A Chilling War Of Words At The UN

http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2008/09/a-chilling-war.html

A Chilling War Of Words At The UN
By Cernig

Yes, I know everyone wants to talk about (and read about) Sarah Palin, but meanwhile there's actually some serious stuff going on in the world.

For instance:

Russia's U.N. envoy asked the Security Council on Tuesday to impose an arms embargo on Georgia, which Russia invaded last month to stop Tbilisi from retaking a Kremlin-backed separatist enclave.

Washington quickly dismissed the Russian draft resolution as a ploy to divert attention from the fact Moscow had yet to pull out of Georgian territory outside two breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as promised in a French-brokered cease-fire agreement signed last month.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin submitted the draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council. The text calls for countries to implement measures that would ban the sale of all "arms or military equipment" to Georgia, as well as any military "assistance, consultations or training."

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the council, Churkin acknowledged that that the United States, which helped modernize Georgia's military and backs Tbilisi's aspirations to join the NATO military alliance, might put up strong resistance to the resolution.



Gee, ya thunk? It's a purely political manouver, making a statement about involvement in Russia's backyard, and Russia doubtless expects the US and others to veto any resolution that might emerge. It's a as political a statement as Russia sending a fleet to Venezuela for manouvers - something that will tax Russian naval readiness to the utmost but is designed purely to say "hey, how do you like another major power playing in your backyard pool, huh?"

(And oh, by the way, while the US was sending Cheney to posture in Georgia, the Europeans were doing it by themselves, with Sarkozy brokering a deal for actual Russian withdrawal from Georgian territory outside the disputed regions.)

But this is just another symptom of a new combatative style of rhetoric at the UN.

Judging by the recent deadlock in the Security Council -- over Kosovo, Iran, Myanmar (Burma), Zimbabwe, Sudan and most recently Georgia -- one wonders whether the days of the Cold War are back in vogue. Or perhaps its political rhetoric?

In January last year, a Western-backed and U.S.-led move to castigate the Burmese government for human rights violations suffered a rare double veto, both from China and Russia.

And last month, history repeated itself when these two big powers exercised their vetoes again -- this time to stall a resolution aimed at imposing sanctions against Zimbabwe.

The U.S.-Russian political confrontation in the Security Council has been intensified in recent weeks with the Russian invasion of Georgia, and Moscow's subsequent decision to recognise the breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

When U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad sought a response from Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin on whether or not the Russians were bent on violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, Churkin said he had already provided an answer to the question.

Maybe, he added rather sarcastically, the U.S. representative had not been listening when Churkin had given his response. "Perhaps he had not had his earpiece on," he added.

And when U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff recently blasted Russia for its perceived violations of international law and the U.N. charter during the invasion of Georgia, Churkin hit back with another dose of sarcasm.

"Did you find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?...And are you still looking for them?" he asked.

Matters haven't become as bad as during the actual Cold War just yet, experts say - but does anyone doubt that with the angry man, John McCain, in control of what would pass for US diplomacy, it wouldn't get worse? He might even make John Bolton his Secretary of State! A McCain presidency would lead to America's allies putting even more distance between themselves and the US and finish off the assault on American prestige that George Bush has so successfully mounted.

Posted at 05:06 PM in Foreign Policy & Affairs | Permalink

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