Artwork, Mr Fish
Intervention under the UN Right to Protect (R2P) Charter
by frankie Monday, Nov 5 2012, 9:56am
international /
prose /
post
A license and justification for Imperialists
I recently viewed a debate between Imperialist apologist, Christopher Hitchens and 'blind' socialist commentator, Michael Parenti. The debate occurred in 2005 but is easily accessed today on Youtube. Hitchens has since died an untimely death, probably due to his attacks on Henry Kissinger, while Parenti is effectively dead though still in body.
I was astounded when Hitchens referred to the UN R2P as a justification for the clearly illegal, based on LIES, invasion of Iraq. For those not familiar with the UN Charter, there are four main criteria which allow for the intervention of any sovereign nation (inclusive of military force) by a coalition of other nations, they are:
1. Genocide
2. Ethnic Cleansing
3. War crimes
4. Crimes Against Humanity
It immediately becomes apparent the first two conditions overlap as do the last two conditions, so for the sake of convenience and to avoid hair-splitting we could narrow all four conditions to two major crimes/conditions, Mass Murder and War Crimes.
Wikipedia (linked) lists a number of nations that have qualified for intervention, which, it must be said, seem tailored for Imperialist America and its servile allies to avoid war crimes trials and charges of genocide and other crimes against humanity.
Also notably missing from the list is the Congo, where over 10 million innocent civilians have died as a direct result of Western powers destabilising the nation in order to appropriate its valuable resources. The other nations on the list were strategically targeted by Transnational Oil Corporations for their resources and strategic pipeline routes.
One couldn't produce a more revealing and farcical Imperialist shopping list if one tried.
And yet the obvious goes unmentioned, something Parenti unforgivably failed to mention; AMERICA remains the world's LEADING invasive, civilian killing and holocaust producing nation -- 6 million innocent souls murdered since the Vietnam War -- what is 'carpet bombing' if not genocide?
Therefore according to the R2P UN Charter, America is THE prime candidate for intervention, though it should be stated that its war crimes and mass murders were/are committed on foreign soil -- but would that morally and legally exempt it from intervention by a coalition of civilised, moral nations under the Charter?
The other major sub-textual message is that the UN today is a puppet entity to commercial interests and neo-colonial Imperialist powers.
The UN now vies with the US for the Red Queen, inverted logic and hypocrisy awards.
One can only wonder and laugh at the comical and tragic use of the UN Charter today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_to_protect