November 4, 2002
The current impasse at the U.N. Security Council is a perfect example of why the United States cannot allow the U.N. to determine our policy or our actions. Both France and Russia object to the U.S.-proposed resolution authorizing the disarming of Iraq.
A spokesman for the United Nations Association of the United States of America actually blames the impasse on the U.S.--criticizing the U.S. for submitting a proposal that threatens the international system they have worked so hard to create.
Here is the question: Should the United States foreign policy be subject to the approval of the U.N., as the U.N. Association, France and Russia seem to think? Or, should the United States foreign policy be authorized by Congress and implemented with or without the approval of the U.N.?
Most of the world believes that U.S. foreign policy should be subject to U.N. approval. That is what global governance is all about.
The proper role for the U.N. should be to provide a forum for the United States, and other nations that have a complaint against Iraq, to discuss and debate their differences in a civilized manner. The nations in conflict, ultimately, must decide on a resolution that is mutually agreeable.
The proper role for the U.N. Security Council should be to develop a collective strategy to prevent mass murder by warring nations, or civil disputes, in which the parties cannot find resolution. But the Security Council was silent when hundreds of thousands of black Africans were being slaughtered in Rwanda. The Security Council was locked in another impasse when Milosovic was slaughtering the Serbs.
When any nation is attacked, or seriously threatened with an attack, the nation has every right to defend itself, in any way it can, including calling upon its allies for support. Waiting for approval from the U.N. is foolish. Expecting relief from the U.N. is a sure strategy for filling cemeteries.
The United Nations can play a constructive role in the globalization of the world. Global governance is not that role. The United Nations must never be more than a neutral forum for sovereign nations to meet, and discuss common problems and hopes. The moment the U.N. began its quest to govern, it became a danger to the world. Problems between and among nations must be solved voluntarily by sovereign nations, not by a third-party enforcer.
The Soviet Union imposed a peace on the eastern European nations under its flag--for a while. When the flag fell, the unresolved issues flared, and the wars resumed. Nations--like individuals--must work out their own differences, and find ways to live together, without the heavy hand of a third-party power.
President George Bush has gone the extra mile to accommodate the U.N. crowd in his determination to protect the United States, and its allies, from madman Hussein. It is time to act. Congress has provided the authority, the majority of U.S. citizens support the cause, and the U.N. has had its opportunity to support the effort.
The United States is a sovereign nation, subject to no higher authority than the consent of the governed, expressed through a public vote of elected representatives.
If our commander in chief has determined that it is necessary to take pre-emptive action to defend the United States, and that determination is supported by the appropriate committees of Congress, and, indeed, by the overwhelming vote of Congress, France, Russia and the rest of the United Nations can get on board, or get out of the way.
No responsible person wants war. No responsible person wanted the attack on the World Trade Center. There are many irresponsible people who want to destroy the United States, and are working diligently to achieve their goal. Saddam Hussein is one of those people.
The United States has more than met its obligation to the U.N. Those who counsel delay and more discussion — in hopes of securing U.N. approval as a prerequisite for U.S. action — have lost sight of the sanctity of sovereignty. Cooperation is one thing; acquiescence is quite another.
The United States must defend and advance the principles of freedom. Self defense is most certainly one of those principles. We cannot allow our sovereignty to be eroded by those who believe global governance is the answer to the world's problems. The answers emerge when free people — and free nations — learn to respect and appreciate each other through mutually beneficial, voluntary agreements.
Totalitarian regimes are an impediment to lasting solutions. When the U.S. is threatened by such a regime, or any other power, it is the duty of our government to exercise its sovereign right to self defense, and do whatever it takes to protect, defend and advance the principles of freedom.
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