A historic moment before UN General Assembly
Regional, Editorial, 9/19/2003

The United Nations General Assembly is considering to act under the "Uniting for Peace" formula of 1950 . The provision which will be acted under reads: "Resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security. If not in session at the time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours of the request therefor. Such emergency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the vote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations;"

At a critical time in the life of the United Nations, which has shown itself totally inapt at taking control of its destiny in order to begin solving the problems hindering world development, the General Assembly is ready to make what may be a historic decision.

The issue relates to Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, and the threats he faces about his expulsion or killing by Israel.

However, its is not clear how resolute and effective the General Assembly in its action will be. Therefore, it is crucial that any act by the General Assembly have the following criteria that would need to be met for its resolutions.

1. That the wording of the act is extremely brief and precise, leaving no place for ambiguity.

2. That it does not focus on more than one extremely specific subject.

3. That it has clear and specific consequences attached to the resolution if it is not observed.

4. That there is a clear and definite timeline for when the resolutions takes effect, and each and every one of its consequences.

If you try to appease everyone with muddled language and "on the one hand we call on this party to do this ... and on the other party to do this," you will fail. If you try to solve all the problems in one resolution, you will fail. Deal with every little issue separately, no matter how small and inconvenient that may be procedurally. There is too much at stake, Everything is at stake. Your effectiveness, and the beginning of a new role for the General Assembly. Don't hurry this one. Get it right, and set a precedence that will forever mark it as the day the United Nations transformed itself.

A simple resolution would be "If Israel threatens or causes physical harm to the elected Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, then total world economic sanctions will be imposed on Israel immediately."

If you want to deal with Terrorism or any other subject, then do this as much as you want. But deal with one minute and specific issue at a time, and separately. Let's start breaking down all the world's insoluble issues, and change the world forever. Act, assert yourself, and bring the issue with all its consequences to the forefront about who will control the UN. You can't loose, unless you (the General Assembly) want to.

If the UN General Assembly, does not take charge at this most historic moment, and act with decisiveness of purpose, firmness and vision, to take control of its destiny, then you are wasting many peoples' time, energy and hopes; and might as well, pack your bags and go home.

Previous Stories:
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  The US should not be supported at the UN   (9/6/2003)
  Peace requires straight talk, and knowing the victim from the aggressor   (6/23/2003)
  The rationalization of governments: concrete measures of every law, program and department   (6/7/2003)
  The politics of terrorism is very bad politics   (6/2/2003)
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  The UN is a fundamentally flawed institution   (4/26/2003)

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