United Nations

Since 1945, the United Nations has been charged with keeping the peace in the world. We don't want another World War do we? They attempt to do so through negotiations and it seems that negotiations are the only way they believe that a conflict can be avoided.

I have been back to the Superior Court of Maricopa County several times. Each time, the judge has sent my ex wife and I to mediation. Each time, nothing has happened... the mediator agrees that there is going to be no middle ground found. Even when it seems as if it would be easy to find a middle ground. In the last mediation, we were to firm up our visitation agreement, to specify exactly what 5 weeks in the summer meant.. and to firm up, what "every other weekend" means... but when we got there, my ex wife said that she didn't agree to 5 weeks in the summer, that she wanted to alternate the kids week by week.. back and forth all summer. So nothing was agreed to. I had a nice talk with the Judge's assistant and even though she can't give legal advice she did tell me that next step would be to go to a mediator that will take sides and will make decisions. We have been through that before too... the mediator made suggestions and the judge disregarded them and sent us to mediation again... From the outside, anyone would say that not just my ex wife is being difficult.. they will say that is both of our faults.. but I know that the only way there will be true agreement is if I agree to pay a huge amount of child support and agree to never see the boys again. That is my wife's goal.. you cannot mediate with that... you can't come to a middle ground with someone that has no middle ground.

So.. what do you do? There must be some teeth.. I mean if you break a contract, you can be found liable for restitution which can be garnished from your wages... if you break the law you can go to jail, if you don't do what you are supposed to do with your divorce agreement.. you get sent to mediation.

Why? Because in a better world... would be handled through polite conversation and negotiation... but we don't live in that world..

We live in a world... that has many more threats than my example of losing a weekend visitation now and then..... we live in a world where a leader of a country can play the UN game..... they want to negotiate and negotiate. Saddam Hussein will be allowed to build his weapons.. to arm his forces, to develop chemical and biological weapons.. even though, he specifically agreed not to.

In this very blog, I have faulted George Bush.. for wanting to put some teeth into the agreement... the "what if you don't do what you are supposed to do....." but that isn't in my divorce agreement.. there is no consequence for failing to do the right thing.. you just get sent to mediation again. and Saddam knows that too.. he knows.. that the worst thing that will happen (at the UN) is that he will get sent back in to negotiate... at that time he will give a little.. attempting to show that he is willing to negotiate. Forgive me, but what is there to negotiate? He agreed not to make weapons of mass destruction, but he still continues to make biological weapons and who knows what else,

In World War II, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland... what if... he was pushed right back into Germany after that invasion? what if we knew that he was involved in racial cleansing? what if the UN was in place then? What if Adolph agreed not to do any more bad things? What if he still built weapons to kill the masses?

Would the UN have let Hitler continue on if he was in his own country?

Here are some Excerpts from Hans Blix report to the United Nations


Nerve Gas
The nerve agent VX is one of the most toxic ever developed. Iraq has declared that it only produced VX on a pilot scale, just a few tonnes and that the quality was poor and the product unstable. Consequently, it was said, that the agent was never weaponised. Iraq said that the small quantity of agent remaining after the Gulf War was unilaterally destroyed in the summer of 1991. UNMOVIC, however, has information that conflicts with this account. There are indications that Iraq had worked on the problem of purity and stabilization and that more had been achieved than has been declared. Indeed, even one of the documents provided by Iraq indicates that the purity of the agent, at least in laboratory production, was higher than declared. There are also indications that the agent was weaponised.
...
Chemical Rockets
The discovery of a number of 122 mm chemical rocket warheads in a bunker at a storage depot 170 km southwest of Baghdad was much publicized. This was a relatively new bunker and therefore the rockets must have been moved there in the past few years, at a time when Iraq should not have had such munitions
...
Anthrax
I have mentioned the issue of anthrax to the Council on previous occasions and I come back to it as it is an important one. Iraq has declared that it produced about 8,500 litres of this biological warfare agent, which it states it unilaterally destroyed in the summer of 1991. Iraq has provided little evidence for this production and no convincing evidence for its destruction. There are strong indications that Iraq produced more anthrax than it declared, and that at least some of this was retained after the declared destruction date. It might still exist. Either it should be found and be destroyed under UNMOVIC supervision or else convincing evidence should be produced to show that it was, indeed, destroyed in 1991.
....
More Missiles
There has been a range of developments in the missile field during the past four years presented by Iraq as non-proscribed activities. We are trying to gather a clear understanding of them through inspections and on-site discussions. Two projects in particular stand out. They are the development of a liquid-fuelled missile named the Al Samoud 2, and a solid propellant missile, called the Al Fatah. Both missiles have been tested to a range in excess of the permitted range of 150 km, with the Al Samoud 2 being tested to a maximum of 183 km and the Al Fatah to 161 km. Some of both types of missiles have already been provided to the Iraqi Armed Forces even though it is stated that they are still undergoing development

Yeah.... let's just go back to mediation.. I am sure that THIS time... we can make Saddam understand...

I know that going to war.. killing people is a horrible thing. And.. if the U.S. is right.. Saddam has a lot of weapons to fight back... doesn't he.