Experiments in Irony....

First Syria leads the UN Human Rights Commission, now this? Anything else required to prove the UN is a joke now? Why do we pay for them? Read the original here.

North Korea To Head U.N. Conference On Disarmament
3:26 PM, JUN 29, 2011 • BY ANNE BAYEFSKY

On Tuesday, the United Nations again made itself an international laughing stock – except perhaps to the American taxpayers who continue to foot 22 percent of the bill – by appointing North Korea chair of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. That would be the same North Korea that, according to an article this week by Senator John Kerry, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has “twice tested nuclear weapons…is developing missiles to carry them…has built facilities capable of producing highly enriched uranium for more nuclear weapons” and has defied a U.N. arms embargo by exporting weapons and sensitive technologies to rogue regimes.
Alas, Senator Kerry is also one of the lead champion of the United Nations in the Senate. According to the U.N., "The Conference is funded from the UN regular budget, reports to the General Assembly and receives guidance from it."

North Korea assumes the Conference chairmanship by being the next state in the alphabetical rotation of the 65 members, which include five nuclear weapons states and 60 other countries such as Iran and Syria. North Korea will preside over the Conference for a four working-week period.

North Korea’s representative, So Se Pyong, was enthusiastic about his new job. He announced that he was “very much committed to the Conference” and that during his presidency he “welcomes any sort of constructive proposals that strengthened the work and credibility of the Conference on Disarmament.” He also said that “he would do everything in his capacity to move the Conference on Disarmament forward.”

That might make sense, if by “forward” he means toward a nuclear winter, or by “constructive,” he means steering clear of anything that might impede North Korea. The official mandate of the Conference looks a bit different and includes “all multilateral arms control and disarmament problems” with the following “main areas of interest”: “cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters.”

North Korea’s chairmanship was heralded by other U.N. aficionados, including the Iranian delegate to the Conference. Iran’s Mohammad Hassan Daryaei told the Conference meeting: “I would like to congratulate the distinguished ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the assumption of the presidency and assuring him of my delegation’s full support and cooperation.”

Iran’s support is telling. Just yesterday Iran's Revolutionary Guards tested 14 long-range missiles that could carry a nuclear weapon, with the express purpose of hitting U.S. interests and Israel, according to the head of their aerospace division.

Congratulations also poured in from such upstanding world citizens and U.N. fans as China. China’s Wang Qun “welcomed the presidency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.”

It was left to the Canadian delegate to speak plainly. Canada’s Marius Grinius said: “[I]n the last 13 years the Conference has failed to move forward on its core disarmament responsibilities, including the negotiation of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty…[T]he Conference on Disarmament is on life support because it no longer is the sole multilateral negotiating forum for disarmament. Indeed, it is not negotiating anything and has not been for a very long time.”

Why not just put it out of its misery and pull the plug?

Anne Bayefsky is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a professor at Touro College, and the editor of EYEontheUN.org. 

Why not to stomp a spider in Bolivia...

And hopefully not be restricted around the world...read the original here.

UN Document Would Give 'Mother Earth' Same Rights As Humans

UNITED NATIONS — Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving "Mother Earth" the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country.

The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to "dominate and exploit" — to the point that the "well-being and existence of many beings" is now threatened.

The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January.

That document speaks of the country's natural resources as "blessings," and grants the Earth a series of specific rights that include rights to life, water and clean air; the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities; and the right to be free from pollution.

It also establishes a Ministry of Mother Earth, and provides the planet with an ombudsman whose job is to hear nature's complaints as voiced by activist and other groups, including the state.

"If you want to have balance, and you think that the only (entities) who have rights are humans or companies, then how can you reach balance?" Pablo Salon, Bolivia's ambassador to the UN, told Postmedia News. "But if you recognize that nature too has rights, and (if you provide) legal forms to protect and preserve those rights, then you can achieve balance."

The application of the law appears destined to pose new challenges for companies operating in the country, which is rich in natural resources, including natural gas and lithium, but remains one of the poorest in Latin America.

But while Salon said his country just seeks to achieve "harmony" with nature, he signalled that mining and other companies may come under greater scrutiny.

"We're not saying, for example, you cannot eat meat because you know you are going to go against the rights of a cow," he said. "But when human activity develops at a certain scale that you (cause to) disappear a species, then you are really altering the vital cycles of nature or of Mother Earth. Of course, you need a mine to extract iron or zinc, but there are limits."

Bolivia is a country with a large indigenous population, whose traditional belief systems took on greater resonance following the election of Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president.

In a 2008 pamphlet his entourage distributed at the UN as he attended a summit there, 10 "commandments" are set out as Bolivia's plan to "save the planet" — beginning with the need "to end capitalism."

Reflecting indigenous traditional beliefs, the proposed global treaty says humans have caused "severe destruction . . . that is offensive to the many faiths, wisdom traditions and indigenous cultures for whom Mother Earth is sacred."

It also says that "Mother Earth has the right to exist, to persist and to continue the vital cycles, structures, functions and processes that sustain all human beings."

In indigenous Andean culture, the Earth deity known as Pachamama is the centre of all life, and humans are considered equal to all other entities.

The UN debate begins two days before the UN's recognition April 22 of the second International Mother Earth Day — another Morales-led initiative.

Canadian activist Maude Barlow is among global environmentalists backing the drive with a book the group will launch in New York during the UN debate: Nature Has Rights.

"It's going to have huge resonance around the world," Barlow said of the campaign. "It's going to start first with these southern countries trying to protect their land and their people from exploitation, but I think it will be grabbed onto by communities in our countries, for example, fighting the tarsands in Alberta."

Ecuador, which also has a large indigenous population, has enshrined similar aims in its Constitution — but the Bolivian law is said to be "stronger."

Ecuador is among countries that have already been supportive of the Bolivian initiative, along with Nicaragua, Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda.

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

Reassuring developments?

The IAEA has released a report stating that Iran is being generally truthful about their nuclear program. What is still troubling about the entire issue, however, is that there is little difference between refining uranium for power production use and refining it for military use. The EU, Russia, and the U.S. have offered to construct reactors for Iran and supply them with non-weapon use nuclear fuel but Iran has demurred; they do not trust having foreign countries in control of their energy resources.

What makes this particularly frightening is that Iran, while not directly providing oil to the U.S., nonetheless can exert tremendous influence on our energy supply. If Iran is concerned about U.S. influence on their energy supply why do we stand for Iran having influence on our own energy supply?

Report: Iran mostly honest on nuclear issue
But U.N. agency says its knowledge base is shrinking
MSNBC News

VIENNA, Austria - A report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Thursday found Iran to be generally truthful about key aspects of its nuclear history, but it warned that its knowledge of Tehran's present atomic work was shrinking.

The International Atomic Energy Agency report, released to its 35 board members, also confirmed that Tehran continued to defy the U.N. Security Council by ignoring its repeated demands to freeze uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear arms.

The White House said it would continue to push for a third round of U.N. sanctions against Iran despite the findings.

"We believe that selective cooperation is not good enough," White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

We need to do more...

The White House is criticizing the Myanmar military dictatorship for its harsh treatment of peaceful, civilian protesters trying to agitate for for democracy. It is hoping that "all civilized nations" will pressure the government there to end its violence on the civilian protesters.

After all, when the White House asked the world to respond in Darfur they were so quick to pick up the call. I'm sure that the response here will be exactly the same.

US Blasts Myanmar for Silencing Internet
ABC News

The White House criticized Myanmar on Friday for cutting off Internet access and called on "all civilized nations" to pressure the military-run government to end its violent crackdown on protesters.

"They don't want the world to see what is going on there," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown talked about the situation via secure video teleconference on Friday. They agreed on the importance of a planned visit this weekend to Myanmar by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari and on "the need for countries around the world to continue to make their views clear to the junta," Stanzel said.

"They need to refrain from violence and move to a peaceful transition to democracy," Stanzel said.

Quote of the Day

"In Cuba, the long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing it's end. The Cuban people are ready for their freedom. And as that nation enters a period of transition, the United Nations must insist of free speech, free assembly, and ultimately, free and competitive elections."

-- President George W. Bush, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly

Something odd...

It's odd that this article points out that the Arctic ice sheet is at its smallest levels while the Antarctic ice sheet is at its largest levels...

Leaders Gather for Climate Summit
ABC News

Rising global temperatures that are melting the Arctic and expanding the oceans are now drawing more than 80 world leaders to the U.N. podium for an unprecedented summit Monday on how to combat climate change.

From California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a champion of climate-saving legislation, the presidents and premiers will hear that even an often-reluctant United States is pitching in.

"California is moving the United States beyond debate and doubt to action," he says in remarks prepared for the meeting's morning kickoff.

Fellow opening speaker Rajendra Pachauri, chief U.N. climate scientist, says there's now "much greater evidence of human influence on climate change," and therefore "it's time for action."

Hawkish France and Germany

In a strange turn of events, it is France and Germany who are pushing the idea of military strikes against Iran if they don't turn away from nuclear armament while it is the United States is arguing for sanctions. I guess that's what happens when you have Merkel and Sarkozy in charge instead of Chirac and Schroeder.

France: Prepare for war over Iran
CNN

PARIS, France -- France's foreign minister warned Sunday that the world should prepare for war if Iran obtains nuclear weapons and said European leaders were considering their own economic sanctions against the Islamic country.

Negations and two sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions have failed to persuade Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear power plants as well as material used in atomic weapons.

Iran insists its atomic activities are aimed at producing energy, but the U.S., its European allies and other world powers suspect Iranian authorities of seeking nuclear weapons.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, speaking on RTL radio, called for "more effective sanctions" against Iran if it continues to resist the demands to suspend uranium enrichment.
"We will not accept that such a bomb is made. We must prepare ourselves for the worst," he said, specifying that could mean a war. He did not elaborate on what kid of preparations that would entail.

also:

U.S. Officials Begin Crafting Iran Bombing Plan
Fox News

WASHINGTON - A recent decision by German officials to withhold support for any new sanctions against Iran has pushed a broad spectrum of officials in Washington to develop potential scenarios for a military attack on the Islamic regime, FOX News confirmed Tuesday.

Germany - a pivotal player among three European nations to reign in Iran's nuclear program over the last two-and-a-half years through a mixture of diplomacy and sanctions supported by the United States - notified its allies last week that the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel refuses to support the imposition of any further sanctions against Iran that could be imposed by the U.N. Security Council.

The announcement was made at a meeting in Berlin that brought German officials together with Iran desk officers from the five member states of the Security Council. It stunned the room, according to one of several Bush administration and foreign government sources who spoke to Fox News, and left most Bush administration principals concluding that sanctions are dead.

The Germans voiced concern about the damaging effects any further sanctions on Iran could have on the German economy - and, also, according to diplomats from other countries, gave the distinct impression that they would privately welcome, while publicly protesting, an American bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear facilities.

"Comply! Or we will be forced to write you a very angry letter!"

Mitt Romney wrote, in the words of fictional "Hans Brix" from Team America, a very angry letter to the United Nations. The contents of which, basically, are vapid charges against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, by calling for the destruction of Israel, Ahmadinejad has committed crimes against humanity; namely, incitement of genocide.

Obviously, Ahmadinejad is a horrifying dictator bent on hegemony not only of the Middle East, but likely as the world as a whole. His government is clearly funding and training anti-American forces in Iraq and is working towards creating nuclear weapons. And, of course, there's that whole funding-of-Hezbollah thing. I tend not to be a fan of those funding attacks whose only purpose is the slaughter of as many innocent civilians as possible. Thus, my humor is not directed towards him.

It is, however, directed towards Gov. Romney because the entire idea of the letter is a joke. Of course, the United Nations is going to ignore it. Of course, Ahmadinejad is going to come to New York, call President Bush the Great Satan, then go have an anti-American tea in Caracas with Chavez. The letter is just simple posturing, trying to attract attention and bolster his credentials as a hawk in the face of new challenges from Fred Thompson.

I'm glad that the useless, worthless gesture for purely political reasons amounted to little more than writing a letter, making copies for the press, and calling a short press conference. it could be worse, though; he could have paralyzed Congress for months in order to make a statement about the war in Iraq.

Romney Calls on U.N. to Bar Iranian President
The New York Times - The Caucus blog

Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate, is sending a letter to the United Nations Secretary General tomorrow, calling for him to bar Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from addressing the General Assembly next week and instead hand him an indictment under the Genocide Convention.

Mr. Ahmadinejad is scheduled to give a speech at the 62nd annual meeting of the General Assembly, which begins Tuesday in New York. It will be his third visit to the United States, where he is expected to spend two days, before he departs for Venezuela to meet with President Hugo Chavez.

An array of Jewish leaders, political leaders and others, including John Bolton, the former United States ambassador to the United Nations and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, gathered last year to call for the United Nations' International Court of Justice to indict Mr. Ahmadinejad for incitement of genocide. They base their argument on his calls for the destruction of Israel.

The specific statute the officials cite falls under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which includes under its list of prohibitions, incitement to commit genocide.

In President Bush's nationally televised speech last week on Iraq, he stressed the need to contain Iran as one of the reasons to continue a robust American presence in Iraq. In an interview about his views about Iraq last week, Mr. Romney also highlighted the influence of Iran in the region as a major source of concern.

It's worked so well so far.

African Union soldiers have done so well stopping the violence in Darfur that AU president Alpha Oumar Konare is making it clear he expects that only African Union soldiers will make up the U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur. I don’t know if this is some sort of “go it alone” statement or a hope that donating troops will mean a UN-based financial windfall for African countries but disengagement of the 1st world in Africa is in no one’s interest. The very best individuals available – which should include very significant numbers of troops from the U.S. – should be the ones doing the job.

Darfur force 'to be all-African'
BBC News

Africa will provide all of the 26,000 peacekeepers to be sent to Sudan's Darfur region, the head of the African Union (AU) has said.

AU chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said enough African troops had been promised for no outside help to be needed but he did not give details.

The UN had expected to call on Asian troops. Critics say Africa lacks enough trained troops for an effective force.

Sudan's government has long opposed the involvement of non-African soldiers.

It only agreed to a joint United Nations-AU force after months of negotiations.

The UN Security Council resolution setting up the force said the troops would be mostly African but they would be under UN command.

Syria is still in Lebanon?

A startling report from Opinion Journal last week: apparently, Syria still occupies Lebanese territory despite UN resolutions and Lebanese sentiment. Anyone surprised that the United Nations knows about it and isn't interested in doing anything about it?

Syria Occupies Lebanon. Again.
Opinion Journal

As of this minute, Syria occupies at least 177 square miles of Lebanese soil. That you are now reading about it for the first time is as much a scandal as the occupation itself.

The news comes by way of a fact-finding survey of the Lebanese-Syrian border just produced by the International Lebanese Committee for U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, an American NGO that has consultative status with the U.N. Because of the sensitivity of the subject, the authors have requested anonymity and have circulated the report only among select government officials and journalists. But its findings cannot be ignored.

In meticulous detail--supplemented by photographs, satellite images, archival material and Lebanese military maps predating Syria's 1976 invasion (used as a basis of comparison with Syria's current positions)--the authors describe precisely where and how Lebanon has been infiltrated. In the area of the village of Maarboun, for instance, the authors observed Syrian military checkpoints a mile inside
Lebanon. In the Birak al-Rassass Valley, they photographed Syrian anti-aircraft batteries. On the outskirts of the village of Kossaya they found a heavily fortified camp belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in violation of U.N. resolutions and Lebanese demands.

Took long enough

The U.N. has finally approved sending a peacekeeping force to Darfur. Three years ago, Colin Powell was at the U.N. doing everything in his power to try to convince the U.N. to take action. How many people would still be alive if they headed his call at that time instead of waiting three years to act?

It's a good thing that Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton don't run the U.N. or else we'd still be waiting.

UN OKs 26,000 Peacekeepers for Darfur
ABC News

The U.N. Security Council approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur on Tuesday to try to help end four years of fighting that has killed more than 200,000 people in the conflict-wracked Sudanese region.

The force the first joint peacekeeping mission by the African Union and the United Nations will replace the beleaguered 7,000-strong AU force now on the ground in Darfur no later than Dec. 31. The council urged that the AU-U.N. "hybrid" achieve "full operational capability and force strength as soon as possible thereafter."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it a "historic and unprecedented operation" that will send "a clear and powerful signal" of help to the people of Darfur.

Nice...

Yeah, let's leave peacekeeping to the United Nations. Nothing bad will happen, right?

How is it, again, that we're the bad guys? Peacekeepers in the Ivory Coast are engaged in widespread rape of women and children, trafficking of sex slaves, and the United States is the country of evil? Perhaps it's just me, but keeping a terrorist from being able to sleep for a couple of days just doesn't strike me as bad as having widespread open-season raping women and children.

UN probes 'abuse' in Ivory Coast
BBC News

The United Nations is investigating allegations of widespread sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers serving in Ivory Coast.

The UN said a unit of its contingent in Bouake, a northern rebel stronghold, had been confined to base.

It would not give the nationalities of those troops under investigation.

Claims of sexual abuse have been made against UN troops on various missions, prompting ex-UN chief Kofi Annan to declare a "zero tolerance" policy.

'Utterly immoral'

"There have been crimes such as rape, paedophilia and human trafficking," he said in December 2006, shortly before leaving office.

He said sexual exploitation and abuse were "utterly immoral" and at odds with the UN mission, and would be punished.

Sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeeping personnel hit the headlines in 2004 after a UN report detailed widespread abuse in the DR Congo involving UN troops.
More than 300 members of UN peacekeeping missions around the world have been investigated for sexual exploitation and abuse since 2004, including some stationed in Congo, Cambodia and Haiti.

Feeding the Hungry

There's no reason that the developed world can't feed the world's hungry. With the United Nations worrying about being able to continue their programs, the $600 million a year the World Food Program pays out is a pittance when compared to the amount of money the United States alone pays to farm subsidies - price supports which interfere with the ability of the Third World to make a living off of agriculture. Elimination of these subsidies, which nearly universally go towards large corporations and not small, family farms, will enable Third World farmers to make a more livable wage and increase food production at the point of need. In addition, the billions the United States spends on farm subsidies could instead be used to feed the hungry, both here in the United States and abroad, particularly in Africa, Eastern Europe, and India.

More help for Darfur...

Relief workers in Darfur are having problems with delivering food aid. Apparently, one-sixth of all aid deliveries are hijacked. The United Nations is aiming to send in troops some time next year. I don't see how 27,000 total troops (20,000 new and 7,000 existing) will be enough. One-third of the population has been displaced, two-thirds need food aid. The situation there is mind-blowingly bad. Whatever needs to be done, has to be done and waiting for the United Nations to get around to sending in troops next year is not acceptable. Piracy of humanitarian aid should not be tolerated and the fact that everyone is acting as though this is business as usual while people are dying is demoralizing, to say the least.

U.N. finally taking action in Darfur

It has taken long enough, but it looks as though at least a few U.N. troops will be going into Darfur. The inaction on this front by the U.N. is criminal.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Sudan on Monday approved the deployment of attack helicopters and more than 3,000 U.N. troops, police, and other personnel in Darfur to beef up the 7,000 strong African Union force in the troubled region.

Sudan's U.N. ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem informed the secretary-general in a letter that the government had approved the U.N. plan to send helicopter gunships, the last outstanding item in the U.N.'s "heavy support package" for the AU force.

"It is the sincere hope of the Sudan that implementation of the heavy support package would precede expeditiously," Abdalhaleem said.

Sudan's Foreign Ministry confirmed the government's acceptance of the "heavy support" package.