Salt Lake Tribune | 1999-01-24 | Page 20

AA4 The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION Sunday, January 24, 1999 United Nations Is Struggling to Tame the Monster of Neutrality line.“How do you deal with the fact that the League of Nations failed because it 1 WASHINGTON — My question to U.N, Secretary-General Kofi Annan was fat meantto becritical, but to be more along the “sadder-than-wiser”line. donmentby the international community. Impartiality does not — and mustnot — meanneutrality in the face of evil. It Tia, for instance?” Woolsey asked. “What circumstances would produce a situation of such threat to collective security that force would be used by the vi “These days, we are facing failureaf- the principles of the charter.” The evening itself was a curious one. Thetraditionally New York-based council, in its program of expanding across the country, had set up a video-conferencing extravaganza Tuesday between New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hong Kong. As we spoke, the secretary-general was in New York, and I was in Washington. It was surprising not that the U.N. leader used such a meeting to address ter failure in crisis areas of the world where the United Nations has beenin- volved,” I began. “Angola, Cambodia, Kosovo . . . Does this mean that the U.N. is at all reassessing its traditional idea of neutrality in conflict?” The secretary-general’s answers to this central foreign-policy question of our time were compelling and, for the most part, new. “We havetried notto be blinded by neutrality,” he began. “We should certainly recognize evil from good.” Atanotherpointin the Council on For- eign Relations meeting, he became more emotional, saying, “I have persisted be- cause I must deal with a world not as I wishit was, but as itis... . That does not make me morallyblind. Cana secretarygeneral not thereforetell good from evil, or victim from aggressor? “Of course I can, and precisely for that reason I must persist, forit is ultimately the aggressor more often than the victim who will benefit from isolation and aban- GEORGIE ANNE GEYER fi Annan is a fine man, rightly rewretied He is also, andto a large extent meansstrict and unbiased adherenceto what hastoo often in the heat of these recent crises been the unthinkable — i.e., essentially that, in practice, the precious U.N. neutrality has made tyrants the equals of victims and saints — but that he did it so forthrightly and so clearly. At least, it shows that some officials involved in the tragediesofthelast years are thinking about the real outcome of such theoretical and theologicalrites. It is this neutrality, written into the U.N. charter, which says that the organization, and particularlyits leader, must work with all nations and leadersequal- wasn'twilling to use force — in Manchu- seaially In fact, he’s a double-crosser. mustbe, a U.N.bureaucrat, albeit one of the highest order. And it was when he UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE ly. The secretary-general is (Annan’s words) “an instrumentof the larger interest, beyond national rivalries and regional concerns,” seeking to bring peace by demanding that everyone just stop fighting. It sounds so good, so right, so fairminded. But this putative neutrality put the U.N. in the “realpolitik” position of helping the Serbs kill hundredsof thousandsof Bosnians and Croats. And it was neutrality that stopped the United Nations in Rwanda from acting ahead of time to stop the slaughter of nearly a million tribespeople. So not such nice fellow afterall, this spoke about the contradictions of being the secretary-general that one could understand his probiems. “With no enforcement capacity and no executive power beyond the organization, a secretary-general is armed only with tools of his own making,” he said. “He is invested only with the power that a united security council may wish to bestow and the moral authority entrusted to him bythe charter.” And, no doubt aboutit, that security council today is a problem.It is deeply divided over major crises such as Iraq, with the United States and Great Britain on one side, and Russia, China and France usually on the other. Thereis no American leadership whatsoever, not even a full American ambassador. And so, in the final tally, there is really no political will behind any of the U.N.'s “decisions.” Whenformer CIA Director R. James Woolsey asked Annan a closely related question to mine, this became the bottom Again, Annan answered with rare frankness about areas and times that the U.N. hasattimes tried to cover up. “There have been instances where I supperied the use of force: in Bosnia ..” he began.“In Rwanda we did try very hard to get a force in there. But Rwanda came soon after Somalia, and nobody wanted another one. [Canadian Maj. Gen. Romeo] Dallaire said after- ward thatif he could have had a brigade of 5,000 men, he could have stopped the killing. But this requires determination —andthewill of nations.” This, of course, is true. Andyet, I have to say that there is much more the U.N. officials can and must do in unmasking the false innocence of neutralism. If they do not somehowgo beyondsay- ing they know whothevictims are — and hammerout howto defeat aggressors — I believe the United Nations will sink into an irrelevance greater than the League of Nations. Kofi Annan courageously began, but only began, that journey Tuesdaynight. When Senate’s Vote on Removal Finally Comes, Will It Convey Real Legitimacy? WASHINGTON — There was a sense watching the U.S. Senate last week that this thing has goneas far as it can. The president's lawyers argued skillfully that the things their client may have done in the sordid Lewinskycover-up — lied about the natureof his physicalrela- tions with a White Houseintern, tried buying her silence with a high-paying New Yorkjob, coached his secretary to lie — are notprovable. It was a cynical yet potent strategy, this winking and hinting to those senators — and a great majority of their voters — who believe the president guiltyof that which he stands accused. Yes, they said, you may be right on the facts of what happened but youcan't prove it, not with these witnesses. If Betty Currie and Vernon Jordan, both Clinton intimates, failed to serve up satisfactoryevi- dence against their manbeforethe grand jury, do you really expect them to per- form some Perry Mason-typefeat on the floor of the U.S. Senate? strange, long, lost year may be turned to our national advantage. When Clinton was elected, many Republicans ofan older generation decided that he was somehow not“legitimate.” He had not, after all, served in Vietnam. Forthis, they attached anasterisk next to his presidency. Crazed disciples of the president have, morerecentiy, tried etching a similar delegitimizing asterisk against the current impeachment process, declaring the largely partisan action in the House to be, in Rep. Maxine Waters’ words, a CHRIS MATTHEWS Do you expect Monica Lewinsky to point the finger at her lover-president with such gusto and poignancy that 67 senatorsstand up for conviction and removal? Does anyone this side of Bob Barrbelieve the U.S. Senate will vote to remove a president from office because his odd “Look Mom,nohands!” account of his sexual acts andgratifications differs from that of his former aide? Probably not. Yet the absence of any cathartic climax to this long, sordid af- TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES fair mayalso be the case's best possible conclusion. With seven of 10 Americans thrilled with Clinton's presidency, especially its economic performance, did we expect the Senate to cashier him? With eight of 10 Americans believing that Clintonlied from the outset, does anyone to the right of Tom Harkinactually seek the man’s exoneration from this slime? Yes, this too shall pass. The Senatewill take its vote. The country will retreat “coup d'etat.” In fact, the constitutional mechanisms from the gross images of Monica andBill together to the more fascinating, more troubling question of Bill Clinton himself, this incredibly talented, embarrassingly flawed leader we have chosen twice and, I have no doubt of this, would choose, if given constitutional dispensation, again and again. There’s hope, moreover, that this are working remarkably well. The “people’s House” is by the natureof its membership (narrow constituencies, two-year terms) a more raucous, impulsive body. The Senate, its memberselected to rep- resent societies as wide and diverse as California, and protected by six-year terms, is constructed to be more cau tious. GOP Impeachers Are Sane; It’s Everybody Else Who’s Nuts BY SIDNEY ZION NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Bert Lahr opened the musical “Foxy” in Ketchikan, Alaska “Here wearein Eskimocountry. mony Clinton says he never asked her to lie and never offered her a job forhertestimony The House Republicans roar: “What do they know!” he announced, Bobby Dolan, who. wrote the score, said: “No, these are Indians.” “Don't tell me, I know Eskimos when I see em,” Lahr roaredlike Nosane prosecutor would indict a manfor perjury or obstruc- fishing off a nearby dock. “Son, are you an Eskimo?” Bobby asked. “I’m an Indian,” the kid wishes of two-thirds of the Ameri- What does he know?” said Bert Lahr Monica Lewinskytells Linda takes 67 a lion. They approached a kid said. Trippshe neverhad sex with Bill Clinton because oral sex doesn't count, just intercourse Thepresident swears he never had sex with Monica Lewinsky be- causeoral sex doesn't count, just intercourse Lewinsky informs the grand jurythat nobodyaskedher tolie or offered her a jobfor her testi tion of justice on such a record but what do they know? And no sane political party would impeach a president against the can people, but what do they know? What everybody knows is that it tors to remove a Every Republican in the Senate agrees that the votes aren't there, it’s not even close. Well, what do they know? Theonlything the House man- agers of this impeachmenttrial know for sure is that they are sane, and everybodyelseis crazy Thereal messageoftheir presentation last weekendwas that they are the universal church and truth is theirs, and the mortal sin EMERGENCY FURNACE REPLACEMENT Most Furnaces can be replaced in one day =Manwill Plumbing & Heating L.C. 385 E. 3900S. 262-4671 Celebrating 79 years in Business 03)COMO(GD 15 HOMES WANTED IN YOUR AREA @ NewVinylSiding and Insulation © Soffit and Fascia (Trim and Overhangs) @ Energy Efficient Vinyl Windows @ 25 and 40 Year Roofing Save Thousands During Winter Sale! ZERO DOWN FINANCING AVAILABLE! AS WELL AS DEBT CONSOLIDATION PROGRAMS CALL [phone] ROCKY MOUNTAIN COATINGS Payment plans as low as $60 per month. Offer available for a limited time. is to care about those who say, “Whocares?” Clinton is the devil incarnate; he must be exorcised from the bodypolitic. Like the devil, he appeals to the greed and sexual appetites of a people weaned on permissiveness, on anything goes, which isthetitle of a song written by Cole Porter long before Clinton and the baby boomers had their way with us. However, it’s not about sex. The Republicans are very firm on this point. Perjury is the thing; sex is irrelevant. Clinton lied un- der oath and that’s the impeachable offense — they hammered that throughout. Henry Hyde, now the chief prosecutor of Clinton, had a long affair while married, but he never lied under oath — heonly violated the marriage vow, which Indeed, carrying well the burden offinal decision-making, the Senateis behaving just as it should. The surprising gran- deur of its 100 members sitting in serious, dutiful silence may prove that the “world’s greatest deliberative body” can be justthat. In the end, the Senate's good conduct maysucceed in removing both thoseasterisks i mentioned, not just the one Clinton’scritics put next to his presiden- cy but also the one his friends have penned to an impeachmentprocess that has been, with all its outrage and raucousness, embarrassingly, entirely legitimate. As Jefferson taught, the heart of democracyis the acceptanceof a close decision, the conviction that a bare majority carries all the legitimacy and powerof a unanimousvote. If we get that straight, 1998 will not have been such a bad year afterall. RKCe hoe ‘eoeae) ENC doesn't count, even if oral sex does count, say the Republicans. AndBob Livingston was forced by the GOP leadersto quit his 60second elevation to speaker of the House when he was exposed as an adulterer — with no perjury in- volved When the Lewinsky story broke, I wrote that Bill Clinton would be the first defendant in the 20th centuryto be judged by a juryof his peers. Little did I know that LarryFlynt would show up to prove meright But the truly unhypocritical jury of Clinton's peers is the American people. Everypoll shows that the majority of us don’t want him outof office and never wanted him impeached be- cause we knewit wasall about yakahoola, not about perjury or ob: struction of justice. 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