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Thursday, January 23, 2003
posted by gbarto at 12:06 AM:
I posted this on an AOL forum a few minutes ago; thought I'd put it here too:It's the UN's war, whether they have the nerve to fight it or not
France, Russia hurt own credibility and UN's by putting commercial interests ahead of UN resolutions
The bottom line is that in 1990, George HW Bush put together an international coalition to deal with this state. He did so under the auspices of the UN and the war was concluded by an agreement with the UN - not the US. The terms of the agreement were intended to promote peace, regional stability and the protection of human rights in ways consistent with the UN's understanding of them.
Saddam has been violating that agreement by, among other things, supporting terrorism with $5,000 checks for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, making noises about a pan-Arab state that he would lead and seeking to acquire the necessary materials for weapons of mass destruction (eg, the reactor being built with Russian assistance).
That France and Russia are opposed is no surprise. France has been taking advantage of Iraq's ostracization to get cheap oil and Russia has been selling it the parts for nuclear reactors, among other things. As for Germany, Gerhard Schroder has been all over the map trying to hold on to the peacenik part of his coalition.
France and Russia's objections present some problems on the diplomatic front, of course, but for the UN, not the US, in the long run. The United States has generally viewed the UN as a handy cover for doing what it wants to do anyway. It's Russia and France, with their much smaller militaries, that rely on the UN for clout. If they wish to sabotage UN resolutions to maintain commercial interests, they may hold back the US for a time. But in so doing, they will let the world know that UN resolutions are meaningless pieces of paper whose terms can be reduced or eliminated if the price is right. That is, in thwarting the US in the short term, they'll turn their leading source of power in the international arena into a joke. In fighting a war on the UN's behalf - without UN consent - the US and UK would really be safeguarding the interests of France and Russia by doing the hard work that these lesser nations cannot bring themselves to do - make the UN and its agreements matter.
Further, if the US and UK go it alone, it will not be the UN signing agreements this time. It will be the US and UK, which means that the process of marginalization of France and Russia will have already begun: by trying to hang onto their short term interests in Iraq, the French and Russians will lose their say in what becomes of Iraq after and lose their commercial interests to boot. This is, of course, to be expected from the nation that hasn't managed to fight a war on its own without taking it in the chops since the days of Napoleon. As for Russia, it looks the former superpower's descent continues.
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