Move The UN

An important request to ALL our readers

2010-07-10T13:44:00.000+02:00

Dear Readers of all our blogs,

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that we will now have to make all our major blogs accessible only to those who register with us.

The subjects we have covered over the years include the wrestler Dara Singh (probably the most popular and controversial blog entries, ever), St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, Bishop Cotton School, Bangalore, the UN, talk Shows in the USA, politics, the Kandathil and Maliyakal families, Kampitie, Vesaisentie, Annikki's creative art, achievements of our children and grandchildren, CHAFF (Chamber for Assistance of Finns and Foreigners), Findians, our numerous friends, relatives, our travels, recipes, and life in general. Above all, t they contained the nostalgia the people love.

Due to circumstances far beyond our control, which affect the lives of many of our loved ones, we have to create the SETTINGS of our blogs so that only those whom we invite can read them. This is very sad as our blogs have reunited many friends across the continents.

With over 120000 readers around the world, some reading more than one of our blogs, for a decrepit old blogger and his wife sitting near the North Pole, this will prove to be a Herculean task, but one which has to be done for the safety, security and well being of many of our loved ones.

Please take the time and effort to send us an email telling us which of our blogs you want to be added to so that you can access them freely.

Our sincere apologies to each and every one of you lovely readers who have kept us going for almost a decade and a half by your readership, your inputs and your outputs!

Yours in great sadness as technology besides being a positive aspect of life can also be a very negative one.

Annikki and Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

Dilemma! What do I do?

2010-01-21T06:18:00.000+02:00

I was in this dilemma when I stated blogging in December 2004. I had one blog for all my different audiences. At that time I also had web pages devoted to different sectors of readers.

There was a clamour amongst my readers of the blog that I was out of tune with them as they were reading many items that they were not interested in as they pertained to my alma maters or something specific to Oulu, etc.

It was then I started breaking up my blogs - besides my primary Blog (Jacob's Blog), I started one on Politics, another related to my association with Cathedral School (Mumbai), another about St. Stephen's College (Delhi), another about finding goods and services in Oulu, etc.

Everybody was happy!

All went well till my recent trip to India, where I stopped all my auxiliary blogs and kept only my main blog going, with just a few very specific entries to my other blogs.

My readership shot up as it appeared that many were interested in all aspects of my trip around India - which I had termed as "Incredible India".

The readership more than doubled at one point. People were referring others to my blog and it just snow-balled into a massive readerfest. Old and young, relatives and friends, school and college mates, Findians, O-Indians, my professional colleagues, past and present, were all tuned in. And many strangers from around the world were liking my style!

Wherever I went I found I needed no introduction as people had been following my blog. As I recorded, at one stage it became highly embarrassing, as people would come up to me and ask whether I knew them!

On returning to Finland, I went back to my old system.

Now I am having a spate of complaints. Many say that I should only blog at one point.

That would be great for me but not fair on my diverse audience. For instance the Cathedral School Alumni Association have especially complimented me on my sustained effort to keep the school spirit at its height by my blogging.

That is definitely not possible as my Seventh Heaven and Kooler Talk Blogs have very specific readerships. And not everyone likes my Politics. To burden all my regular readers with MY political views would be unfair. And my Oulu Best (Worst) Buy Blog is very specific to my Oulu Readers. Who in India or USA wants to read about the price of eggs in Oulu?

Is there any single solution, which is outside my very limited knowledge, which will help keep all my readers happy?

One way is that you could become a "Follower" of a specific blog. Whenever the one you are interested is updated, you will get a message from Google. No infringement of your privacy. You can always stop the "Follower" program whenever you want.

That way, it would stop my having to post important blog entries on my multiple blogs. (Possibly - as I have not yet looked into the ramifications of this alternative.)

If you have any suggestions, please email me or leave me a COMMENT. (Although my blogs are not exactly "Comment" blogs, I do read all the comments and reply them appropriately - also knocking off the spam that does come in.

This entry is being posted on all my major blogs, as it concerns all my readers in all categories.

Back from India

2010-01-10T12:03:00.004+02:00

44 years ago, on Janúary 10th, 1946, the first General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) wqs convened in London.

There is an interesting article about this on the front page of today's New York Times.

UNO Opened: Attlee asks for world unity by James B. Reston.

The 51 nations met in the afternoon in the blue and gold auditorium of the Central Hall of Westminster for the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

British Prime Minister Attlee said that they would succeed in their new venture only if they brought "the same sense of urgency, the same self-sacrifice and the same willingness to subordinate sectional interests" with which they fought the war.

Sadly, that unity has never been, because of the polarisation of the forces that were part of the subsequent cold war. Sectional interests were at the heart of the cold war. Even since, with only one major power, it is sectional interests which is keeping the world divided.

The only way the UN can be effective is to move it from its present loaction to a neutral location.

Two neutral countries of that time, Sweden and Portugal, refused to take part in the creation of the UNO because they were not invited and because they were not prepared to abandon their neutrality whenever the Security Council was to vote the UNO powers into action against an aggressor.

How right they were to not take part. Almost every action of aggression has been because of the location of the UN in New York.

Let us hope that, in the next decade, saner forces will prevail and the UN will be moved to a truly neutral location.

Next two months

2009-10-20T20:29:00.000+02:00

All our blog postings for the next two months will only be on our main blog - Jacob's Blog

Enjoy your trip to India with us.

Happy 90th birthday, Nelson Mandela

2008-07-18T04:15:00.001+02:00

Happy 90th birthday to the world's greatest politician, leader EVER - Nelson Mandela. May he have very many more.

Copyright: Photograph from Dismantling Apartheid

He has taught mankind through his sincerity to his cause - the people of Africa.

Thank you Nelson Mandela.

Hopefully back on line

2008-03-26T23:00:00.000+02:00

(Posted on all my major blogs)

Yesterday, after some 33 days of being without my internet connection, I was put back on line. Several errors were found at the connections outside our premises and also in the Gateway.

The first thing I did after getting back my connection was test my speed. I pay for a 8 M line, but I was shocked to find my upload and download speeds were less than 500 kbps.

Additionally, I have a fixed IP and I found that the IP that I was using was not mine.

Thirdly, all my computers are connected to the internet through a Router. i found that if I went on to connect my router, I lost the internet connection.

Lastly, during the last 7 years I have used DHCP to connect to the internet. I have not used PPPoE. I found that I was unable to connect using DHCP and my own Fixed IP but only through the PPPoE which was assigning me the random IP.

All these problems has made life continue to be difficult as I am using just a single computer to connect to the internet.

I have a backload of about 6 weeks of work. With this situation I will only be able to catch up by the end of April.

I have lodged my complaint with my ISP .- and hopefully I will get some action by the end of this week.

Please bear with me till I get back into full swing.

Through the eyes of an Arab Israeli Human Rights Activist

2007-10-03T14:15:00.000+02:00

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, Jacob's Politics Blog, the Move The UN Blog, and the Liberal Talk Show Ratings Blog.

Yesterday, Tuesday 2.10.2007, between 18:00 and 20:00 hours, at the Kirjakahvila Nispero, Pakkahuoneenkatu 5, Oulu, owned by Jarmo Stoor and his wife, I had the privilege and honour to listen to Israeli Palestinian Human Right Activist Najib Abu Rokaya from the B´Tselem Human Rights Group. This is the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories which was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members.

How would it feel if you got married to the person you love and are then told by your "Democratic" Government that you cannot bring your partner to your country but have to move away to another country where your partner lives and also give up your natural citizenship?

This is what happens in Palestine AND ALSO in Israel when it concerns Arab Israeli citizens!

No wonder that former US President Jimmy Carter addressed the present situation in Israel as being akin to the Apartheid that was prevalent in White South Africa!

But I digress.

Najib knows the effects of the Middle East conflict on the day to day life of those who live under it. His expertise has been used by the BBC (among others) in reporting on the situation there.

Najib Abu Rokaya is an Israeli Arab. He was one of the Palestinians who during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War stayed behind the green line (the internationally accepted border at the time between Israel and the planned Palestinian government) of what was to become the State of Israel. Today those Palestinians form about 18% of Israel's population.

Najib is a human asset in the position of Arabs inside Israel from his understanding of the law and personal experiences. He operates inside the internationally respected Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem.

The primary purpose of the group is to monitor the Israeli Army, Israeli governmental institutions and illegal West-Bank settlements in Palestinian areas. B'Tselem addresses its public reports to the Israeli political leadership as well as the general public.

Najib is the fieldwork coordinator of B'Tselem. Due to his position in B'Tselem and previous political activities, Najib has intimate details about the Arab minority question and the
current situation of the Israel/Palestinian conflict.

In his talk he started by drawing attention to the fact that the move to set up the State of Israel began as far back as 1890 and one of the locations suggested was Uganda! However, after the holocaust and World War II the United Nations gave Israel around 54% of Palestine.

After the various wars this increased to 70+% but when one considers the situation on the ground in Israel, Israel controls 100% of the territory.

However, clever politicking by Israeli "peace-brokers" and a feeling of absolute uselessness of the ability to stand and fight by the people of Palestine, Israel has transferred the international obligations of "the Occupier" on the Palestinians while continuing to occupy the whole territory.

As was rather strongly put by Najib, the Oslo Agreement was b------t! All it contained were paras which were to occur "God Willing", or in Arabisc "Inshallah"!

The wall / fence which has been built by Israel between "Palestine West Bank territory" on Palestinian land is another example of Israel usurping territory under the guise of "Security". The real border is about 320 km. But the wall / fence is over 700 km in length. Administration of the lands ursurped by the Israelis under this excuse is being integrated by a series of measures which makes it almost impossible for the Palestinians to even look after their own lands!

The absolute stranglehold by Israel over the Gaza is another example of how cleverly Israeli transferred "the obligations" onto the Palestinian Government while ensuring that they had absolutely no way of meeting those obligations.

There are two sides to every coin.

Najib was able, as an Arab Israeli, to put before the audience the side of not only the Palestinians living in "their" land of Palestine and of Arab Israelis, but also the 4 million refugees which have been packaged out of their land by this never ending conflict, most of whom are today stateless!

The stories given by Najib of the trigger-happy methods of the Israeli forces who have been ordered "not to take prisoners" as they infiltrate and murder the Palestinians was heart rending.

That is the other side of the story which is never told by the western media as the it has always been the Palestinians who have been accused of suicide bombings!

The Palestinians of all shades live in hope that they will once again be able to live in peace in their land. But it suits Israel to have a state of chaos prevailing as that way they will be able to draw on their superior public media presentation skills to highlight the Palestinians as the aggressors while they continue to enjoy and expand their hold of entire Palestine!

Many thanks to this outstanding personality for sharing his thoughts with us in Oulu.

Has the US already reached the Fascist Stage?

2007-09-27T07:50:00.000+02:00

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, Jacob's Politics Blog, the Talk Show Ratings Blog and the Move the UN Blog.

Mike Malloy continues to head my ratings of Liberal Talk Show Hosts. Mike lives near Atlanta in Georgia and he and his wife, Kathy Bay, who is the Executive Producer of his show, put together their show every morning which airs on NovaM Radio, a liberal radio station from Phoenix, Arizona. I listen to him live, online, over the internet. Besides being a great host, Kathy is an outstanding producer, and boy, is she quick with suitable music and her comments.

I get up at 4 am every morning from Tuesday to Saturday to listen to Mike, as not only does he have a different view point from any other Talk Show Host, but in my seven years of listening to him, I have found him to be honest and in pursuit of the TRUTH.

His listeners are known as the TRUTHSEEKERS!

Many of us get together on the Democratic Underground Forum to share the experience of listening to Mike. It is a great community.

One caller to Mike's show today from New York really set my mind thinking.

Mike has been saying that America has already reached the Fascist State. Many disagree with him.

The caller said that, at this time of the year, there are many dignitaries attending the UN General Assembly, so security is normally at a height. However, what he experienced earlier this evening was totally unexpected.

The caller lives in a small suburban area of the New York where, in the back street, there is a good small restaurant. He had gone out for a walk in the evening. On his way home, several black limousines pulled up outside the restaurant.

Out of the last car jumped out several men in full riot gear, fully armed. They stepped all pedestrians even crossing the street. The people had to wait a full 10 minutes till the dignitary emerged from the car and was safely seated in the restaurant!

Does this happen in a democratic society?

I sincerely do not believe it can - not in any Scandinavian country.

Remember the killing of Olof Palme over 20 years ago. On February 28, 1986, the Swedish Prime Minister, leader of the Social Democratic Party was gunned down on a Stockholm street home from a cinema with his wife, Lisbet. as he and his wife were walking on the streets of Stockholm without any security personnel?

Has any such procedure as described by the New York caller been put into operation in any part of Sweden? NO!

I now tend to agree with Mike that the US, led by an imbecile, has entered the final phase of a Fascist State.

As another caller said, on Mike's show, that as she was at an US Airport with her toddler, there was an announcement that the day's terrorism alert was ORANGE and she and her toddler had to go through security checks where even the toddler had to remove his shoes for checking.

Fear Rules the US - and that is what Fascism is about!

One more reason to Move The UN

2007-09-17T20:15:00.000+02:00

One of the Republican candidates for the President of the US called on the UN to bar the President of Iran from addressing the UN next week.

Romney Calls On U.N. to Bar Iranian President By Michael Luo

Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate, is sending a letter to the United Nations Secretary General tomorrow, calling for him to bar Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from addressing the General Assembly next week and instead hand him an indictment under the Genocide Convention. More...

The person who should be barred from addressing the UN is the War Criminal, George Bush, pResident of the US!

Philosophy behind my multiple entry blogging

2007-09-03T19:34:00.001+02:00

Posted on Jacob's Blog, the Oulu Best Buy Blog, the Oulu CHAFF Blog, the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog, the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog, the Jacob's Politics Blog, the Move the UN Blog, and the Talk Show Ratings Blog.

Many diverse groups of people with multiple interests are reading my blogs.

Some of you are reading more than one of my blogs.

It is very annoying to see the same posting on more than one blog.

I apologise.

I have, therefore, to introduce a strategy till such time as I can get all or most of my 120 000+ readers to install a policy of being updated whenever there is a new blog entry on the blogs of their specific interest.

If they do this registration, then I need only post any entry to a single blog. The blog info service should inform you if that particular blog has been updated.

If you subscribe to getting this info for three blogs, then I need not post an entry to all three blogs!

Till the recording service is fully operational, at the top of each entry I will include a list of the other blogs that the entry will be found.

For instance, this entry will be found on ALL my blogs.

If any of you have a better solution, I am all ears.

Remember, I am a computer idiot and know nothing about the art of designing things for the computer. :-) That's because I use a Mac!

Words, words, words...

2007-05-10T06:45:00.000+02:00

This comment was posted by me on The Washington Note.

Words, words, words...

How will it affect the use of vetos, votes concerning Israel regardless, issues regarding the visa policies of persona non grata attending the UN forum, stands on illegal invasion and occupation, actions against states violating international treaties, etc.,

Only when the UN is moved out of the US (http://movetheun.blogspot.com), veto powers are stripped to make it a "democratic" forum, member states who do not pay their dues on time are stripped of their voting rights, when the Security Council represents the ethnic mix of the earth, etc., will the UN become a legitimate body which can hold the "superpower(s)" accountable for their deeds.

Till then it will be words, words and more words.

Posted by: Jacob Matthan at May 9, 2007 11:38 PM

Special action on 1st February 2007

2007-01-24T23:15:00.000+02:00

(Cross-posted on all my major blogs.)

This message was sent to me by my friend 59er Peter Miovic for the widest possible circulation. Since I believe in this cause, I am posting this on all my blogs and groups.

Hope you will take heed and spread it within your circle.

Send this message to as many people as you know!

An action to bring climate change to the notice of Politicians and World Leaders

On February 1st 2007 take part in one of the biggest actions against climate change organised by the people.

L'Alliance pour la Planète (a group of environmental activists) send this call to all civilians:

Make our planet rest for five minutes!

Everybody is requested to dim his/her lights for five minutes between 7.55 pm and 8.00 pm on February 1st 2007.

This not only to save engergy for five minutes, but to bring this message in a way that will attract the attention of politicians and leaders.

It is time for them to take action and avoid the waste of energy.

During the 5 minutes we'll give the planet rest: it doesn't take long and it won't cost you a thing.

And it will make a statement before the Belgian federal elections that we as citizens want climate on the agenda.

And why February 1st 2007?

Because on that day a new file from the climatologic experts of the United Nations will be published in Paris.

Because it is with our Belgian neigbours, it is impossible to let this opportunity slip!

We have to get attention to the urgent matter of the worlds climatological situation. If everybody takes part in this action it will have an effect on media and politics that might have a real influence, this would be good on such short notice before the (Belgian) elections!

Make this message go around the globe, send it to friends, family and local politicians. Put it in your newsletter and your blogs.

Get out while you can...

2006-09-29T14:00:00.000+02:00

(Cross-posted on my Jacob's Blog and my Jacob's Politics Blog.)

Yesterday was a dark day in the US, not only for any foreigner living in that country but also for every free-thinking American who loves his freedom and the US Constitution.

The US Constitution was shredded by the US Senate and the compliant Democrats in that house rolled over and let it happen.

Am I personally upset about what happened - well, NO.

Then why should I waste my valuable time and my valuable space writing about it.

The reason is that I have many many relatives and friends in the US who are now no more free to say or do what they want.

The Bill which passed the Senate today with a vote of 34 against and 65 for, which included 12 Democrat Senators (Joe Liebermann / Bill Nelsons type Democrats) voting for the Bill allows the US Adminstration to torture if "King George" wants to. Also, the right to "habeas corpus" (habeas corpus is the name of a legal instrument or writ by means of which detainees can seek release from unlawful imprisonment), something that has stood the test of time for 800 years, was yesterday thrown to the winds, NOT JUST for aliens in the US but for every American as well.

The Bill provides for the fascist state to hold a person in communicado till his status as an enemy combatant is determined, the fact that one is an US citizen could take 2, no, maybe 5, no, maybe 10 years, to be determined!

What was surprising that the Senate Democrats could not even mount a filibuster against what was probably the worst legislation to ever pass the House and Senate!

As was written by Taylor Marsh on today's Huffungton Post Vote Pro-Torture Republicans in '06! about one of the amendments in this Bill:

The legislation before the Senate today would ban torture, but let Bush define it; would allow the president to imprison indefinitely anyone he decides falls under a wide-ranging new definition of unlawful combatant; would suspend the Great Writ of habeas corpus; would immunize retroactively those who may have engaged in torture. And that's just for starters.

It's a red-letter day for the country. It's also a telling day for our political system.

So if you are in the US and you are an alien or married to an alien be sure you know that when you answer that knock on the door and you are carted away to oblivion - there is none in the world (not even Amnesty International) that can do anything for you!!
'
If I were you I would ask your company to be returned NOW back to your country of origin. Do your work safely out of there.

If the US wants your services, then let it be in a situation where you live within the rule of law, not the rule of an idiotic fascist dictator who believes that God talks to him as he wields his Imperial Power.

This is from an article `Road map is a life saver for us,' PM Abbas tells Hamas by Arnon Regular on Haaertz.com

.....Abbas said that at Aqaba, Bush promised to speak with Sharon about the siege on Arafat. He said nobody can speak to or pressure Sharon except the Americans.

According to Abbas, immediately thereafter Bush said: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."

Such a man belongs in a mental institution!

The US has now become one. So stay out of it is my advice to you.

So till you get to safety, may my God look after you!

If you care to ignore this warning - then do not complain at a later day, and remember these words during your very likely unending incarceration.

Hugo Chavez said....

2006-09-28T15:15:00.000+02:00

Go to this website for the full text of the speech Rise Up Against the Empire by Hugo Chavez, 21 September, 2006

We want ideas to save our planet, to save the planet from the imperialist threat. And hopefully in this very century, in not too long a time, we will see this, we will see this new era, and for our children and our grandchildren a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.

And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We've proposed Venezuela.

You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.

May God bless us all. Good day to you.

Let us MOVE THE UN!

Hugo Chavez said....

2006-09-28T05:18:00.000+02:00

Go to this website for the full text of the speech Rise Up Against the Empire by Hugo Chavez, 21 September, 2006

We want ideas to save our planet, to save the planet from the imperialist threat. And hopefully in this very century, in not too long a time, we will see this, we will see this new era, and for our children and our grandchildren a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.

And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We've proposed Venezuela.

You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.

May God bless us all. Good day to you.

Let us MOVE THE UN!

Finally it is done...

2006-09-14T02:00:00.000+02:00

Many hundreds of you have been asking me to email you whenever I make a new entry on my blogs.

Now I have taken steps to ensure that every time I update my blogs, you will get an email.

However, you have to do something IF you want this to happen.

You will find on each blog page a small box just below the link to view my profile.

You have to enter your email address where you want to be informed into that box and send it so that Change Monitor can do the necessary entries.

Only enter this information for the pages that you really want to monitor.

I do not want your email Inbox filled with these update messages!

Mainline: Geostrategy Feeds America's Oil Addiction

2006-03-02T19:45:00.000+02:00

Cross-posted on all my main blogs -

Jacob's Blog
Jacob's Politics;
Seventh Heaven for Mumbai Cathedralites;
Kooler Talk for Delhi Stephanians;
Oulu Chaff.

My topical article "Geostrategy Feeds America's Oil Addiction", which relates to the visit of Bush to India, has appeared in a major North American online journal Raise the Hammer in their fortnightly issue dated 1st March 2006.

Editor Ryan McGreal has really tidied up the article. Thanks.

What is original in this submission?

It is my long term speculations about:

1. The rationale for the attack on and occupation of Afghanistan relating to the Enron history.
2. Who most likely perpetrated the fraud of the Iranian election.
3. Why the Indian Industrial Community desperately want Bush and his malAdministration to stay in office for another 3 years!
4. Why the nuclear attack on Iran is imminent.

Many may wrinkle their foreheads in disbelief. But that is what political analysis is all about. I theorise and later people fit the facts to my theories.

Hope you enjoy it and would love to have your feedback - even if it is abusive!!

I love getting abusive email. I thrive on it as it drives me on harder to more fantasy! :-)

War Criminal as UN Chief?

2006-01-14T09:12:00.000+02:00

Most puzzling is the suggestion yesterday by former US President Bill Clinton that war criminal Tony Blair would make a good Secretary General for the UN.

The only suggestion more ridiculous than this would be to nominate Bush for the Nobel Peace Prize!

Considering that the present Secretary General, Kofi Annan, whose term ends on 31st December 2006, has declared that the invasion of Iraq was illegal and violated the UN Charter, this suggestion and advice by Clinton seems to be the ultimate in ridiculousness.

The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the BBC the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter.
He said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally.

The very person who conducted that illegal invasion and violation of the UN Charter suggested to head this organisation?

If gutting the UN is the objective the Bush - Bolton - Blair axis, then following Bill's reasoning is all we need.

Move The UN - that is the only way the UN can be saved from these bloodthirsty criminals.

I wish the diplomats of the world

2005-12-23T18:33:00.000+02:00

had more courage.

Today's headline was that Friday 23rd December, 2005: Bolton threatens U.S. funding for U.N.

Big News Network.com Friday 23rd December, 2005 (UPI)

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said the United States should withhold U.N.-member dues if reform isn't made to his liking.

The U.S. dues make up 22 percent of the U.N. budget.

What Bolton does not seem to see is that the US takes in over 30% of the UN budget value in the earnings from its members direct and indirect spending, making the US a net earner out of the UN.

I wish the countries would just tell this guy to get off, take his money and go home.

At the same time, all US employees in the UN should be terminated and all contracts to US companies working for the UN should be ended.

Finally, the UN should just get up and Move On to another location, which would allow it to function more economically and function more effectively without this stupid idiot, this stark raving lunatic, making all sorts of moves to stop the UN doing its work.

Cross posted at TPM Cafe Reader Blogs

Get your FREE 2006 Desktop Calendar

2005-11-24T21:50:00.000+02:00

As a prelude to the release of Annikki's book "Edible Art" in 2006, we are pleased to inform you that the 2006 Desktop Calendar, featuring 13 of her beautiful cake designs, will be sent, ABSOLUTELY FREE OF COST, to the first 500 readers (relatives who are in touch with us regularly need not check in) who send us their snail mail (posting) address.

FREE 2006 Desktop Calendar featuring
13 of Annikki's beautiful and artistic cake designs

As the calendar is being printed and dispatched from our printer in China, please act quickly, as I will be transferring the final database to the printer for posting purposes within the next few days.

You can email your snail mail address to:

Free Calendar Request

Is any other reason required?

2005-11-21T08:00:00.000+02:00

Bill Berkowitz; WorkingForChange; 11.18.05
At sixty, it's uneasy times for the UN
The Hudson Institute's 'EYE On The UN' website aims to make sure the organization is transparent, accountable and following the U.S.'s lead

This ends with this comment!

With John Bolton in place and the Hudson Institute's "EYE on the U.N." tracking its every move, the U.N. is in for a bumpy ride.

Move the U.N. NOW!

UN becoming more meaningless

2005-11-01T05:40:00.000+02:00

The by-passing of the UN by Bush and Blair in the case of the invasion and occupaton of Iraq was the start of the present philosophy of making the UN more meaningless.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was ILLEGAL, but who took notice of his statement.

The pressure on Iran based on a statement supposedly made by the Iranian President, which is merely a ploy of the western media to cause more chaos and create conditions of war, as in the case of Iraq, is again a show of how the UN has become totally worthless.

Finally, the resolution passed against Syria by the Security Council without any reference to either Syria or Lebanon, the two players involved, shows that the uselessness of the UN has beenfully achieved.

The delay in reforming the UN was just another step in the process.

If the UN is not moved IMMEDIATELY, it is better to shut it down as it is just a rubber stamp for the US and its cronies.

Absurd state of affairs

2005-09-17T20:30:00.000+02:00

originalreportoriginalreport
Transcript: Hugo Chavez Interview: Venezuelan President On Rocky Relations with Washington

Sept. 16, 2005:

Chavez: "I have friends throughout the entire world," Chavez told Ted Koppel. "Only with Washington is where the relationship doesn't work." (ABCNEWS.com)

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR):Really good signals? No. You know where right now my medical team is? In the presidential plane, 200 kilometers from here. The government of the United States, in violation of the laws of the United States and conventions, prevented my doctors from coming to New York. Where is the chief of staff of my military detachment and my chief of security? On the plane. They've been locked into the plane, two days. They can't come out of the plane.

Move The UN - NOW!

Venezuelan President joins OUR MOVEMENT!

2005-09-17T17:20:00.000+02:00

AP Newsday.com Top News: Chavez Takes Bush to Task Over Iraq War, By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer, September 16, 2005, 5:20 AM EDT

UNITED NATIONS -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took President Bush to task in front of a global summit for waging war in Iraq without U.N. consent and won rousing applause for his critique.

The leftist leader told a U.N. summit on Thursday that fighting the war without U.N. authorization showed Washington did not respect the world body. He recommended moving U.N. headquarters to a country that has more regard for the organization.

"There were never weapons of mass destruction but Iraq was bombed, and over U.N. objections, (it was) occupied and continues being occupied," Chavez said. Bush alleged that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction but none have been found, shattering one of his main arguments for going to war.

"That's why we propose to this assembly that the United Nations leave this country, which is not respectful of the very resolutions of this assembly," Chavez said.

Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, suggested moving U.N. headquarters New York to an international city "outside the sovereignty of any state" and said some have mentioned Jerusalem as one possibility.

But the Venezuelan leader said the new headquarters has to be in the South, home to most developing countries.

More important note this:

World leaders at the summit had been asked to speak for five minutes but Chavez ran long and when the presiding diplomat passed him a note saying his time was up, he threw it on the floor. He said if Bush could speak for 20 minutes, so could he.

Viva la Chavez.

Thanks for joining our movement - MOVE THE UN, NOW!

Sir Bob crying the wrong tune!

2005-09-17T04:00:00.000+02:00

Sir Bob Geldof said after the UN Summit that took place yesterday that he felt "a sense of disappointment" because the UN gathering had originally been called to review progress on its Millennium Development Goals to tackle poverty and disease but had been "suborned" by other issues.

UN summit has failed Africa, says Geldof (By Andrew Grice in New York Published by The Independent: 16 September 2005)

Sir Bob singled out Canada, The Netherlands and Belgium for criticism but said other countries such as Britain, the United States and Japan could put "a little bit more in the pot".

There were two persons put in place to scuttle the entire Summit and the focus on aiding poverrty stricken nations, especially in Africa.

Both were Bush nominees. One was put there by even by-passing the US Senate Confirmation process. They are Paul Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank and the other was John Bolton as the US Ambassador to the UN.

By putting 750 items on the agenda just a few days before the final document for the summit was due to be released, Blair and Bush effectively made sure that the focus on the Millennium Development Goals was killed.

If what is reported is correct, it is my opinion that Sir Bob is one of the biggest fools that I have heard about. He was blind and could not see that the war criminals, the poodle and the pResident, had quite different an agenda to him, and strung him along to get the publicity and then dropped him like a hot potato at their convenience!!

Sing some more Sir Bob - and let us hear some more crocodile tears.

Iranian President lashes out at US

2005-09-15T17:20:00.000+02:00

Iranian president lashes out at US at UN summit

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday sharply criticized the United States for unilateralism and abuse of its status as the host country of the United Nations' New York headquarters.

"The host country should not enjoy any right or privilege over the rest of the membership and the organization and its headquarters must be easily accessible for all," said Ahmadinejad in an address at the UN summit.

Earlier this month there was speculation that the US administration might deny Ahmadinejad an entry visa. Last week, the speaker of the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly, Haddad Adel, failed to attend the Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments in New York because of a delay in the release of a US entry visa.

"The United Nations must have the possibility to enable all governments, civil society organizations and NGOs from all over the world to freely travel to its headquarters without the selective hindrances of the host country and to engage without anyfear in serious dialogue," Ahmadinejad stressed.

Ahmadinejad, who was elected Iran's new president in June, alsourged the United Nations to "lead in promotion of spirituality and compassion for humanity."

He criticized "unilateralism, production and use of weapons of mass destruction, intimidations, resort to the threat or use of force and imposition of destructive wars on peoples for the sake of security and prosperity of a few powers."

Move The UN NOW!

Bolton and Wolfowitz success! Blair, Bono and Sir Bob suckered?

2005-09-14T14:37:00.000+02:00

Poor nations lose in watered-down UN document

· Final draft a bland version of Gleneagles promises
· No new money for aid and debt relief

Ewen MacAskill in New York and Larry Elliott
Wednesday September 14, 2005
The Guardian

Campaigners and diplomats who favoured a bold approach put much of the blame for the failure on John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN, who introduced hundreds of late changes to the original document.

Mr Bolton said he was pleased with the final draft: "This is not the alpha and omega and we never thought it would be."

The US ambassador, who had argued that UN reform was too important to be done in a rush, said: "It was only ever going to be the first step."

Tony Blair, the poodle has been properly spanked on his bottom. Irish rock star U2's Bono and Sir Bob Geldof are now shown to be the suckers they really are.

Here is a statement by Bono and Sir Bob Geldof which you will find on Sir Bob Geldof's site

Reactions from Bono and Geldof to G8 Summit

GLENEAGLES, Scotland, July 8 The following reactions by Bono and Bob Geldof were released today:

Reaction from Bono, lead singer of U2 and co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa):

"A mountain has been climbed only to reveal high peaks north of us. But for this moment, let's stop and look back at just how far we've come. The world around us has changed. What does $50 billion mean to the poorest of the poor, $25 billion of which is going to Africa? As examples, it means the financing is in place to halve deaths from malaria by 2010. Six hundred thousand people will be alive to remember this G8 in Gleneagles who would have lost their lives to a mosquito bite. Three thousand Africans - mostly children - die every day from malaria. Every country who delivers a credible plan to put their children in school will have the money to do so.

"If the words are followed through, 9 million people across the globe will have access to lifesaving AIDS drugs, which brings us to the most important lesson learnt over the past weeks. The world spoke, and the politicians listened. Now, if the world keeps an eye out, they will keep their promises. It is down to the hundreds of thousands - indeed millions - who have assembled on this issue to make sure they don't just sign the cheque, but that they cash it. If an Irish rock star can quote Churchill, this is not the end of extreme poverty, but it is the beginning of the end."

On the US:"We always want more on the numbers but there's no questioning the man's commitment to Africa. His money on malaria has been matched leaving this President in the enviable position of leading the charge against the world's most wanted killer diseases-HIV and malaria. I wish he would have matched the European challenge on overall assistance. He has a great idea for every country with a credible plan to put African children in school but by today's numbers, the Europeans are mostly paying for it."

It emerged today that the article By Paul Blustein, Washington Post Staff Writer exposed that Cancellation for 18 Nations Seen by Some as Damaging Institutional Capacity

Full debt relief for the world's poorest countries was finally in the bag. Or so it seemed two months ago when leaders from the Group of Eight major industrial powers, at their summit in Scotland, approved a plan to cancel the debts that 18 nations, mostly in Africa, owe to international lenders such as the World Bank.

But objections to the plan are emerging as it heads toward an official vote at the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund later this month. Most notable is an internal World Bank report that warns the plan could deplete the bank's coffers so severely as to impair its ability to provide new aid for impoverished nations.

It becomes evident that the appointment of Paul Wolfowitz as the head of the World Bank was not just for casual reasons, but was a clear strategy by the neocons to ensure that all aspects of helping the poorer nations would also be scuttled at the right time and at the right place.

No wonder, when you enter the term "miserable failure" in Google, the result is predictable!

US using its position to kill US!

2005-09-13T08:45:00.000+02:00

US bars Cuba from attending New York conference

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Cuba complained to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday that the United States had barred its national assembly speaker from attending a meeting of parliamentarians at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Washington denied a visa request from Ricardo Alarcon of Cuba to attend last week's second World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, a meeting sponsored by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

While the United States. as host country for the United Nations, is obliged to give visas to foreign officials for official U.N. business, a U.S. official said the conference of parliamentarians was not a U.N. affair even though it used U.N. facilities.

Cuban Ambassador Orlando Requeijo Gual wrote Annan: "The permanent mission of Cuba to the United Nations wishes to protest strongly at the arbitrary decision and to state that it disagrees completely with the pretexts given."

The Cuban delegation was also denied visas to attend the first World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, held in New York in 2000, Requeijo Gual said.

Alarcon has applied for a visa from Washington to attend a three-day world summit at U.N. headquarters opening on Wednesday, Cuban officials said. He was expected to be granted the visa and to head the Cuban delegation, the officials said.

President Fidel Castro, who last traveled to U.N. headquarters for the 2000 Millennium Summit, was not expected in New York for this year's summit, the officials said.

On what moral basis can the UN be kept in the US?

Move the UN - NOW!

Repeating New Orleans around the world

2005-09-13T08:00:00.000+02:00

Entry posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 12 2005

The plan of the Bush criminal gang is to cause a repeat of New Orleans around the world.

The way that John Bolton has been acting to make the UN ineffective as is discussed in the article in the Financial Times Envoys fight to keep UN reform package on track, by Mark Turner at the United Nations, Published: September 12 2005 03:00, it is obvious that what Bush, through his crony John Bolton, hopes to achieve is to create a New Orleans scenario around the world and to ensure that the UN is made powerless to act.

The US is pushing for fundamental reform to the way the UN is managed, by moving executive control from the General Assembly to the secretariat, but with tighter oversight and auditing.

So, if the US system was so efficient and so good, why did 9/11 take place and why has the New Orleans tragedy taken place.

Can John Bolton and George Bush lay the blame on the doorstep of the UN?

The only solution is to MOVE THE UN NOW!

Bolton's strategy exposed

2005-09-12T18:15:00.000+02:00

UN fears an unhappy birthday as rows threaten summit
The UN aimed to mark its 60th anniversary with deep reforms. Instead, rows overshadow this week's huge gathering of world leaders.

By Anne Penketh
Published: 12 September 2005

"One of the main questions in the negotiating room concerns the intentions of the US delegation, with the French specifically raising the issue. There have been widespread fears since the appointment of John Bolton as US ambassador that he has been dispatched to the UN to sabotage the summit. The sudden tabling of 750 US amendments to the draft declaration did nothing to assuage those fears.

Non-governmental organisations sounded the alarm about a possible collapse of the negotiations last week after Mr Bolton called a number of UN missions to say: "I don't want give and take. If we disagree, we disagree." That held echoes of his earlier negotiating record as chief US arms control officer, when he was quoted as saying: "I don't do carrots." "

Stand up to these cowardly bullies. MOVE THE UN NOW!

Bolton / Bush dirty work

2005-09-10T15:15:00.000+02:00

The Uniter Bush achieves his ultimate through his dirty work accomplice, John Bolton.

World summit on UN's future heads for chaos

UK leads last minute effort to rein in US objections

Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Saturday September 10, 2005
The Guardian

The British government is mounting a huge diplomatic effort this weekend to prevent the biggest-ever summit of world leaders, designed to tackle poverty and overhaul the United Nations, ending in chaos.
The Guardian has learned that Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, has made a personal plea to his American counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, for the US to withdraw opposition to plans for wholesale reform of the UN. He has asked Ms Rice to rein in John Bolton, the US ambassador to the world body.

Mr Bolton has thrown the reform negotiations into disarray by demanding a catalogue of late changes to a 40-page draft document which is due to go before the summit in New York on Wednesday.
Mr Bolton, one of the US administration hawks, became ambassador last month only after a long confrontation with the US senate, mainly caused by his ideological dislike of the UN.

MOVE THE UN NOW!

Migrating to US? Think twice!

2005-09-09T00:42:00.000+02:00

Entry posted on TPM Cafe on Sep 08, 2005 at 13:35 CET

Being from Kerala, it is from my main blog Jacob's Blog for today

UN hits back at US in report saying parts of America are as poor as Third World, by Paul Vallely, Published: 08 September 2005 in the British newspaper "The Independent" is certainly given immediate validity by those of us who have watched the New Orleans and surrounding area tragedy caused by Hurricane Katrina unfold.

Here are some comment key points contained in this latest UN Report on World Poverty:

"Parts of the United States are as poor as the Third World, according to a shocking United Nations report on global inequality....

The annual Human Development Report normally concerns itself with the Third World, but the 2005 edition scrutinises inequalities in health provision inside the US as part of a survey of how inequality worldwide is retarding the eradication of poverty.

It reveals that the infant mortality rate has been rising in the US for the past five years - and is now the same as Malaysia. America's black children are twice as likely as whites to die before their first birthday.......

But the 370-page document is critical of American policies towards poverty abroad as well as at home. And, in unusually outspoken language, it accuses the US of having "an overdeveloped military strategy and an under-developed strategy for human security".

"There is an urgent need to develop a collective security framework that goes beyond military responses to terrorism," it continues. " Poverty and social breakdown are core components of the global security threat.".......

India and China, the UN says, have been very successful in wealth creation but have not enabled the poor to share in the process.....

Blacks in Washington DC have a higher infant death rate than people in the Indian state of Kerala."

More important, it is not only in poverty that US is in tandem with the Third World - it also matches it in being a Banana Republic filled with corrupt or compliant politicians who care a damn whhether or not their constituents are drowned in water, blood or debt.

End of DIPLOMACY, Enter John Bolton

2005-08-28T06:20:00.000+02:00

The piece in The Independent by Anne Penketh, the Diplomatic Editor "With Bush's man installed, is this the end of diplomacy?" yesterday ended with what can be considered as the ultimate goal of John Bolton in the interest of the US trying to be the UniRuler of this World!!

But judging from his few weeks in New York, Mr Bolton is not at the UN to negotiate. Since Madeleine Albright, President Clinton's UN representative, the US delegate has arrived with a rocket in his or her pocket. In the council, if the other delegates do not like what the Americans want, the US no longer hesitates to act without UN blessing.

Now Mr Bolton is at the UN with a mission. At the end of the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama famously decreed the end of history. We could be witnessing the end of diplomacy.

Move THE UN NOW!

Extinction of the UN

2005-08-26T17:30:00.000+02:00

Here is a post by Reed Hunt

(Reed Hundt graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School, practiced law for 18 years, and served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, 1993-97. Since that date, he has written and lectured about information sector politics, as well as served on various technology company boards.)

who was a classmate of John Bolton.

It talks about the goal of "extinction of the UN".

"He is the champion of long-held deeply sincere views of the right about the United Nations. The goal is the extinction of the organization;second place is its near-death; third is undermining it so severely as to make its existence irrelevant."

His recent start of the Civil War in the US State Department as described so brilliantly by Steve Clemons is adequate proof where John Bolton is headed.

Read also this in The Guardian today:

Bolton throws UN summit into chaos : Bush's envoy demands 750 changes to reorganisation plans by Julian Borger in Washington

Reason to act as quickly as possible to Move The UN!!

US trying to derail UN reform process

2005-08-19T05:50:00.000+02:00

The Reuters report US sets last-minute drive to scrap UN reform plan is an attempt by John Bolton to derail the process.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The United States has launched a last-minute drive to scrap much of a draft plan for comprehensive U.N. reform just weeks before it is to be adopted at a world summit, Western diplomats said on Wednesday.

One option put forward by Washington would be to return to square one and launch line-by-line negotiations on the document, the diplomats said, insisting on anonymity so as not to anger Washington.

more....

Luckily the world is wise on this fool and the even bigger fool, his boss!!

Confirmation that UN should be moved

2005-08-13T08:40:00.000+02:00

In the Washington Post U.S. Likely To Let Iran's President Visit U.N., by Robin Wright, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, August 12, 2005; Page A09 we have this comment:

President Bush said yesterday that the United States is likely to grant a visa to Iran's new president for the United Nations' opening session next month, even though the administration continues to probe whether Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was connected to the 1979-1981 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

For now, the administration appears willing to let the Iranian president make his first trip to New York -- which would also be his first trip to the West. "We have an agreement with the United Nations to allow people to come to meet, and I suspect he will be there to meet at the United Nations," Bush told reporters at his Texas ranch. He noted the investigation of the allegations. His comments came as the United States and European allies tried to persuade Iran to resume a suspension of its nuclear program and to return to talks aimed at ensuring it does not build atomic weapons.

Bush is NOT the President or Emperor of the World.

When he interferes with the working of the United Nations, just because it is located in the US, it is time to Move The UN from the US.

Yet another reason to Move The UN

2005-08-11T03:05:00.000+02:00

It was reported in The Daily Star, Lebanon that the US is contemplating not allowing the new Head of State of Iran from visiting the US to address the UN!! (Emphasis is mine.)

U.S. mulls visa ban for Iranian president
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Compiled by Daily Star staff

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

The United States mulled the unprecedented step of refusing Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad a visa to attend next month's UN General Assembly, the State Department said.

Deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said the U.S. was looking at the visa request by Ahmadinejad in light of allegations he might have been involved in the 1979 seizure of U.S. diplomats in Tehran.

The U.S. is obliged to permit world leaders to attend UN meetings at the organization's headquarters in New York. UN officials confirmed no visa had ever been refused for a head of state.

UN chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the U.S. is obliged to give the Iranian a travel visa under the UN-U.S. agreement.

But Ereli said that in reviewing the Iranian president's request, the Americans were "also taking into consideration previous activities with respect to hostage-taking."

Five former U.S. hostages have identified Ahmadinejad as an active participant in the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran by radical students who held 52 diplomats captive for 444 days.

Tehran slammed Washington for threatening to reject the visa. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said: "We hope the Americans will not make such a big mistake. If the Americans cannot host the UN guests, they do not deserve to have the UN headquarters in their country."

Is this not one more reason why the UN should be MOVED OUT OF THE US?

Move the UN to Haiti

2005-08-05T16:40:00.000+02:00

One has to listen to Mike Malloy, America's greatest Talk Show Host, to know who or what is Neal Boortz. They both share the same physical space in Atlanta, Georgia, and they both share the same profession.

While Mike is God's gift to rational human beings, well, the less I say about Neal Boortz, the better.

In September 2004 he came up with the kooky idea NOW IS THE TIME TO IMPLEMENT MY IDEA

What idea? My idea for moving the United Nations out of New York and giving that miserable failure of an international body a chance to reform, dig in and prove itself.

Haiti is in absolute chaos. Tens of millions of dollars spent by the taxpayers of the United States, and the "government" of that country has shown itself to be completely unable to even cope with a hurricane. People are shooting each other for food.

Let's give Haiti to the UN. The Roman Catholic Church has the Vatican. Give the United Nations Haiti. Let Kofi move his headquarters to Haiti. There the UN could prove to the entire world once and for all that it has all the right ideas, methods and concepts on how to run a nation, how to care for people after disasters, and how to ensure human rights.

The UN is quite fond of telling us how things should be done. Give them Haiti. Let them show us instead of tell us.

Firstly, the UN is not the personal possession of Kofi Annan! Secondly, it is the US which has been in the driving seat with almost all the evil in place in the woirld and the biggest hurdle for the UN to take action to cure the problems of the world. Thirdly, it was the US which deposed the last elected representative of the people in Haiti.

The logic of Neal Boortz with even the simple idea of moving the UN to a respectable location cannot be accepted as he is according to Mike's description a ".........................

Bolton is recess appoitment to UN

2005-08-02T04:35:00.000+02:00

The second biggest idiot in history, a proven liar, a person who has been destructive of anything he has touched or handled, just like his "master", John Bolton was appointed as the US Ambassador to the UN.

The UN should now quietly shift from the US. This appointment makes it impossible for any US official to carry out his / her work with regard to the UN.

Please make Moving The UN your top priority for the sake of peace in this world.

When will US loss of vote in UN occur?

2005-08-01T16:20:00.000+02:00

The discussion on Norm Coleman has been lively on my Blog page at DailyKos

Going back to 1999, the US was close to losing its vote in the UN, some may remember the Judy Aita, Washington File United Nations Correspondent report Holbrooke: Loss of U.S. Vote at UN Would Endanger U.S. Security (Clinton vetoes appropriations bill that lacks UN funds) (990)

Can we an anticipate that when this situation occurs, John Bolton and Bish will be there to botch it!!

For the full text of this entry please visit my Blog page DailyKos .

The two-facedness of Senator Coleman continues

2005-08-01T09:00:00.001+02:00

TPM Cafe entry for Jul 31, 2005

When will US lose its vote in UN?

2005-08-01T09:00:00.000+02:00

DailyKos Entry for Sun Jul 31st, 2005

The two-facedness of Senator Norm Coleman

2005-07-31T18:00:00.000+02:00

Writing on the likely recess appointment of John Bolton in The Sunday Times - World, July 31, 2005, Bush to defy Senate and send his man to the UN, Sarah Baxter, Washington noted:

One of the most persistent critics of the UN, Senator Norm Coleman, who chairs a congressional inquiry into the oil-for-food programme, said last week that the controversy over Bolton’s likely appointment would soon become irrelevant.

The bottom line, he said, was that Bolton had the confidence of the president. “He will speak for the president of the United States. He will speak for America.”

It would have been more appropriate if it had been written that "He will lie for America." That appears to be the norm of the Bush malAdministration!

Norm Coleman spoke so forthrightly about bringing British MP George Galloway to book for false testimony to his Senate Committee, where Senator Coleman was shown up to be a "fool" of the highest order. (See my blog entry below for Saturday July 30th 2005.)

But this same Senator does nothing when there is now evidence that John Bolton lied to another Committee on which Senator Coleman also sits.

This two-faced Senator should be kicked out of office by Minnesotans!!

Perjurer as US Ambassador to UN

2005-07-30T21:30:00.000+02:00

Not sufficient in trying to appoint a man who thinks that the UN is irrelevant, Bush is pushing to appoint someone everyone in the world knows perjured himself (shortly said: "A Liar") as the US Ambaassador to the UN.

Wired news today reported that the US State Department confirmed that John Bolton, when giving sworn testimony to Congress gave innacurate information, which is a nice way of saying that he perjured himself.

I wonder where is that upstanding Senator Norm Coleman, Republican Chairman of the Senate Committee investigatiing the UN Oil For Food program, who said immediately after the George Galloway testimony to his Senate Committee, that if Galloway had perjured himself, the Senate would take action.

Senator Coleman had said he did not find George Galloway to be a "credible witness"

Or, as reported in The London Times:

Afterwards Mr Coleman described Mr Galloway’s credibility as very suspect and spoke of consequences if he was found to have lied under oath.

Is this the same Senator Norm Coleman who was shamed in front of the world by George Galloway, that he even removed Galloway's testimony from the official Senate website!!!

Is this brave Senator Norm Coleman, who has ambitions to be "President of the US" available for comment?

State Dept admits Bolton gave inaccurate answers

Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:52 p.m. ET

By Vicki Allen and Saul Hudson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department reversed itself on Thursday night and acknowledged that President Bush's U.N. Ambassador nominee gave Congress inaccurate information about an investigation he was involved in.

The acknowledgment came after the State Department had earlier insisted nominee John Bolton's "answer was truthful" when he said he had not been questioned or provided information to jury or government investigations in the past five years.

"When Mr. Bolton completed his form during the Senate confirmation process he did not recall being interviewed by the State Department inspector general. Therefore his form as submitted was inaccurate in this regard and he will correct the form," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

In a letter to Bush, California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said Bolton's admission was "too little, too late" and urged Bush to withdraw the nomination.

"A recess appointment of a man who did not tell the truth to the (Senate Foreign Relations) committee and only admitted the truth when he was caught would send a horrible message," Boxer wrote.

"It seems unusual that Mr. Bolton would not remember his involvement in such a serious matter. In my mind, this raises more questions that need to be answered. I hope President Bush will not make the mistake of recess appointing Mr. Bolton," Biden said in response to the admission that Bolton's information was inaccurate.

So we know that another confirmed liar is being asked to serve this Bush malAdministration, so everything he says in the UN can be taken with a pinch of salt!!

Re: Senator Norm Coleman - where are you hiding?

2005-07-30T09:01:00.000+02:00

Comment posted on TPM cafe on Jul 29, 2005

Senator Norm Coleman - where are you hiding?

2005-07-30T09:00:00.000+02:00

TPM Cafe entry for Jul 29, 2005

Bumbling village idiot as the US Ambassador to the UN

2005-07-29T09:00:00.000+02:00

TPM Cafe entry for Jul 28, 2005

Remember Bolton's escapade with the USAID official?

2005-07-29T02:45:00.000+02:00

What was the crux of the problem between John Bolton and Lynne D. Finney, now a therapist in Utah, when they worked in the General Counsel's Office at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) when Bolton mistreated her.

Finney said she was an attorney-adviser in the General Counsel's Office working on policies involving the UN Development Program. Bolton called her into his office. Finney wrote that Bolton asked her to persuade delegates from other countries to vote with the United States to weaken World Health Organization restrictions on marketing of infant formula in the developing world.

Finney said she refused because improper use of the formula could be deadly. For example, mothers in the developing world sometimes mix it with contaminated water or dilute it to make it last longer, humanitarian groups say.

Finney said that Bolton shouted that Nestle was an important company and that he was giving me a direct order from President Reagan. The Swiss company is among the top makers of formula.

"He yelled that if I didn't obey him, he would fire me," she wrote. 'I said I could not live with myself if even one baby died because of something I did. . . . He screamed that I was fired."

Read more in The Boston Globe.

So we all know what sort of reform Bolton has in store for the UN!!

Bush is doing the job for me

2005-07-28T19:30:00.000+02:00

The expected "recess appointment" of John Bolton to the UN as the US Ambassador is an acceptance by pResident Bush of total failure of his chance to reform the UN. (Thanks to the John Bolton expert Steve Clemons for pointing me to this Editorial.)

The Record, a New Jersey newspaper, in an Editorial "Snubbing the Senate" on Wednesday, July 27, 2005, noted:

It's a sign of defeat, since Mr. Bush couldn't get his choice confirmed, even by a Republican-controlled Senate.

It added:

Instead of trying to find a more suitable candidate, Mr. Bush is now expected to wait until Congress recesses for the summer at the end of this week and then appoint the nominee himself under his authority to fill vacancies when the Senate is away. Mr. Bolton would serve until the end of 2006.

But his reputation precedes him, and he could have very little influence at the United Nations. That may be a good thing in this case, but it deprives the United States of a strong and credible voice at the world body at a crucial time. A world summit will be held at the United Nations headquarters in September. |A respected ambassador can accomplish a great deal, including pressing for substantive internal reform.

What more could the world want than an American bumbling village idiot as the US Ambassador to the UN.

The US may disregard the UN, but it is just as easy for the UN to disregard to the US as, anyway the funding of the UN by US is being sharply curtailed.

Soon, if anyone can read a crystal ball, under this imbecile, the US may lose its voting rights in the UN - and that would just make it much more possible to Move The UN from the US.

John Bolton has bungled every job that he has been asked to do!!

We, the "Move The UN" activists, should be cheering for him to be the US Ambassador to the UN.

The Washington Postnoted that it is likely that John Bolton will not even be in New York:

Two months ago, while his confirmation was in trouble, Bolton began efforts to double the office space reserved within the State Department for the ambassador to the United Nations, according to three senior department officials who were involved in handling the request.

Previous ambassadors have kept a small staff in Washington in a modest suite. Bolton told several colleagues he needs more space and a larger staff in Washington because, if confirmed, he intends to spend more time here than his predecessors did.

"Bolton isn't going to sit in New York while policy gets made in Washington," the administration source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the source lacks authorization to discuss this on the record.

Most of the US budget to the UN will be spent on Bolton and his cohorts.

The UN would be well-advised to start its non-dependency campaign. The planning for the shift would mean effective down-sizing, which means cutting the number of jobs that Americans hold in the the UN structure!!

Online - Move the UN Petition

2005-07-18T01:00:00.000+02:00

There is reference to a petition to Move the UN to Geneva at
Move the UN headquarters to Geneva - petition

author: brian
Welcome to the website of the Move United Nations Headquarters to Geneva! campaign. Due to the United States' crass violations of its obligations under the United Nations Charter in breaching peace and rejecting the world opinion by illegally attacking Iraq in March 2003, we believe that the United Nations should relocate its headquarters to Geneva until such time that the United States again expresses a willingness to abide by its obligations under the United Nations Charter.

This is both a petition drive as well as an active online lobbying effort. Given at the site is the written appeal to the United Nations to move its headquarters to Geneva. Following this is a "copy & paste" version which can be added to the body of any email client as well as a comprehensive list of email addresses to all United Nations Permanent Missions in New York and all the world's foreign ministries. The site encourages people to add their name to the petition, which is being maintained on this site, as well as to send email "copy & pasted" versions of this appeal to the Permanent Mission Organizations and foreign ministries of the world. The request is to join with them in calling on the United Nations to rebuke the United States for its illegal aggression against Iraq and the world!

Clinton as head of UN needs UN move

2005-07-15T10:30:00.000+02:00

Last year, there were many who were pushing for Bill Clinton, former President of the US, to be appointed as the Secreatry General of the UN. There was one major obstacle - the UN is situated in the US and that would not allow for a US citizen to serve as the Secretary General.

In his right wing blog aaron’s cc: (formerly: Aaron’s Rantblog & Aaron the Liberal Slayer) - It's Clobbering time on Thursday - October 21, 2004 had his take in a blog entry: "Move the UN from US soil: Clinton Aspires to Succeed Kofi"

He comes up with an report by Matt Drudge, a right wing analyst who reported:

Analysis: Clinton eyes U.N. post

By ROLAND FLAMINI, UPI Chief International Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has set his sights on becoming U.N. secretary-general. A Clinton insider and a senior U.N. source have told United Press International the 56-year-old former president would like to be named leader of the world body when Kofi Annan’s term ends early in 2006.....

Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.

The neocons in the US would be dead against this, as would left-wing liberals. So it is probably about the most central point of view in the US that could adopt. Not only was Clinton a popular US President in the US, he was exceptionally popåular around the world because of his personal charisma.

The stumbling block - the necessity to Move the UN from the US!!

Move the UN to Jerusalem?

2005-07-14T06:40:00.000+02:00

Peter Mørch and I have not figured out exactly who he is, has this web page called "Lets Move the UN Headquarters to Jerusalem".

From his resumé he appears to be a software engineer in Denmark who has lived for a short while in Canada and the US. But, he is a citizen in this world and is also quite competent to have his world view on this as any other subject!!

His logic is:

It is clear that the God shared by the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims has claimed Jerusalem to be His city. David was sent to found and build it, Christ was sent there to preach and die, and Mohammed was sent there to die too. What better capital of the world can you think of?

Of course, he forgets that there are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, the native tribes all over the world, the bulk of the Chinese, the Japanese, and many many more who have not been "subjugated" to conversion by these Jerusalem-centric religions, primarily by the power of the sword, who do not quite subscribe to these beliefs.

However, there is no reason to throw it out as any location in the world would be better than the US!!

UN Reform - US SAYS NO

2005-07-13T15:30:00.000+02:00

The US has been shouting about how the UN should be reformed and how repulsive John Bolton should be the one who should reform it. Meanwhile, the US House has decided to reduce and withold (House Backs Withholding Dues to Spur U.N. Changes By Mike Allen and Colum Lynch, Washington Post Staff Writers, Saturday, June 18, 2005) its funding till the UN is reformed.

And today's headline in the BBC News website is US opposes UN Council reform plan.

US is calling for just 2 new permanent seats, one being Japan, but with no veto powers. The G4 proposal put forward by Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, which is to add the G4 proposers with 2 additional members from the African continent, is what the US is rejecting!!

Hypocrisy is at its height here. The US is about to step up its blackmail strategy to ensure the two thirds vote in the General Assembly is not achieved - so watch this space.

The only solution lies in stepping up the call to Move The UN from the US!!

Please watch this on your computer

2005-07-13T09:00:00.000+02:00

Please, please watch this video on your computer.

If the link does not work please try this URL

http://www.bushflash.com/right.html

The fight begins - but an unfair one

2005-07-13T08:15:00.000+02:00

The debate on the reform of the UN started in the UN today. As is evident from this news item Battle joined on Security Council reform, by Paul Reynolds, World Affairs Correspondent, on the BBC News website today, whatever the discussions and the outcome of the General Assembly vote, the key phrase which would kill this world democracy is this:

The procedure is this (it is in Article 108 of the UN Charter): First the General Assembly, made up of all member states, has to vote in favour of change by a two-thirds majority.

Then, two thirds of the member states have to ratify that decision by their national procedures, and - here is the key bit - the vote has to be ratified by "all the permanent members of the Security Council".

Thus, any of the P5 will be able to block the whole thing.

Additionally, the reason why the reform as suggested is worthless is because of this:

The G4 plan calls for six new permanent members, though they would not have a veto, and four new non-permanent seats.

What is the point of such reform where some are more equal than others.

Move the UN from the US to more conducive surroundings, which primarily reduces operational costs by more than half, reduces the financial dependency on a country which is complaining about this financial dependency, and then you will get some worthwhile reform which the rest of the world will find acceptable.

Expanding the Security Council

2005-07-12T19:50:00.000+02:00

The UN is set to debate its reform of the Security Council, which, if the US does not torpedo it, should happen before September and before the new US Ambassador to the UN is appointed. Things seem to going better without the presence of a US Ambassador to the UN.

The plans were drawn up by Germany, Brazil, Japan and India, known as the G4, who want to join the US, UK, China, Russia and France as permanent members of the Security Council.

A vote on the plan could take place as early as this week.

The expansion of the UN Security Council has been discussed for years. There has been considerable support for adding new members to make it more representative than the closed club it has been for decades.

The present powerbrokers, mainly the US and the UK, and their cohorts, are deeply divided with the majority of UN members over the best method of doing this. They want to retain their power base.

Brazil (South America), Germany (Germanic Europe), Japan (East Pacific Asia) and India (South Asia) want to see six new permanent seats, four of which they hope to occupy, leaving the two others for Africa.

The Brazilian Ambassador to the UN, Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg, said the realities of power had changed since 1945, when the UN was founded, and the Security Council needed to become more balanced. This is really a diplomatic way of saying that presently it is totally skewed!!

The African Union would also like to see six new permanent seats but they want them to be given the veto. Which is absolutely necessary as otherwise there is no reform but just window dressing!!

There is another group, which is called as "Uniting for Consensus", that backs the idea of adding 10 new non-permanent members who would face re-election.

The real face of reform would be when ALL members are necessary to face re-election!!

This is not a multi-status world when it comes to decision making. There are no two levels of people in this world if the Declaration of Human Rights is to be adhered to. Everyone has to be held accountable for their actions - not just the poor and weak as at present.

A concurring view for other reasons

2005-07-12T05:15:00.000+02:00

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

In an article in The Washington Times Move the U.N.? he called for the shift of the UN for reasons quite dissimilar to mine.

He stated:

"The U.N should move to a Bolivia, Congo or the West Bank, to monitor and address firsthand hunger, war and strife."

Yes, let us agree to MOVE THE UN NOW!!

Kicking the UN out of US?

2005-07-10T16:30:00.000+02:00

How I wish that Move America Forward would be more successful with their campaign to kick the UN out of the US.

They have only been able to collect a hundred thousand signatures after months and months of high profile effort.

(Remember the Congressman John Conyers Jr. collected over half a million signatures in just a week on the subject of the Downing Street Minutes - hence a hundred thousand by this group is hardly a significant number for this important subject!!)

If Move America Forward could play its part to get a responsible and acceptable Republican appointed as the US Ambassador to the UN, rather than this moron called John Bolton, then they may succeed in getting the UN moved out of the US.

Sadly, the group in charge at Move America Forward are blinded by their "loyalty" to the pResident that they cannot think or act logically to achieve one of their primary aims, one which would certainly benefit the world immensely.

My post at The Washington Note Comments

2005-07-04T17:00:00.000+02:00

Steve Clemons, the Bolton expert, is planning to discuss reform at the UN. His latest blog entry at The Washington Note is referenced on this subject. In this context I have posted this in the Comments section at his site:

Reform of the UN cannot happen until the financial dominance of the US as the perceived "primary contributor" is erased.

The US gets more out of the UN in jobs, revenue generation in various forms, tourism, etc., than it puts in. That was exactly what was told to me by Kofi Annan, and is also analysed at my blog, http://MoveTheUN.blogspot.com.

Hence the decision to cut funding by the US would be the ideal opportunity to cut the US dominant influence over the UN.

The first step in this reform should be the siting of the UN in a location where the cost of operations can be drastically brought down.

It should be in a country which is secular, politically neutral and has a good infra-structure base. (If multinationals are outsourcing to third world countries to reduce costs and increase profits, which is "good" business sense, why not apply this also to the UN?)

With this done, the other reforms now being discussed to increase the number of Permanent Security Council members by 6, including two from Africa, would be a major step forward.

Any country at war on any grounds in any part of the world should be immediately denied the vote at the UN on all matters.

Any country which violates a UN resolution should also automatically lose its vote till the resolution is abided to.

Any country which fails to pay its dues on time should also lose its vote with immediate effect till all dues are paid in full, and not after the present grace time, which presently has benefited some bully nations the most.

Many more reform ideas which would make the UN more democratic and accountable can be dreamnt of - but none will occur so long as the US dominates the UN and that will not change UNTIL the UN is MOVED from its present location.

One part of UN Security Council Reform

2005-07-04T02:37:00.000+02:00

Africa to seek UN Council seats

"There are currently 15 UN Security Council members. African Union foreign ministers have agreed to seek two permanent seats and five rotating seats for the continent on an expanded UN Security Council.....more

....UN chief Kofi Annan says the council's current make-up reflects the balance of power at the end of World War II.

A new plan for adding 10 seats - six of them permanent and four non-permanent - has been put forward by Japan, India, Brazil and Germany.

They say two of the permanent seats should be allocated to Africa.....more"

All this is no use if the UN continues to operate from within the US as the chaos driving Americans will undermine any important decision to be made.

The most important part of UN Reform is to Move The UN out of the US!!

Satire is near the truth

2005-07-03T07:00:00.000+02:00

In the latest edition of the Finnish TV political satire programme aired this evening Itse valtiaat, which is on the lines of Spitting Image, there was a piece which suggested that the Finnish President Tarja Halonen had been asked to become the Secretary General of the UN, to which she replied that considering the statements she had made about the US and the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, it was hardly likely that she would even be granted a "TOURIST VISA" for the US.

How near the truth this is going to be for many many politicians who oppose the fascist liars in power today in that country.

Does an UN Ambassador's relative have to be killed...

2005-07-02T23:30:00.000+02:00

....before the US malAdministration decides to investigate the indiscriminate killing by US forces, spies, CIA operatives, Negroponte death squads, in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places around the world?

In a BBC report Saturday, 2 July, 2005, 06:36 GMT 07:36 UK "Iraq envoy accuses US of killing", Iraq's ambassador to the UN has demanded an inquiry into what he said was the "cold-blooded murder" of his young unarmed relative by US marines.

The news report went on to say:

"Mr Sumaidaie said the ramifications of such a "serious crime" were enormous for both the US and Iraq.

US officials said the allegations would be thoroughly investigated....

.....When asked if there were any weapons in the house, Mohammed took the marines to a room where there was a rifle with no live ammunition.

It was the last the family saw him alive. Shortly after, another brother was dragged out and beaten and the family was ordered to wait outside.

As the marines left "smiling at each other" an hour later, the interpreter told the mother they had killed Mohammed, said Mr Sumaidaie.

"In the bedroom, Mohammed was found dead and laying in a clotted pool of his blood. A single bullet had penetrated his neck."

The majority of US forces appear to be just blood-lusting animals.

So I do not subscribe to the general rally cry in the US - "support our troops".

Who in the world would support the actions of wild animals such as these. Only other wild animals!!

These people need to be tried by an International Court and harshly punished for their misdeeds.

Re: Trying to Exile Bolton to the United Nations

2005-07-01T09:00:00.000+02:00

Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Jun 30, 2005

Re: Trying to Exile Bolton to the United Nations

2005-06-30T09:00:00.000+02:00

Comment posted on TPM Cafe on Jun 29, 2005

Steve Clemons makes a comment

2005-06-29T07:00:00.000+02:00

Steve Clemons is the author of the Blog known as The Washington Note. He is the expert on the entire John Bolton story of nomination to the United Nations as the US Ambassador.

In his posting today, he made two observations if Bolton was made as a recess appointment by Bush.

1. Bolton will hold one of America's highest profile diplomatic portfolios without the validation of American citizens behind him. He will not have the Senate stamp of legitimacy on his Ambassadorship and thus will be perceived at home and abroad as without "weight."

2. During this era of preaching "democracy" throughout the world -- which means not just "electocracies" or "ballot box democracies" but rather a system of checks and balances, respect for minority rights, and rule of law -- sending John Bolton to the U.N. is a lesson that legislatures can be ignored and minority rights in government trampled by the demands of the Executive Branch.

With Bush claiming a "mandate" with the stolen 2004 Presidential election, is this not exactly how one would expect Bush to behave?

Reforming the UN - World Tribunal on Iraq

2005-06-28T04:45:00.000+02:00

The World Tribunal on Iraq which concluded today came to many conclusions.

Here is the final Press Release from the Conference:

PRESS RELEASE about JURY STATEMENT
27 Jun 2005

"The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all"’ -– The Jury of Conscience

Istanbul, 27 June, 2005 - With a Jury of Conscience from 10 different countries hearing the testimonies of 54 members of the Panel of Advocates who came from across the world, including Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom, this global civil initiative came to an end with a press conference at the Hotel Armada where the chair of the Jury of Conscience, Arundathi Roy, announced the Jury'’s conclusions.

The Jury defined this war as one of the most unjust in history: "‘The Bush and Blair administrations blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated."’

On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents, the jury has established the following charges against the Governments of the US and the UK:

*• Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.
*• Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure
*• Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems
*• Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter
*• Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors
*• Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment
*• Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
*• Re-writing the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied
*• Willfully devastating the environment
*• Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded
*• Failing to protect humanityÂ’s rich archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq
*• Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media
*• Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions

The Jury also established charges against the Security Council of United Nations for failing to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity among other failures, against the Governments of the Coalition of the Willing for collaborating in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, against the Governments of Other Countries for allowing the use of military bases and air space and providing other logistical support, against Private Corporations for profiting from the war, against the Major Corporate Media for disseminating deliberate falsehoods and failing to report atrocities.

The Jury also provided a number of recommendations that include recognising the right of the Iraqi people to resist the illegal occupation of their country and to develop independent institutions, and affirming that the right to resist the occupation is the right to wage a struggle for self-determination, freedom, and independence as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, we the Jury of Conscience declare our solidarity with the people of Iraq and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq.

The Istanbul session of the WTI lasted three days and presented testimony on the illegality and criminal violations in the U.S. pretexts for and conduct of this war. The expert opinion, witness testimony, video and image evidence addressed the impact of war on civilians, the torture of prisoners, the unlawful imprisonment of Iraqis without charges or legal defence, the use of depleted uranium weapons, the effects of the war on Iraq'’s infrastructure, the destruction of Iraqi cultural institutions and the liability of the invaders in international law for failing to protect these treasures of humanity.

The session in Istanbul was the culminating session of commissions of inquiry and hearings held around the world over the past two years. Sessions on different topics related to the war on Iraq were held in London, Mumbai, Copenhagen, Brussels, New York, Japan, Stockholm, South Korea, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lisbon and Spain.

They have compiled a definitive historical record of evidence on the illegality of the invasion and occupation that will be recorded in a forthcoming book.

Contact:
Tolga Temuge,
International Media Coordinator
+(90) 533 644 4687
tolga.temuge@worldtribunal.org

One of the most important conclusions was:

"The Jury also established charges against the Security Council of United Nations for failing to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity among other failures, ..."

This in itself shows that the working of the UN as it is today, does not ensure fairness to all people around the world and that means the entire UN has to be reformed.

It is my contention that if the UN remains physically at its present location, it can never be reformed satisfactorily.

Hence, the very first step must be to MOVE THE UN and ensure it is NOT LOCATED in ANY Developed Country, as all of them belong to the Axis of Fascist Evil!!

Bolton thrown out by US Senate

2005-06-21T16:30:00.000+02:00

The US Senate, yesterday evening, refused to accept the "up-down" vote to confirm John Bolton as the US Ambassador to the UN. Cloture on his nomination debate was rejected 38 against, 54 for. It requires a minimum of 60 votes for cloture to be accepted. Since the Republican Senate Leader, Bill Frist, did not vote against cloture, as he did last time round, he cannot call for another cloture vote without going through the process of a few days.

This means that the White House malAdministration is intending to go to a recess appointment of John Bolton to the UN.

The reason for those in the Senate not voting for cloture was that the Bush malAdministration "refused to be transparent" with regard to the documents requested by the Senate regarding John Bolton!!

It was interesting to read what Bush had to say about John Bolton and the reason for his nomination to this post:

"The U.N. is an important organization and the American people, I think, will understand how important it is when the U.N. is reformed and is held to account. And so we want more accountability and transparency and less bureaucracy. And John Bolton will help to achieve that mission," he added.

I think it is now time to start thinking seriously about moving the UN to a more acceptable setting. Since the US has decided to withold funding and reduce it by 50% till the UN is treformed, the UN has to be sited at a location where it can balance its budget. This means it has to be located in a lower cost economy where every Euro spent will give more value.

This would also ensure that the US intrusion into the privacy of UN diplomats is ejected from the equation, allowing all world politicians to work more freely rather than under the "Big Brother" scenario, as at present.

Japan says "NO" to US on UN Reform!!

2005-06-18T09:30:00.000+02:00

Japan cannot back US proposal for UN reform: Koizumi
www.chinaview.cn 2005-06-17 16:24:30

TOKYO, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday that Japan cannot support a US proposal for UN Security Council reform as it clearly conflicts with a plan Japan, Brazil, Germany and India jointly compiled.

"Japan cannot go along with this plan," Koizumi told reporters." We must think of cooperation in the Group of Four as important and stay united," he said.

Koizumi said the fact that the United States, Japan's closest ally, made such a proposal has put Japan in a "difficult" situation.

But Koizumi said he would do his "utmost" to persuade the United States to at least understand Japan's position.

The United States backed only "two or so" countries, including Japan, to take new permanent UN Security Council seats without veto power and two or three more nonpermanent members in the proposal it revealed Thursday.

"This seems good to Japan but it's not to the other G-4 members," Koizumi said, adding it would not be a good idea for Japan just to think of its own interests.

The G-4 is preparing to submit to the UN General Assembly a draft resolution calling for expansion of the Security Council with six new permanent members, including the G-4 countries, and four new nonpermanent members.

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said at a separate press conference that the G-4 nations plan to get together later this month to compare notes and try to decide how to deal with the US proposal.

"We don't see the issue as a simple matter of choosing one out of two," Machimura said.

Machimura indicated it will be difficult for the US proposal to clear the requirement for implementation of support by two-thirds of the 191 UN member states.

"But we should take it as a constructive proposal," Machimura said.

The United States and the G-4 may be able to come up with something which both sides can accept through the process of deepening discussions, he said.

Machimura indicated the US proposal puts Japan into a dilemma of choosing between the United States and its G-4 partners.

Machimura said he told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that it is difficult to immediately break the G-4's framework, as the four countries are lobbying other UN member states to back their reform plan.

The "G-4" should call for the UN to be MOVED from the US if they want it to become a really powerful organisation with TEETH!!

Time to tell some people to go fishing

2005-06-18T08:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, the US House of Represenatives passed International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde's, (Republican from Illinois), bill, H.R. 2745 to slash funds to the UN.

Details of the Bill can be found at

http://thomas.loc.gov/

The vote was 221-184.

This is now the ideal opportunity to tell the US to go fishing.

Jobs can be given to deserving people other than incompetent US Nationals. The UN can work with some individual authority. If the US Secret Service operatives thinks it can bug the members of the UN, they can be told to go to hell.

This is the first solid step to move the UN out of the US, as who wants to run an International Organisation with money borrowed from China and Switzerland by the US!

The reform programme can now be done without the interference of busy-bodies from the US!!

I HOPE SENSIBLE DIPLOMATS WILL GRAB THIS OPPORTUNITY, AS THEY SAY OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS "ONLY ONCE".

Great observation in "Financial Times"

2005-06-16T05:15:00.000+02:00

In my view this Comment by the Observer in today's Financial Times sums up the entire sitaution of the UN (emphasis MINE):

Comment & analysis
Bolton block
Published: June 15 2005 03:00

Senator Bill Frist, the US Senate Republican majority leader, yesterday held a press conference to urge Democrats to stop blocking the nomination of John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations. Appearing with John McCain, the maverick Republican, Frist emphasised that it was crucial to fill quickly the UN position, which he said had remained vacant for 200 days since the resignation of John Danforth, the previous US ambassador.

In an attempt to reinforce the urgency of the UN position, Frist listed a series of significant events that had occurred in those 200 days.

"We have seen the orange revolution in Ukraine, the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, the vote in Iraq, the vote in Palestine, the hope of opening the presidential elections in Egypt."

That just leads Observer to wonder whether the US should even bother sending an ambassador to the UN. Democracy seems to have fared better when the US chair has been empty.

Comment seen on Steve Clemons Blog

2005-06-11T07:45:00.000+02:00

"Put me firmly in the camp that believes that the UN would be better off in a truly neutral country. For more than twenty years now powerful political elements in this country have used the fact that it is located here and that we pay a disproportionate amount of its operating expenses to attempt to strong-arm the institution. This dynamic feeds into this sense of exceptionalism that is at the heart of some of our worst foreign policy instincts. Reforms are definitely needed. But those reforms should be done in conjunction with a move to a truly neutral location and leveling of the funding mechanism. I'd also like to see either a large expansion or elimination of the security council, which is yet another reinforcer of exceptionalism.
Posted by SW at June 10, 2005 01:46 PM"

Fully agree with this, SW. Any idea of the possible location?

I am plumbing for one of the most beautiful spots on this globe - Kashmir!!

Ideal time for action

2005-06-10T23:30:00.000+02:00

Just today, the US Congress Moves to Cut U.N. Funding.

The information reported by Jim Lobe of the Inter Press Service makes it the ideal opportunity to MOVE THE UN to more economic and friendly surroundings.

"WASHINGTON - In a move virtually certain to add to strains between the U.S. Congress and the United Nations, the International Relations Committee (HIRC) of the House of Representatives Wednesday approved a sweeping bill that, if passed into law, will require Washington to withhold up to half of assessed U.S. contributions to the world body unless it implements specific reforms."

If the UN is moved from the US, the balance of power in decisions will certainly become more democratic as the US can stop claiming, quite falsely, that it is supporting the UN!!

The biggest loser, sadly, will be the good city of New York, but there are lots of great places around the world where the UN will be very very welcome.

Please support the Move The UN Movement.

Finland supports UN Reform

2005-05-19T03:30:00.000+02:00

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland's leading newspaper reported that Finland supports German and Japanese model for UN reform

"Finland has given its support to the expansion of the United Nations Security Council in the manner proposed by Germany, Japan, Brazil, and India. Under the model, the council would get six new permanent members which would not have a right to veto decisions in the way that the present five permanent members do.

In the model supported by Finland, the new permanent members would include the four sponsors of the initiative, as well as two African countries. Competing for the African seats are Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria."

Finland should go further and support the Move of the UN from the US if it really wants a reform that would have some meaning.

Blowing up the UN

2005-05-15T19:15:00.000+02:00

Steve Clemons of the Washington Note blog has revealed what I have known for a long time.

The reason for Karl Rove to appoint John Bolton as the US Ambassador to the UN is to blow it apart so that the US can act as its will around the world without being burdened by UN resolutions!!

For confirmation read this blog entry in the Steve Clemons blog.

May 14, 2005
"Bolton Supporters Finally Get Honest: It's Not About Reforming the U.N. but Really about Blowing Up U.N. over North Korea and Iran" - by STEVE CLEMONS

Who is Steve Clemons?

Steven Clemons is publisher of the popular political blog, TheWashingtonNote.com, and a long-term policy practitioner and entrepreneur in Washington, D.C. He is currently Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, where he was previously Executive Vice President. Clemons currently co-directs the New America Foundation's American Strategy Program with well-known foreign policy thinkers Sherle Schwenninger and Michael Lind.

Clemons specializes in U.S. foreign policy matters, with significant experience both in Asia-Pacific and transatlantic policy matters, as well as broad international economic and security affairs. Prior to his current position, Steve Clemons served as Executive Vice President of the Economic Strategy Institute. He has also served as Senior Policy Advisor on Economic and International Affairs to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and was the first Executive Director of the Nixon Center and established it in Washington, D.C. Prior to moving to Washington, Clemons served for seven years as Executive Director of the Japan America Society of Southern California and co-founded with Chalmers Johnson the Japan Policy Research Institute, of which he is still Director.

Steve Clemons is a Member of the Board of the Clarke International Policy Center at Dickinson College, a liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and founded in 1783. He also writes frequently on matters of foreign policy, defense, and international economic policy. His work has appeared in most of the major leading op-ed pages, journal, and magazines around the world.

Thanks Steve for confirming what I thought when I started this agitation to "Move the UN".

Is this the man to reform the UN?

2005-04-18T16:20:00.000+02:00

Those who watched the C-Span internet live interrogation of John R. Bolton by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would have been appalled to hear the graphic description of the character of the man that pResident Bush want to appoint to be the next US Ambassador to the UN. This man, like Bush, is a compulsive liar.

In the hearings we heard of his gross treatment of Christian Westermann, the chief bioweapons analyst at the State Department and Fulton Armstrong, National Intelligence Officer working on Latin America issues.

The testimony given by a hardened "Republican", Carl Ford Jr., the former assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, was amazing. He publicly called Bolton a "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy". This is the sort of testimony that one only hears in movies as part of a plot!! Suddenly we realise that such people do exist in the real world!

It is even more amazing that even with all this becoming publicly available, Bolton is least concerned and sits there sure that he is going to be the next Ambassador to the UN, the repayment for his service to Bush in barging into a room during the 2000 Presidential elections to stop the counting of the votes in Florida!!

Information is now surfacing of the mistreatment by Bolton of a Rexon Ryu, a State Department nonproliferation analyst, now a detailee in the office of Chuck Hagel, Nebraska’s senior U.S. Senator!!

How many cases of maltreatment of US Intelligence Analysts does the Senate Foreign Relations Committee require to consider whether Bolton was "serial" abuser?

Given here is the text of a letter from a lady addressed to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the man whom Condoleeza Rice believes is going to reform the UN. (All emphasis is mine.)

Chairman
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
450 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Sir:

I'm writing to urge you to consider blocking in committee the nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the UN.

In the late summer of 1994, I worked as the subcontracted leader of a US AID project in Kyrgyzstan officially awarded to a HUB primary contractor. My own employer was Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly, and I reported directly to Republican leader Charlie Black.

After months of incompetence, poor contract performance, inadequate in-country funding, and a general lack of interest or support in our work from the prime contractor, I was forced to make US AID officials aware of the prime contractor's poor performance.

I flew from Kyrgyzstan to Moscow to meet with other Black Manafort employees who were leading or subcontracted to other US AID projects. While there, I met with US AID officials and expressed my concerns about the project -- chief among them, the prime contractor's inability to keep enough cash in country to allow us to pay bills, which directly resulted in armed threats by Kyrgyz contractors to me and my staff.

Within hours of sending a letter to US AID officials outlining my concerns, I met John Bolton, whom the prime contractor hired as legal counsel to represent them to US AID. And, so, within hours of dispatching that letter, my hell began.

Mr. Bolton proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel -- throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door and, generally, behaving like a madman. For nearly two weeks, while I awaited fresh direction from my company and from US AID, John Bolton hounded me in such an appalling way that I eventually retreated to my hotel room and stayed there. Mr. Bolton, of course, then routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats.

When US AID asked me to return to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in advance of assuming leadership of a project in Kazakstan, I returned to my project to find that John Bolton had proceeded me by two days. Why? To meet with every other AID team leader as well as US foreign-service officials in Bishkek, claiming that I was under investigation for misuse of funds and likely was facing jail time. As US AID can confirm, nothing was further from the truth.

He indicated to key employees of our contractors to State that, based on his discussions with investigatory officials, I was headed for federal prison and, if they refused to cooperate with either him or the prime contractor's replacement team leader, they, too, would find themselves the subjects of federal investigation. As a further aside, he made unconscionable comments about my weight, my wardrobe and, with a couple of team leaders, my sexuality, hinting that I was a lesbian (for the record, I'm not).

When I resurfaced in Kyrgyzstan, I learned that he had done such a convincing job of smearing me that it took me weeks -- with the direct intervention of US AID officials -- to limit the damage. In fact, it was only US AID's appointment of me as a project leader in Almaty, Kazakstan that largely put paid to the rumors Mr. Bolton maliciously circulated.

As a maligned whistleblower, I've learned firsthand the lengths Mr. Bolton will go to accomplish any goal he sets for himself. Truth flew out the window. Decency flew out the window. In his bid to smear me and promote the interests of his client, he went straight for the low road and stayed there.

John Bolton put me through hell -- and he did everything he could to intimidate, malign and threaten not just me, but anybody unwilling to go along with his version of events. His behavior back in 1994 wasn't just unforgivable, it was pathological.

I cannot believe that this is a man being seriously considered for any diplomatic position, let alone such a critical posting to the UN. Others you may call before your committee will be able to speak better to his stated dislike for and objection to stated UN goals. I write you to speak about the very character of the man.

It took me years to get over Mr. Bolton's actions in that Moscow hotel in 1994, his intensely personal attacks and his shocking attempts to malign my character.

I urge you from the bottom of my heart to use your ability to block Mr. Bolton's nomination in committee.

Respectfully yours,

Melody Townsel
Dallas, TX 75208

Another letter addressed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Bolton was from the Union of Concerned Scientists, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Natural Resources Defense Council:

Union of Concerned Scientists
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Natural Resources Defense Council

April 13, 2005
TO:
The Hon. Richard G. Lunar
Chairman
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
450 Direness Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Hon. Joseph R. Bidden
Ranking Member
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
439 Direness Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Lugar and Senator Biden,

On behalf of our over one million combined members, we are writing to urge you to reject the nomination of John R. Bolton to be U.S. Representative to the United Nations (UN). We have been working for several decades to protect Americans from global environmental decline, nuclear war, weapons of mass destruction, and threats to human health. Under Secretary Bolton’s nomination for this post is inappropriate, and his confirmation would seriously jeopardize our progress in each of these areas.

Throughout his career in the Departments of Justice and State and in his personal writings, Mr. Bolton has repeatedly belittled international institutions and undermined international cooperation while adopting a go-it-alone attitude towards foreign policy. Specifically, Mr. Bolton has attacked the Law of the Sea Convention, the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); successfully campaigned for the U.S. withdrawal from the treaty limiting missile defenses (ABM Treaty); and crafted the U.S. withdrawal from the joint efforts of 40 countries to devise a verification system for the Biological Weapons Convention.

Mr. Bolton’s contempt for the United Nations and isolationist foreign policy attitude were clear when he said: “There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is an international community that can occasionally be led by the only real power in the world and that is the United States when it suits our interest and we can get others to go along.” Yet despite his tough rhetoric regarding U.S. interests, in his current job as Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Mr. Bolton has utterly failed to devise and implement strategies to diminish the two most serious proliferation threats facing the U.S. and the world today, in Iran and North Korea.

We are at a time when the United States urgently needs to work with other nations to address not only arms proliferation, but also climate change, ocean resource management, and other pressing global environmental challenges. Recent scientific studies, such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, indicate that we are putting extraordinary pressures on the Earth’s natural systems and may be undermining their ability to support future generations.

We need someone at the UN who recognizes that more — rather than less — international cooperation is needed to protect the global environment and human health. Failure to act represents a serious security issue as depleted resources and global pollution can contribute to social and political instability, population migration, even violent conflict, and can jeopardize delicate relationships between nations.

We urge you to vote against the Bolton nomination and assure that the United States is instead represented in the United Nations by someone who understands the importance of international cooperation to protect our own security, public health, and the environment.

Sincerely,

Frances G. Beinecke
Executive Director
Natural Resources Defense Council

Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., M.P.H.
CEO and Executive Director
Physicians for Social Responsibility

Kevin Knobloch
President
Union of Concerned Scientists

Another letter was signed by 67 former U.S. diplomats, State Department officials or officials of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. 50 of these 67 served under Republican administrations (28 served in both Republican and Democratic administrations, 22 in only Republican administrations), and 17 in only Democratic administrations. The letter was written and circulated by Ambassador Jonathan Dean.

April 7, 2005
TO:
The Honorable Richard G. Lugar
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
450 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6225

CC:
The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Senator Lugar,

We have noted with appreciation the moves of President Bush at the beginning of his second term to improve U.S. relations with the countries of the European Union and of the United Nations. Maintaining these ties and the willingness of those countries to cooperate with the United States is essential to U.S. security.

It is for this reason that we write you to express our concern over the nomination of John R. Bolton to be permanent representative of the United States at the United Nations. We urge you to reject that nomination.

By virtue of service in the State Department, USAID and Justice Departments, John Bolton has the professional background needed for this position. But his past activities and statements indicate conclusively that he is the wrong man for this position at a time when the UN is entering a critically important phase of modernization, seeking to promote economic development and democratic reforms and searching for ways to cope better with proliferation crises and a spurt of natural disasters and internal conflicts.

John Bolton has an exceptional record of opposition to efforts to enhance U.S. security through arms control. He led a campaign against ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Today, the administration is pressing for development of new types of nuclear weapons. John Bolton blocked more extensive international agreement to limit sales of small arms, the main killer in internal wars. He led the fight to continue U.S. refusal to participate in the Ottawa Landmine Treaty. Today, the U.S. has joined Russia and China in insisting on the right to continue to deploy anti-personnel landmines. John Bolton crafted the U.S. withdrawal from the joint efforts of 40 countries to formulate a verification system for the Biological Weapons Convention and blocked continuation of these efforts in a period of increasing concern over potential terrorist use of these weapons and of terrorist access to the stocks of countries covertly producing these weapons. John Bolton’s unsubstantiated claims that Cuba and Syria are working on biological weapons further discredited the effect of U.S. warnings and U.S. intelligence on weapons of mass destruction.

John Bolton led the successful campaign for U.S. withdrawal from the treaty limiting missile defenses (ABM Treaty). The effects of this action included elimination of the sole treaty barrier to the weaponization of space. In the face of decades of votes in the UN General Assembly calling for negotiation of a treaty to block deployment of weapons in space, he has blocked negotiation in the Geneva Conference on Disarmament of a treaty on this subject. The administration has repeatedly proposed programs calling for weapon deployment in space.

As chief negotiator of the 2002 Moscow Treaty on withdrawing U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons from field deployment, John Bolton structured a treaty without its own verification regime, without required progress reports from both sides, without the requirement to destroy warheads withdrawn from deployment, and without provision for negotiating continued reductions. Under his guidance, the State Department repudiated important consensus agreements reached in the year 2000 Review Conference of the Non-proliferation Treaty and has even blocked the formulation of an agenda for the next review conference to be held in May 2005.

Under John Bolton as Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, the State Department has continued to fail to resolve the impasse with Russia about the legal liability of U.S. personnel working with Russia on the security of the huge arsenal of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of the former Soviet Union and has failed to accelerate measures aimed at the safety and security of this huge arsenal from theft, illegal sale and terrorist access.

John Bolton’s insistence that the UN is valuable only when it directly serves the United States, and that the most effective Security Council would be one where the U.S. is the only permanent member, will not help him to negotiate with representatives of the remaining 96% of humanity at a time when the UN is actively considering enlargement of the Security Council and steps to deal more effectively with failed states and to enhance the UN’s peacekeeping capability.

John Bolton’s work as a paid researcher for Taiwan, his idea that the U.S. should treat Taiwan as a sovereign state, and that it is fantasy to believe that China might respond with armed force to the secession of Taiwan do not attest to the balanced judgment of a possible U.S. permanent representative on the Security Council. China is emerging as a major world power and the Taiwan issue is becoming more acute.

At a time when the UN is struggling to get an adequate grip on the genocidal killing in Darfur, Sudan, Mr. Bolton’s skepticism about UN peacekeeping, about paying the UN dues that fund peacekeeping, and his leadership of the opposition to the International Criminal Court, originally proposed by the U.S. itself in order to prosecute human rights offenders, will all make it difficult for the U.S. to play an effective leadership role at a time when the UN itself and many member states are moving to improve UN capacity to deal with international problems.

Given these past actions and statements, John R. Bolton cannot be an effective promoter of the U.S. national interest at the UN. We urge you to oppose his nomination.

Sincerely,

The Hon. Terrell E. Arnold
Former Deputy Director, Office of Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State (Reagan)
Former U.S. Consul General, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Harry G. Barnes, Jr.
Former U.S. ambassador to Romania, Chile, and India (Nixon, Ford, Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Robert L. Barry
Former U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria and Indonesia (Reagan, Clinton)
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Carter)
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Carter)

Ambassador Josiah H. Beeman
Former U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Western Samoa (Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Maurice M. Bernbaum
Former U.S. ambassador to Ecuador and Venezuela (Eisenhower, Johnson)

Ambassador (ret.) Richard J. Bloomfield
Former U.S. ambassador to Ecuador and Portugal (Ford, Carter, Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Peter Bridges
Former U.S. ambassador to Somalia (Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Edward Brynn
Former U.S. ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ghana (G.H.W. Bush, Clinton)
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African Affairs (Clinton)

Ambassador George Bunn
Former member of U.S. delegation to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) negotiations (Johnson)
Former U.S. ambassador to the Geneva Disarmament Conference (UN) (Johnson)

Ambassador (ret.) Patricia M. Byrne
Former Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council (Reagan)
Former U.S. ambassador to Mali and Burma (Carter, Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) James Cheek
Former U.S. ambassador to Sudan and Argentina (G.H.W. Bush, Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Carleton S. Coon
Former U.S. ambassador to Nepal (Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Jane Coon
Former U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh (Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) John H. Crimmins
Former U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic and Brazil (Johnson, Nixon, Ford)

Ambassador (ret.) Richard T. Davies
Former U.S. ambassador to Poland (Nixon, Ford, Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Jonathan Dean
Former U.S. representative to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Talks, Vienna (Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Willard A. DePree
Former U.S. ambassador to Mozambique and Bangladesh (Ford, Reagan, G.H.W. Bush)

Ambassador (ret.) Robert S. Dillon
Former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon (Reagan)
Former Deputy Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) (Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Donald B. Easum
Former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) (Nixon, Ford)
Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (Nixon, Ford)

Ambassador (ret.) James Bruce Engle
Former U.S. ambassador to Dahomey (Nixon, Ford)

Ambassador (ret.) Richard K. Fox
Former U.S. ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago (Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Holsey Gates Handyside
Former U.S. ambassador to Mauritania (Ford, Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) William C. Harrop
Former ambassador to Israel, Kenya, and Zaire (Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton)
Former Inspector General, U.S. Department of State (Nixon)

Ambassador (ret.) Samuel F. Hart
Former U.S. ambassador to Ecuador (Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Arthur A. Hartman
Former U.S. ambassador to France and the Soviet Union (Carter, Reagan)
Former Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Nixon)

Ambassador Ulric Haynes, Jr.
Former U.S. ambassador to Algeria (Carter)

Ambassador Gerald B. Helman
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Geneva (Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Robert T. Hennemeyer
Former U.S. ambassador to Gambia (Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) John L. Hirsch
Former U.S. ambassador to Sierra Leone (Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Lewis Hoffacker
Former U.S. ambassador to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea (Nixon)

Ambassador (ret.) H. Allen Holmes
Former U.S. ambassador to Portugal (Reagan)
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs (Reagan)
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Robert V. Keeley
Former U.S. Ambassador to Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and Greece (Ford, Carter, Reagan)
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (Carter)

Spurgeon M. Keeny, Jr.
Former Deputy Director, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency(ACDA) (Carter)

Ambassador Henry L. Kimelman
Former U.S. ambassador to Haiti (Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Roger Kirk
Former U.S. ambassador to Somalia and Romania (Nixon, Ford, Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Dennis H. Kux
Former U.S. ambassador to Ivory Coast (Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) James F. Leonard
Former Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Ford, Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Samuel W. Lewis
Former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Ford)
Former Director of Policy Planning, State Department (Clinton)
Former ambassador to Israel (Carter, Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Princeton N. Lyman
Former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Clinton)
Director, Bureau of Refugee Programs, U.S. Department of State (G.H.W. Bush)
Former U.S. ambassador to South Africa and Nigeria (Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Richard Cavins Matheron
Former U.S. ambassador to Swaziland (Carter, Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Charles E. Marthinsen
Former U.S. ambassador to Qatar (Carter, Reagan)

Jack Mendelsohn
Deputy Assistant Director of the Strategic Programs Bureau, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) (Reagan)
Senior ACDA representative on U.S. START delegation (Reagan)

Ambassador Carol Moseley-Braun
Former U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa (Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Donald R. Norland
Former U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, and Chad (Johnson, Ford, Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) David Passage
Former U.S. ambassador to Botswana (G.H.W. Bush)

Ambassador (ret.) Edward L. Peck
Former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Mauritania (Carter, Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Jack R. Perry
Former U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria (Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Christopher H. Phillips
Former Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN (Nixon)
Former U.S. ambassador to Brunei (G.H.W. Bush)

Ambassador Stanley R. Resor
Former Secretary of the Army (Johnson, Nixon)
Former U.S. representative to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Talks, Vienna (Nixon, Ford, Carter)

Ambassador Nicholas A. Rey
Former U.S. ambassador to Poland (Clinton)

John B. Rhinelander
Deputy Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State (Nixon)
Legal adviser to the U.S. Strategic Arms Limitation Delegation (SALT I) (Nixon)

Ambassador (ret.) Stuart W. Rockwell
Former U.S. ambassador to Morocco (Nixon)

Ambassador James R. Sasser
Former U.S. ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Talcott W. Seelye
Former U.S. ambassador to Tunisia and Syria (Nixon, Ford, Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Carl Spielvogel
Former U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic (Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Monteagle Stearns
Former U.S. ambassador to Greece and Ivory Coast (Ford, Carter, Reagan)
Former Vice President, National Defense University (Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Andrew L. Steigman
Former Ambassador to Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe (Ford)

Ambassador (ret.) John Todd Stewart
Former U.S. ambassador to Moldova (Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Richard W. Teare
Former U.S. ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu (Clinton)

Ambassador (ret.) Harry E.T. Thayer
Former U.S. ambassador to Singapore (Carter, Reagan)

The Hon. Hans N. Tuch
Career Minister, U.S. Foreign Service, USIA

Ambassador (ret.) Theresa A. Tull
Former U.S. ambassador to Guyana and Brunei (Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, Clinton)

Ambassador William J. vanden Heuvel
Former Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Carter)
Former U.S. representative to the United Nations, Geneva (Carter)

Ambassador (ret.) Christopher van Hollen
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Nixon)
Former U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka (Nixon, Ford)

Ambassador (ret.) Richard N. Viets
Former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania and Jordan (Carter, Reagan)

Ambassador (ret.) Robert E. White
Former U.S. ambassador to Paraguay and El Salvador (Carter)
Former Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (Ford)

Ambassador (ret.) James M. Wilson, Jr.
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, East Asia and Pacific Affairs (Nixon)
Coordinator for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Department of State (Ford)

Is it not clear from the above that the only reason to appoint a man who does not believe that the UN exists is to gut this International Organisation - the stated goal of Condoleeza Rice?

The 1997 Contact with Kofi Annan

2005-04-17T05:00:00.000+02:00

Many right wing Americans are calling for the UN to be moved out of the US.

Further the US malAdministration is trying to modify the UN to suit its own agenda.

I think it is for those who support the UN and all its work to start work on moving the UN to a new location outside of the US.

This blog is devoted to discuss this in the light of the historical exploitation of the UN by the US Administration which actually does not deserve to be a member of the UN.

As the first step, I reproduce below my discussion with the UN Secreatry General Kofi Annan from the 1997 Archived Issue of Findians Briefings Volume 03 Issue 08

27th April 1997

Those of you who listened to INTERNATIONAL QUESTION TIME hosted by Geoffrey Stern on BBC World Service on Sunday 27th April, when UN Secretary General, Ghanian Kofi Annan, was answering listeners queries, would have heard former Findians Oy Managing Director, Jacob Matthan, put a question that has been discussed earlier in these pages.

Here is a transcript of the dialogue:

Jacob: "I belong to several professional democratic organisations. If I do not pay my annual membership fee, I first lose my voting rights and then my membership rights. Why cannot it be the same with the UN? It would solve your problems with the US which claims to be a democratic country but which uses all its rights without paying its fees."

Kofi Annan: "I would love to see a bit more spine in the rules we use at the UN which would oblige member states to honour their committment. We do have some of these rules but they are a bit limp.

For example, on the question of contribution, if member states do not pay their contributions and they are two years behind, they will lose their vote. But let us assume that a country that pays a million dollars a year is two million dollars in arrears and is about to lose its vote. They can make a token payment of 50000 dollars or 100000 dollars just to stay below that cieling and continue to vote.

I would have been happier if we had a system where you had to clear the totality of what you owe, or about 50%, to be able to get your vote back. I would be happy if we would be able to charge interest on those member states who owe. But this is not possible because the member states have not agreed to it and, therefore, we do not have the kinds of instruments that almost every private club, or schools, have and so it has been very very difficult to introduce financial discipline with regard to contribution from member states. But perhaps we should not give up.

I would hope that as part of the reform process, member states will rededicate themselves to the ideals of the United Nations and I also urge the populus, civil society and NGOs, parliamentarians, business groups to really come out and support this organisation, which, after all, this organisation is of, we, the peoples of this world. If we do that we can press the Governments not only to rededicate themselves to the ideals of the UN but also to commit themselves to meet their legal obligations in full and on time."

Geoffery: "Mr. Matthan, Are you happy with that answer?"

Jacob: "Well, there are two ambiguities there that in the sense that the US has been pushing the UN Secretary General towards financial stringency and does not meet ITS committment, and secondly, if I look at the web page about the United Nations, I find that the US takes more than it gives to the UN."

Kofi Annan: "Oh, I agree with you that by the sheer fact that we are based in New York, we put a lot into the US economy. There are a 185 permanent missions, they rent office premises, they rent accommodation or residential premises, or buy them, they employ thousands of people, the US gets a lions share of UN procurements, which in effect is that the US gets MORE THAN IT GIVES to the United Nations. I think the US Government, President Clinton and his team, have realised that the UN is important to the US and that without an effective United Nations the world would be worse off. And he is determined to pay the arrears and is working hard with Congress. And I have been to Congress to talk to them. We are not there yet. I think we have some support but we have some doubters on The Hill and I would hope that in time we will get the money paid. But it is not a question of a one time payment. It has to be sustained support for the organisation by all member states, and US being the biggest contributor, if it does not pay, it really hurts and crimples our operations. There is no doubt about that."

We have had uneducated US citizens, usually of the right wing who have no notion of the reality on the ground, calling for the UN to be moved from the US. I fully agree with this, but for a different purpose.

The recent move by pResident Bush to nominate a man who is a bully to be the US Ambassador to the UN, a man who does not believe that the UN exists, is a move to destroy the UN.

This was reinforced by a statement yesterday by the US Secreatray of State, Condoleeza Rice, who wants the UN to change or DIE.

This prompted me to send this email to Senator Barbara Boxer:

Dear Barbara,

It is truly amazing what Condoleeza Rice has said today about the UN.

Rice: UN Needs Overhaul to 'Survive as Vital Force' "

Her "agent for MURDER" appears to be John Bolton!

Does Condoleeza Rice really believe that the world is going to revolve around her wishes?

You were truly great in handling that awful bully and coward, John Bolton, in the hearings last week which was watched by many thousands of us across the world.

I do hope that you will get the figures of how much the UN operations in New York pumps into the US economy, in terms of jobs for US people, contracts for US companies, as well as the spending power (housing, food, transport, energy bills, etc.) of diplomats from over 190 countries. Plus there is the bonus of tourism inputs to the US economy.

When Kofi Annan answered me on this question on the BBC programme called "Talking Pints" over a decade ago, the figures were that the US GOT MORE than it PUT IN!!

May I quote William Luers
"The United Nations has brought enormous prestige to this already prestigious city," said William Luers, of the United Nations Association of the United States , a private group. The UN contributes some $2.5 billion a year in economic activity to the city, he points out, and is responsible for about 18,000 jobs."

The bulk of these 18,000 jobs have gone to US Nationals.

Consider that the US gross contribution is just US $3 billion - the net of just half a billion dollars. And even here, by not paying on time, it hampers and disrupts the legitimate work of the UN, adding significantly to the operational cost.

Any additional contributions by US are usually at questionable "low interest" loans, with that low interest being is as high as 5.5%!! Even I, as a private citizen, can borrow money at rates lower than that.

I am sure countries as India or China would be very happy to host the UN. With the cultural behaviour of friendliness to visitors of all creeds, colour, origins, in these countries, it would be a far better solution than having the UN located in the hostile country such as the US, constantly being pressured by the "mafia of death".

With the significantly lower cost of living in these countries and with the availability of an abundant supply of highly educated "secular" professionals, operations costs of the UN would also be significantly lower.

And would it not reduce the "terror risk" in the US?

I think we should agree to Condoleeza Rice's reform by moving the UN OUT OF THE US - the best possible solution for people in this world who believe in peace and justice - and the world could keep criminals like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Bolton, Negroponte, Alberto Gonzales, from entering the hallowed and sacred walls of the UN.

I write this in memory of great minds as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, who would have been in favour of moving the Un to more conducive and friendly surroundings than the evil empire of the US.

Yours faithfully
--
Jacob Matthan
http://movetheun.blogspot.com
Oulu, Finland

May I ask all of you to inform the Right Wing Organisation Move America Forward to make more noise to get the UN out of the US. . It was reported in the Chicago Report that an Advocacy Group Creates Petition Drive to Move U.N. Out of U.S.

Move America Forward is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization committed to supporting America's efforts to defeat terrorism and supporting men and women of America's Armed Forces. Over the weekend I caught the organization's founder on cable news and I was pleased to see that there appears to be a legitimate organized movement to move the U.N. out of the U.S. Such (an) organization is long overdue, and can unite various groups on the Right under a common cause for American sovereignty to remove the morally and politically illegitimate United Nations off of American soil.

Maybe we can be united in this one purpose, although it is for different end results.