Is the U.N. Worth Dying For?
From an article in today's Washington Post on John Kerry's approach to foreign policy:
Kerry's belief in working with allies runs so deep that he has maintained that
the loss of American life can be better justified if it occurs in the course of
a mission with international support. In 1994, discussing the possibility of
U.S. troops being killed in Bosnia, he said, "If you mean dying in the course of
the United Nations effort, yes, it is worth that. If you mean dying American
troops unilaterally going in with some false presumption that we can affect the
outcome, the answer is unequivocally no."
So the U.N.--that club of dictators and anti-Semites--is worth dying for, but America isn't? This quote sharply summarizes why the thought of waking up two weeks from today to the news that Kerry is president-elect invokes in us a sense of utter dread.
For a concrete example of how this might play out, we turn to Park Sang-seek, a Korean "peace studies" academic, who writes (with apparent approval) in the Korea Herald:
Kerry is likely to rely on the United Nations in dealing with any future crises
in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula. Take a hypothetical situation in the
Korean Peninsula: it is discovered that North Korea has experimented with
nuclear weapons or exported nuclear materials to hostile nations or terrorist
groups. Bush may make a surgical strike without consulting South Korea and the
United Nations. Kerry is likely to try to solve the issue through multilateral
forums, particularly the United Nations.
If North Korea gives nukes to terrorists and this is how a President Kerry responds, soldiers may not be the only Americans to die for the U.N.
2 comments:
Ock, I thank and commend your service to our country. But your being in the military doesn't make your view correct or off limits. Also you have no idea how many people read my blog or what their backgrounds are...you would be surprised. A few things, first I think its scary that people in the military might consciously be thinking is the order to charge this hill for a just cause or not before they start to move their feet! I'm not saying you would, just a scary thought. It's not your place to question or understand why but to just do it. When your in a bar on leave your opinion is your's to have. But, unless your a general on the joint chiefs or a member of the security council what makes you think you know all the facts or reasons we take action anywhere that we do? For an eloquent view of things going wrong with military action read this http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2004_10_17_dish_archive.html#109821328062375118
Hey Ock...ya I agree there are mistakes....but again read that email on the link I provided...and interesting take I think. As for comments on my blog...lots of people who know me don't like to join sites and so don't and so can comment. Hey I'm glad your here...it is boring if we all agree.
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