Small government was Re: [extropy-chat] EMP Attack?

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Brett Paatsch <bpaatsch at bigpond.net.au> wrote:

> >> Brett Paatsch
> >> Subject: Re: Small government was Re: [extropy-chat] EMP Attack?
> > ...
> >> I think the US 'defected' in game theory terms at the UN and it
> was
> >> seen to 'defect'...
> > 
> > Brett I read and reread your post but I don't think I 
> > understand it.
> 
> My fault.  That was unclear. I have posted to this list before my
> thoughts
> on UN Resolution 1441.  I'll go there again if you are interested
> Spike
> but I doubt that you are. The facts are a matter of public record
> though.
> 
> In a nutshell the whole permanent security council agreed to
> resolution
> 441 including the US and the UK as permanent security council 
> members. That meant that the UN and not the US had been given the
> power to determine whether an invasion of Iraq would occur by the US
> itself. In simple terms the US had ceded its sovereign power to
> invade Iraq unilaterally without UN security council approval. 
> 
> It had ceded part of its power when it signed the UN Charter and it
> ceded the rest of the power when it signed of on 1441 on the matter
> of Iraq. 

Um, no. Firstly, the UN Charter is very explicit in not barring
military action for national defense. Whatever you think about WMD or
other potential threats Saddam posed, the reality then was that all
members of the security council believed that a) saddam had wmd, and b)
he had previously sent a hit squad after Bush I, and c) openly admitted
to funding terrorist groups, particularly paying bounties to families
of suicide bombers.

Ergo, the US never 'ceded' its sovereignty in this. The US has always
reserved its rights to act unilaterally or in cooperation with others
outside the oversight of the UN. 

The UN is not a government, it has no sovereignty to claim, as no
nation ever granted it any, and no citizens. This is proven by the
clear fact that it is impossible for anybody to claim "UN Citizenship",
obtain UN passports, nor can individuals pursue redress of grievances
through UN tribunals. The Prince of Sealand has more claim to
sovereignty than the UN.

Unlike the US Constitution, which clearly and unequivocably debarrs
states of the union from attacking a foriegn nation, only allowing them
to the raising arms if themselves invaded, the UN Charter makes no such
restrictions on its members.

Nor was 1441 a measure that limited the sovereignty of the nations that
voted to consider it and voted for it or against it. Its only impact
was on the state it described, Iraq, because only Iraq had committed
positive acts in violation of its treaty obligations (the Gulf War
Cease Fire Agreement).

> 
> The US 'defected' when they refused to be bound by an obligation they
> had taken on. When they decided under the Bush administration to
> invade Iraq without an enabling security council resolution
> authorising them to do so, the US broke faith with the UN. 

No obligation taken, and tacit consent is not applicable, not just
because other nations did not claim any estoppel.
 
> 
> The legal minutae was probably lost on most people but the fact that
> the US (and allies) invaded to find weapons of mass destruction that
> ultimately didn't exist was not lost even on the proles.  Nor was the
> view of Kofi Annan, and others, that the invasion was illegal. 
> 
> The US invasion of Iraq was a dishonourable and an illegal act. 

An execution of a search warrant in support of a subpoena to produce is
not an illegal act if it fails to turn up evidence. Destruction of
evidence by a perpetrator cannot turn a search warrant execution into a
criminal act by police.


Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com


		
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