Guardian Unlimited | World dispatch | Nothing doing: "Nothing doing
A new Palestinian report on UN resolutions exposes the double standards at the heart of Bush's rationale for action against Iraq, says Brian Whitaker
Tuesday September 24, 2002
... 'All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment,' he [Bush] continued. 'Are security council resolutions to be honoured and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? [...] Right now those resolutions are being unilaterally subverted by the Iraqi regime.'
The same could be said of various other countries ...
Largely as a result of American pressure, criticisms of Israel in security council resolutions also tend to be softer than the criticisms of other countries for similar offences.
Not only that. Thirty-two draft resolutions criticising Israel since 1972 have never seen the light of day because the US used its security council veto to block them
...
In 1980, the security council issued a resolution saying that these activities had "no legal validity" and constituted "a flagrant violation of the fourth Geneva convention". It decided to establish a commission "to examine the situation".
Israel refused to co-operate with the commission and the security council responded with another resolution "strongly deploring" Israel's refusal.
...
"We cannot stand by and do nothing", Mr Bush told delegates to the UN. He was talking, of course, about Iraq. But in the case of Israel, we not only can do nothing - we do do nothing. "
Friday, August 29, 2003
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | US accused of double standards at UN: "US accused of double standards at UN
Owen Bowcott
Thursday September 12, 2002
The Guardian
America's determination to topple Saddam Hussein has intensified the debate over enforcement of UN resolutions, reviving claims they are selectively targeted to reflect the political interests of the major powers.
...
Opponents of UN sanctions against Baghdad allege that Israel has been permitted to defy resolutions for the past 30 years ordering it to quit the West Bank and Gaza, while Iraq's non-compliance has been punished by repeated bombings and a rigorously enforced trade embargo.
...
His critics are unlikely to be persuaded. 'The US has consistently employed a double standard when it comes to UN resolutions and international law,' maintains Voice in the Wilderness, the campaign to end economic sanctions against Iraq. 'For decades the US has vetoed UN resolutions condemning Israel's occupation of Arab territories.' "
Owen Bowcott
Thursday September 12, 2002
The Guardian
America's determination to topple Saddam Hussein has intensified the debate over enforcement of UN resolutions, reviving claims they are selectively targeted to reflect the political interests of the major powers.
...
Opponents of UN sanctions against Baghdad allege that Israel has been permitted to defy resolutions for the past 30 years ordering it to quit the West Bank and Gaza, while Iraq's non-compliance has been punished by repeated bombings and a rigorously enforced trade embargo.
...
His critics are unlikely to be persuaded. 'The US has consistently employed a double standard when it comes to UN resolutions and international law,' maintains Voice in the Wilderness, the campaign to end economic sanctions against Iraq. 'For decades the US has vetoed UN resolutions condemning Israel's occupation of Arab territories.' "
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Martin Woollacott: Sharon is now a danger to US troops and hopes in Iraq: "Sharon is now a danger to US troops and hopes in Iraq
Lack of progress in the Holy Land will feed the growth of terrorism
Martin Woollacott
Friday August 22, 2003
The Guardian
The crisis of American power that has been building since the Twin Towers attacks is close to a point of no return ...
The Americans have been slow - slow to act and slow witted; slow to discard the assumption that Iraq and Afghanistan could easily be restored to normality after their regimes were destroyed; slow to set aside ideological preconceptions; and slow to grasp, if they have grasped at all, the deviousness of their Israeli ally[Ed.].
That slowness has allowed Islamic extremists to move into Iraq, in what force it is not yet known, but it would be prudent to assume it is substantial. That slowness has allowed Afghanistan to slip into a political limbo, half a real state and half a collection of dubious chieftaincies, in which, again, extremists can not only survive but pose a real threat to the country's future. That slowness has given the Sharon government in Israel room to manipulate the 'road map'
...
Bush and Powell should act with speed and vigour. Deploring the loss of life, blaming both sides and endorsing the Israeli right to respond to attacks will not do. They need to pin the responsibility where it belongs, on the Sharon government, and prevent a new round of attacks. Unpalatable though such pressure on Israel may be to this administration, it is vital to exert it if America's larger purposes are to be served. Progress toward a settlement in the Holy Land is not a panacea which will end terrorism. But lack of progress, or, worse, the abandonment of the effort to achieve it, would undoubtedly feed the growth of terrorism, and that now includes a threat to America, and anybody associated with America, in Iraq. Even if those who bombed the UN were Saddamists rather than Islamists, the two may have a common cause. Sharon, in other words, endangers American troops and American purposes, in the largest and boldest of its undertakings abroad[Ed.]. "
Lack of progress in the Holy Land will feed the growth of terrorism
Martin Woollacott
Friday August 22, 2003
The Guardian
The crisis of American power that has been building since the Twin Towers attacks is close to a point of no return ...
The Americans have been slow - slow to act and slow witted; slow to discard the assumption that Iraq and Afghanistan could easily be restored to normality after their regimes were destroyed; slow to set aside ideological preconceptions; and slow to grasp, if they have grasped at all, the deviousness of their Israeli ally[Ed.].
That slowness has allowed Islamic extremists to move into Iraq, in what force it is not yet known, but it would be prudent to assume it is substantial. That slowness has allowed Afghanistan to slip into a political limbo, half a real state and half a collection of dubious chieftaincies, in which, again, extremists can not only survive but pose a real threat to the country's future. That slowness has given the Sharon government in Israel room to manipulate the 'road map'
...
Bush and Powell should act with speed and vigour. Deploring the loss of life, blaming both sides and endorsing the Israeli right to respond to attacks will not do. They need to pin the responsibility where it belongs, on the Sharon government, and prevent a new round of attacks. Unpalatable though such pressure on Israel may be to this administration, it is vital to exert it if America's larger purposes are to be served. Progress toward a settlement in the Holy Land is not a panacea which will end terrorism. But lack of progress, or, worse, the abandonment of the effort to achieve it, would undoubtedly feed the growth of terrorism, and that now includes a threat to America, and anybody associated with America, in Iraq. Even if those who bombed the UN were Saddamists rather than Islamists, the two may have a common cause. Sharon, in other words, endangers American troops and American purposes, in the largest and boldest of its undertakings abroad[Ed.]. "