We Pwn The World

The United Nations has been gearing up for a September summit on UN reform. An agreement dealing with a variety of subjects from fighting poverty to strengthening international law is to be signed by visiting heads of state. The Bush regime's new UN ambassador, John Bolton, has requested 750 amendments to the current draft of the agreement. Seven hundred and fifty. The agreement is twenty-nine pages. The American amendments come to thirty-six pages. The amendments would, in part:

• Strike any mention of the Millenium Development Goals;
  
• De-emphasize the ongoing fight against poverty;
  
• Eliminate all references to the International Criminal Court;
  
• Scrap a call for action on climate change;
  
• Drop requests that nuclear nations make greater progress toward nuclear disarmament;
  
• Stress free-market reforms for countries whose economies are too weak to sustain such reforms.
  

There is a provision in the agreement that asks permanent Security Council members not to cast vetoes against resolutions designed to halt genocide, war crimes, or ethnic cleansing. It's not a provision that limits permanent members' vetoes in any way. It simply asks that those who can kill resolutions against war crimes refrain from doing so. The Bush regime opposes this provision. The agreement urges wealthy nations to contribute 0.7 percent of their GNPs to fight poverty. The United States finds this objectionable. The agreement requests that nations continue to observe the nuclear testing moratorium and sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The regime rejects both ideas.

One might ask why the United States proposed these amendments. Remember: The Bush regime will not accept any limitations on its power, even those which are in the interests of the United States.

In the spirit of compromise, however, Ambassador Bolton has expressed a willingness to scrap the agreement entirely.

(source: U.S. Wants Changes in U.N. Agreement, Washington Post, 25 August 2005)