"Peacekeepers" don't work.

Post #35,027 by Brandioch 4/10/02 6:45:16 PM Reply	"Peacekeepers" don't work. You're either military or cops. If you're military, you kill people and break things. If you're cops, you investigate, arrest and prosecute. Do NOT get these two occupations confused. The military can NOT keep the peace. Cops can NOT fight a war. Once again, this isn't about the UN. This is about what happens when people and governments try to "label" situations incorrectly to soothe their constituents.
Post #35,124 by marlowe 4/11/02 12:48:09 PM Reply	Of course it's about the UN. It's about their distressing tendency to mislabel everything. [link\|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html\|http://www.angelfir...e/index.html] Truth is that which is the case. Accept no substitutes. If competence is considered "hubris" then may I and my country always be as "arrogant" as we can possibly manage.
Post #35,134 by Ashton 4/11/02 1:28:10 PM Reply	You mean, like 'Liberal' & 'Conservative' n'stuff?
Post #35,142 by Brandioch 4/11/02 2:11:30 PM Reply	Check your facts. The US does NOT have to follow ANY UN mandates. We've not followed enough of them in the past. Hell, we weren't even paying our dues. If the UN says that we need to send 20,000 "peacekeepers" to some backwater, we can tell them to go fuck themselves. We don't do this because we like the illusion that we're "doing something" for the world. If we had any decent policy, we'd offer to fight wars and provide training for local enforcement and judicial systems. But the people doing the training wouldn't be military. And the military wouldn't be arresting people. Multi-faceted Multi-pronged But, as I've said before, simple thought does not solve complex problems.
Post #35,269 by Mike 4/12/02 3:59:28 PM Reply	Some facts >>The US does NOT have to follow ANY UN mandates. The General Assembly Decisions of the Assembly have no legally binding force for Governments. This is well recognised. (They do carry the weight of world opinion though). The Security Council The Security Council has the power to make mandatory resolutions which are binding on Governments. It is rare that these occur because of the veto power enjoyed by the five permanent members. The U.S. has traditionally clubbed anything it didn't like with its veto power (including resolutions critical of Israel). Security Council Resolutions which the US doesn't like get killed procedurally. They don't have to refuse to follow mandatory resolutions. They can kill anything they want to with the veto before it comes into existence. And they do. Not saying this is how it should be. Just how it is. -- William Shatner's Trousers --

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