confused
Why is it that suddenly I find articles in National Review to be good? See below, and let me know what you all think.
Disclaimer: my politics are such that I hate the UN and find it worthless. Hence reacting to said article below...
National Review
> >October 04, 2004
> >
> >Meet the Graders
> >By Anne Bayefsky
> >
> >The world of John Kerry’s global test.
> >
> >http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bayefsky200410042053.asp
> >
> >President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry referred to the United
> >Nations 17 times during their debate last Thursday on American foreign
> >policy. Kerry's references outnumbered the president's more than 2 to 1.
> The
> >senator's attitude? The U.N. is the centerpiece of any definition of
> >America's strategic interests.
> >
> >Kerry put U.N. centrality this way: "You don't help yourself with other
> >nations...when you refuse to deal at length with the United Nations."
> >Speaking of Iraq, "at length" meant "We needed to go to the U.N. The
> >president needed the authority to use force...." Any use by a president of
> >the option of a "preemptive strike" must be done "in a way...that passes
> the
> >global test where...you can prove to the world that you did it for
> >legitimate reasons."
> >
> >So what world is Kerry talking about? The presidential debate took place
> >just as the General Assembly wound up its two-week opening session on
> >September 30. At the session, dozens of world leaders told the U.N. what
> >would pass a global test in their minds. Let's listen in.
> >
> >On terrorism:
> >
> > President of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika: "[T]errorism...excludes the
> >legitimate struggle of peoples against foreign occupation."
> > Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon, Issam Fares: " National liberation is
> >legitimate, terrorism is reprehensible."
> > Ditto numerous other Arab ministers.
> >
> >On nuclear non-proliferation:
> >
> > Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Chairman of the 100+
> >members of the Non-Aligned Movement): "We also note with great concern the
> >increasing tendencies to link the fight against terrorism with the
> campaign
> >against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Developing countries
> >suffer as a result of restrictions imposed on access to peaceful uses of
> >technology...."
> > Foreign Minister of Iran, Kamal Kharrazi: "[P]revent[ing] the
> proliferation
> >of nuclear weapons...must be done...in a comprehensive and
> >non-discriminatory manner.... We insist on our right to technology for
> >peaceful purposes...."
> > Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Choe Su Hon:
> >"[O]ur army and people...are...pushing ahead with their struggle to build
> >a...powerful state with...devotion to the socialist cause....The nuclear
> >deterrent of the DPRK constitutes a legitimate self-defensive measure...."
> >
> >On the genocide in Sudan:
> >
> > Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria, Farouk Al-Shara: "We view with
> >satisfaction the positions and measures adopted by the government of the
> >Sudan to address the humanitarian crisis in Darfur."
> > Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yemen, Abubakr Al-Qirbi: "[T]here was no
> >hard evidence of massacres [in Sudan].... [A]ll external parties
> >must...refrain from interference in the domestic affairs of the Sudan."
> >
> >On advancing human rights protection and democracy:
> >
> > Foreign Minister of China, Li Zhaoxing: "[I]t is imperative to...promote
> >greater democracy in international relations...China will...safeguard its
> >sovereignty and territorial integrity, brook no interference in its
> internal
> >affairs...."
> > Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe: "Zimbabwe will...welcome to
> [its
> >sixth parliamentary] elections those observers whose sole and undivided
> >purpose will be to observe the process and not to meddle in the politics
> of
> >the country.... [T]he West should spare us their lessons on human rights."
> > Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Nizar Obaid
> Madani:
> >"[W]e believe that the process of helping developing nations to initiate
> >political and economic reforms should not be imposed or dictated from
> >without.... Of course there is much that the advanced countries can
> provide
> >in this process, especially in the areas of investments...."
> >
> >On identifying the villains:
> >
> > Foreign Minister of Cuba, Felipe Pérez Roque: "We, as non-aligned
> >countries, will have to entrench ourselves in defending the United Nations
> >Charter.... The powerful collude to divide us."
> > Foreign Minister of Iran, Kamal Kharrazi: " Israel...[is] the single
> >greatest threat to regional and global peace and security."
> >
> >On the role of the U.N.:
> >
> > Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe: "[T]he UN Charter remains the
> >only most sacred document and proponent of the relations of our
> Nations....
> > Foreign Minister of France, Michel Barnier: "[T]he U.N. remains the one
> >irreplaceable, legitimate framework for harnessing...mobilization and
> >translating it into collective action.... The Organization...has a natural
> >vocation to be at the center of counter-terrorism measures.... The U.N.,
> >through its legitimacy and ever-increasing effectiveness, must be the
> >instrument of the universal conscience of which it remains the crucible."
> >
> >Let's sum up the rules of the U.N. game as set out by its most ardent fans
> >from France to Cuba over September's festivities:
> >(1) Democracy is the governing principle between countries (read outvoting
> >the United States), regardless of the rights of actual inhabitants.
> >(2) International measures to insist on democracy within states constitute
> >unacceptable interference in a state's internal affairs.
> >(3) Nuclear non-proliferation is O.K. in theory provided it won't be put
> >into practice until Israel and the United States are weapons-free, and any
> >pressure in the meantime is oppression of developing countries.
> >(4) The only acceptable contributions of developed countries to the
> affairs
> >of developing countries are cash donations.
> >(5) Terrorism is defined as harming one's friends, so Israelis are fair
> >game.
> >(6) Israel is the greatest threat to world peace.
> >(7) Sudan should be commended for its role in reducing the spontaneous
> >humanitarian crisis within its borders and anything but minute numbers of
> >friendly neighboring forces would be an illegitimate interference in
> >Sudanese sovereignty.
> >(8) The U.N. is the centerpiece of all legitimate international action
> >concerning peace, security, self-defense, and the war against terrorism.
> >
> >U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan works well at the top of this heap. He
> >opened this year's Assembly by drawing moral parallels between the ongoing
> >acts of unrepentant terrorists in the name of religion and the isolated
> acts
> >of American soldiers condemned and punished by their countrymen. Annan
> said:
> >"[W]e see civilians massacred in cold blood and...non-combatants...taken
> >hostage and put to death in the most barbarous fashion. At the same time,
> we
> >have seen Iraqi prisoners disgracefully abused." In his address, Annan
> named
> >only one country in the world as violating international law through the
> >"excessive use of force." You guessed it: Israel.
> >
> >Into this toxic mix came President Bush with a message as honest as it was
> >different. While the secretary general never once mentioned "democracy,"
> >"free speech," "political parties," "free press," "trade unions,"
> >"independent courts," every one of these was central to the president's
> >address to the General Assembly. Announced the president in a statement
> >which should have warmed tender hearts from Turtle Bay to Massachusetts:
> >"For too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even excused,
> >oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability. Oppression became
> >common, but stability never arrived. We must take a different approach. We
> >must help the reformers of the Middle East as they work for freedom, and
> >strive to build a community of peaceful, democratic nations."
> >
> >Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, in his speech to the Assembly a
> few
> >days later, asked: "Today, 60 years after this organization came into
> being,
> >we must ask ourselves: What are we united for and what are we united
> >against?"
> >
> >The answer is: not terrorism, not the immediate threat of nuclear
> >proliferation from Iran or North Korea, not the recognition of genocide or
> >the action necessary to stop it, not the limits of sovereignty, not the
> >requisites of democracy, not what constitutes a human-rights violation,
> and
> >not the identity of the violators.
> >
> >Senator Kerry would take American foreign policy on a new road. In his
> >words: "...with other nations...you have to earn [their] respect. And I
> >think we have a lot of earning back to do."
> >
> >American voters could not have a clearer choice: groveling for the respect
> >of nations whose values we do not share or helping reformers build a
> >community of peaceful, democratic nations, with or without the "United"
> >Nations.
> >
> >
> >
> >- Anne Bayefsky is an international lawyer and a senior fellow at the
> Hudson
> >Institute.
> >
>
Disclaimer: my politics are such that I hate the UN and find it worthless. Hence reacting to said article below...
National Review
> >October 04, 2004
> >
> >Meet the Graders
> >By Anne Bayefsky
> >
> >The world of John Kerry’s global test.
> >
> >http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bayefsky200410042053.asp
> >
> >President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry referred to the United
> >Nations 17 times during their debate last Thursday on American foreign
> >policy. Kerry's references outnumbered the president's more than 2 to 1.
> The
> >senator's attitude? The U.N. is the centerpiece of any definition of
> >America's strategic interests.
> >
> >Kerry put U.N. centrality this way: "You don't help yourself with other
> >nations...when you refuse to deal at length with the United Nations."
> >Speaking of Iraq, "at length" meant "We needed to go to the U.N. The
> >president needed the authority to use force...." Any use by a president of
> >the option of a "preemptive strike" must be done "in a way...that passes
> the
> >global test where...you can prove to the world that you did it for
> >legitimate reasons."
> >
> >So what world is Kerry talking about? The presidential debate took place
> >just as the General Assembly wound up its two-week opening session on
> >September 30. At the session, dozens of world leaders told the U.N. what
> >would pass a global test in their minds. Let's listen in.
> >
> >On terrorism:
> >
> > President of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika: "[T]errorism...excludes the
> >legitimate struggle of peoples against foreign occupation."
> > Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon, Issam Fares: " National liberation is
> >legitimate, terrorism is reprehensible."
> > Ditto numerous other Arab ministers.
> >
> >On nuclear non-proliferation:
> >
> > Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Chairman of the 100+
> >members of the Non-Aligned Movement): "We also note with great concern the
> >increasing tendencies to link the fight against terrorism with the
> campaign
> >against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Developing countries
> >suffer as a result of restrictions imposed on access to peaceful uses of
> >technology...."
> > Foreign Minister of Iran, Kamal Kharrazi: "[P]revent[ing] the
> proliferation
> >of nuclear weapons...must be done...in a comprehensive and
> >non-discriminatory manner.... We insist on our right to technology for
> >peaceful purposes...."
> > Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Choe Su Hon:
> >"[O]ur army and people...are...pushing ahead with their struggle to build
> >a...powerful state with...devotion to the socialist cause....The nuclear
> >deterrent of the DPRK constitutes a legitimate self-defensive measure...."
> >
> >On the genocide in Sudan:
> >
> > Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria, Farouk Al-Shara: "We view with
> >satisfaction the positions and measures adopted by the government of the
> >Sudan to address the humanitarian crisis in Darfur."
> > Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yemen, Abubakr Al-Qirbi: "[T]here was no
> >hard evidence of massacres [in Sudan].... [A]ll external parties
> >must...refrain from interference in the domestic affairs of the Sudan."
> >
> >On advancing human rights protection and democracy:
> >
> > Foreign Minister of China, Li Zhaoxing: "[I]t is imperative to...promote
> >greater democracy in international relations...China will...safeguard its
> >sovereignty and territorial integrity, brook no interference in its
> internal
> >affairs...."
> > Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe: "Zimbabwe will...welcome to
> [its
> >sixth parliamentary] elections those observers whose sole and undivided
> >purpose will be to observe the process and not to meddle in the politics
> of
> >the country.... [T]he West should spare us their lessons on human rights."
> > Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Nizar Obaid
> Madani:
> >"[W]e believe that the process of helping developing nations to initiate
> >political and economic reforms should not be imposed or dictated from
> >without.... Of course there is much that the advanced countries can
> provide
> >in this process, especially in the areas of investments...."
> >
> >On identifying the villains:
> >
> > Foreign Minister of Cuba, Felipe Pérez Roque: "We, as non-aligned
> >countries, will have to entrench ourselves in defending the United Nations
> >Charter.... The powerful collude to divide us."
> > Foreign Minister of Iran, Kamal Kharrazi: " Israel...[is] the single
> >greatest threat to regional and global peace and security."
> >
> >On the role of the U.N.:
> >
> > Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe: "[T]he UN Charter remains the
> >only most sacred document and proponent of the relations of our
> Nations....
> > Foreign Minister of France, Michel Barnier: "[T]he U.N. remains the one
> >irreplaceable, legitimate framework for harnessing...mobilization and
> >translating it into collective action.... The Organization...has a natural
> >vocation to be at the center of counter-terrorism measures.... The U.N.,
> >through its legitimacy and ever-increasing effectiveness, must be the
> >instrument of the universal conscience of which it remains the crucible."
> >
> >Let's sum up the rules of the U.N. game as set out by its most ardent fans
> >from France to Cuba over September's festivities:
> >(1) Democracy is the governing principle between countries (read outvoting
> >the United States), regardless of the rights of actual inhabitants.
> >(2) International measures to insist on democracy within states constitute
> >unacceptable interference in a state's internal affairs.
> >(3) Nuclear non-proliferation is O.K. in theory provided it won't be put
> >into practice until Israel and the United States are weapons-free, and any
> >pressure in the meantime is oppression of developing countries.
> >(4) The only acceptable contributions of developed countries to the
> affairs
> >of developing countries are cash donations.
> >(5) Terrorism is defined as harming one's friends, so Israelis are fair
> >game.
> >(6) Israel is the greatest threat to world peace.
> >(7) Sudan should be commended for its role in reducing the spontaneous
> >humanitarian crisis within its borders and anything but minute numbers of
> >friendly neighboring forces would be an illegitimate interference in
> >Sudanese sovereignty.
> >(8) The U.N. is the centerpiece of all legitimate international action
> >concerning peace, security, self-defense, and the war against terrorism.
> >
> >U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan works well at the top of this heap. He
> >opened this year's Assembly by drawing moral parallels between the ongoing
> >acts of unrepentant terrorists in the name of religion and the isolated
> acts
> >of American soldiers condemned and punished by their countrymen. Annan
> said:
> >"[W]e see civilians massacred in cold blood and...non-combatants...taken
> >hostage and put to death in the most barbarous fashion. At the same time,
> we
> >have seen Iraqi prisoners disgracefully abused." In his address, Annan
> named
> >only one country in the world as violating international law through the
> >"excessive use of force." You guessed it: Israel.
> >
> >Into this toxic mix came President Bush with a message as honest as it was
> >different. While the secretary general never once mentioned "democracy,"
> >"free speech," "political parties," "free press," "trade unions,"
> >"independent courts," every one of these was central to the president's
> >address to the General Assembly. Announced the president in a statement
> >which should have warmed tender hearts from Turtle Bay to Massachusetts:
> >"For too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even excused,
> >oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability. Oppression became
> >common, but stability never arrived. We must take a different approach. We
> >must help the reformers of the Middle East as they work for freedom, and
> >strive to build a community of peaceful, democratic nations."
> >
> >Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, in his speech to the Assembly a
> few
> >days later, asked: "Today, 60 years after this organization came into
> being,
> >we must ask ourselves: What are we united for and what are we united
> >against?"
> >
> >The answer is: not terrorism, not the immediate threat of nuclear
> >proliferation from Iran or North Korea, not the recognition of genocide or
> >the action necessary to stop it, not the limits of sovereignty, not the
> >requisites of democracy, not what constitutes a human-rights violation,
> and
> >not the identity of the violators.
> >
> >Senator Kerry would take American foreign policy on a new road. In his
> >words: "...with other nations...you have to earn [their] respect. And I
> >think we have a lot of earning back to do."
> >
> >American voters could not have a clearer choice: groveling for the respect
> >of nations whose values we do not share or helping reformers build a
> >community of peaceful, democratic nations, with or without the "United"
> >Nations.
> >
> >
> >
> >- Anne Bayefsky is an international lawyer and a senior fellow at the
> Hudson
> >Institute.
> >
>