CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

How to Rout UN Hypocrisy

Dilrook Kannangara

‘Yasukuni’ Matsura has condemned the Voice of Terrorists (there are no tigers in Sri Lanka!) bombing; can he condemn the utter barbarianism unleashed on Manchurians in the same vain? UN’s hypocrisy is legendary; it takes only an internet search to get a glimpse of the colossal number of times the UN has conducted itself dishonestly. United Nations’ irrelevance in a world where nations are not united is highly dubious. It is often the case that the powerful nations always getaway with anything and everything and it is the smaller states that have to bear the blunt and arrogance of UN fatcats. Although UN officials make most operational level decisions, its ultimate decisions are made by the Security Council. The Security Council is a reflection of growing dissent among its members. The failure of the UN is more than evident from the following; they also hint at what to do when faced with UN hypocrisy.

1. The UN has done scant little to stop conflicts from occurring around the world. Military might is the order of the day to settle scores among the nations, unless both parties agree for a peaceful resolution. If the US wants to attach Iraq or Iran it can do so without any repercussions, but when Iraq invaded Kuwait the UN was up in arms. Although the UN imposed sanctions, the Australian Wheat Board sold wheat to Iraq and there was nothing the UN could do!

2. Israel and Palestine are engaged in a never ending spate of violence. The UN has simply become irrelevant!

3. Israel can go on bombing civilian targets in Lebanon without any UN hindrance and when it runs out of manpower to contain Hezbollah areas, the UN ‘peace keeping troops’ fills in for Israel! Although Israel has a right to defend itself, Lebanon also has the same right which is not satisfactorily recognized by the UN.

4. When Britain wanted black gold in the Falklands, it beat Argentina into oblivion and got it; the UN was simply irrelevant. When Australia wanted to exploit petroleum resources in East Timor, it simply did so depriving the poor Timorese their rights and there is nothing the UN could do about it.

5. When the Russians claimed that the Arctic seabed is theirs, this year, there was nothing whatsoever the UN could do. If any other country wants to enforce their rights, they must do so militarily.

6. If Japan wants to hunt whales, it can do so without any resistance from the UN; what does the UN care about the environment? On the other hand, if the human race is concerned about climate change, they had to bypass the UN and meet in Kyoto to agree on means to tackle one of the pressing human concerns of the century.

7. If India wants to open its floodgates and flood Bangladesh or close down the water flow and starve Bangladesh, there is nothing the UN can do.

8. When France wants to test their nuclear weapons above ground, the living rights of the people in Micronesia become irrelevant and there is nothing the UN can do.

9. When Serbs wanted to genocide Bosnians and vice versa, UN merely observed it until it got a business opportunity to “investigate” into these crimes. Its verdict is only suitable for the rubbish bin!

10. Same with Rwanda where the UN was an armchair observer.

11. The UN cannot recognize all terrorist groups as such; it changes the goal-post depending on who is affected.

There are hundreds of examples of UN hypocrisy and an equal number of examples of how the UN hypocrisy was turned into an opportunity by the powerful. Simply the UN wants to maintain the status quo. As long as its big boys are not involved, the UN officials have a say in its decision making. However, if any nation aggressively goes ahead with its agenda backed by any of the big boys, there is nothing the UN can do. Top ranking UN officials have continuously shown their lack of understanding of the Sri Lankan issue. Therefore what Sri Lanka should do is to completely disregard the UN intentions and continue its wargames. However, care should be taken to complete the war effort soon else it can attract further UN interference. Sri Lanka must assert aggressively its right over its land and there should be no compromise due to UN concerns. A fast military victory would seal the new Sri Lankan order which cannot be reversed by the UN.

At the same time Sri Lanka must carefully build strong relationships with China, Russia, the US, UK and France separately in whatever avenues available. Even Sudan and Chad can get away with their real large scale human rights violations thanks to them being the darlings of China; Israel can bomb civilians using prosperous spray as long as it remains the apple of the eye of the US President; Pinoche can kill tens of thousands as long as he is a key US ally; even Apartheid was OK when South Africa remained a close pro-western ally; Hirohitho could escape due punishment for hundreds of thousands of atrocities when he patched up with the US! We must learn from these examples. Simply Lanka must play the hypocritical game in favour of its backers at the top. The fact that UN is nothing but its powerful members must be fully appreciated. In this context, over-criticizing Burma, happenings in Tibet and China are highly counterproductive. Instead a self-centred protectionist attitude must take precedence while favouring Lanka’s powerful friends irrespective of what is right and wrong. It is like a shrewd seller inducing the Purchasing Manager of a potential buyer! After all, there is nothing Lanka can do to make the world a righteous place. It is like Russia and Canada silently planning increased agricultural activities in time for serious climate change (these two countries are tipped to become the biggest economic gainers of global warming)!!

To change the course by altering the sails in this highly selfish sea of political storms is the task of the Lankan foreign ministry and the government as a whole. It requires considerable change in the manner diplomacy is handled today. However, the renewed self-esteem of Sri Lanka must be appreciated; that is no doubt a step in the right direction. Defence pacts with the US, China, Pakistan, Russia, Israel, India, etc. are quite relevant to keep the big boys happy. Remaining a unitary nation is vital if Sri Lanka is to have an unwavering foreign policy for the betterment of the nation as a whole. If Islamic states and Hindustani states of a federated Lanka are going to oppose potential defence pacts, there is no way Sri Lanka can assert itself as a nation with sails of its own.

It is timely to note that Sri Lanka very successfully routed the Norwegian interferers who heavily supported the LTTE; today the Norwegians have been reduced to mere corpse-handlers thanks to the insightful decisions taken by the defence establishment! As long as corpses and (tiger) carcasses are there, Norwegians will be around.

However in the long run, Sri Lanka must register a strong economy which is in the hands of pro-Sri Lankan nationalist forces so that its interests become relevant in the world arena. On the other hand, if Elamists become economic giants in Lanka, they would finance the death of this nation. It should also amass, thereafter, considerable destructive power which is the single determinant of recognition in the UN-dominated world. Failure to achieve these targets means that Lanka will die in the hands of the terrorists, invaders or the UN. To hell with the “united nations”; nations are NOT united after all! It is only individual national interests that matter in this hyper-hypocritical world increasingly ruled by the strength of weapons each nation possesses; the more destructive the more powerful. Annihilate the LTTE and the world will rally behind Lanka to learn how to beat the terrorists; not only the Sri Lanka Navy (the only operational navy in the world), even its political leaders will be in high demand for the global war on terror. Specializations gained in fighting terror would become one of the most valuable assets of any country in years to come.

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