra levitra http://www.neweighweb.net/ tramadol tramadol http://www.jfcadvocacy.net/ online pharmacy online pharmacy http://www.psychexams.net/ soma soma http://www.stories-on-cd.net/ diet pills diet pills http://www.lvcpa.net/ phendimetrazine phendimetrazine http://www.suttonjames.net/ credit card credit card http://www.mp-forum.com/ payday loans payday loans http://www.devilofnights.net/ loans loans http://www.gargzdai.net/ personal loans personal loans http://www.zone-b51.com/ student loans student loans http://www.jmsimonr.com/ private mortgages private mortgages http://www.1a1merchantaccounts.com/ low interest credit cards low interest credit cards http://www.at-capstone.com/ - Tons of interesdting stuff!!!
Posted by: viagra at January 16, 2005 03:03 PM
You are invited to check some information about online poker online poker http://www.mcdortaklar.com/ phentermine phentermine http://www.reservedining.net/ viagra viagra http://www.paramountseedfarms.net/ credit cards credit cards http://www.rethyassociates.net/ casino casino http://www.ingyensms.net/ poker poker http://www.bigyonet.com/ online casino online casino http://www.zalaszentgrot.com/ texas holdem texas holdem http://www.darkangelclan.com/ texas hold em texas hold em http://www.middlecay.net/ texas holdem poker texas holdem poker http://www.hasslerenterprises.net/ pacific poker pacific poker http://www.hdic.net/ party poker party poker http://www.hometeaminspection.net/ empire poker empire poker http://www.mor-lite.net/ poker games poker games http://www.parkviewsoccer.net/ generic viagra generic viagra http://www.targetindustries.net/ cialis cialis http://www.tclighting.net/ levitra levitra http://www.neweighweb.net/ tramadol tramadol http://www.jfcadvocacy.net/ online pharmacy online pharmacy http://www.psychexams.net/ soma soma http://www.stories-on-cd.net/ diet pills diet pills http://www.lvcpa.net/ phendimetrazine phendimetrazine http://www.suttonjames.net/ credit card credit card http://www.mp-forum.com/ payday loans payday loans http://www.devilofnights.net/ loans loans http://www.gargzdai.net/ personal loans personal loans http://www.zone-b51.com/ student loans student loans http://www.jmsimonr.com/ private mortgages private mortgages http://www.1a1merchantaccounts.com/ low interest credit cards low interest credit cards http://www.at-capstone.com/ - Tons of interesdting stuff!!!
Posted by: viagra at January 16, 2005 03:03 PM