cowboy joe

ever been to Alberta hoss?

:-)

The Calgary Stampede, of course, I have been tactfully reminded of my error. Rodeo, another cultural pastime earmarked for extinction by the self appointed moral crusaders.

While Canada may have the desire to do good works I doubt they would have the resources to achieve an impact on a global scale.

Cowboy Joe
Don't be too critical of lil' old Canada. 2nd largest country in the world with a population that just broke 30 million. And they've always been a great friend to Australia. I remember my Dad telling me stories of North Africa. Natural friends I think he said. :-)
This is a bit of a new experience for the world. Been a long time since we had a single superpower and smaller nations like Australia or Canada once backed the United Kingdom now find themselves backing the USA. I'm not suggesting there was ever complete agreement but the way was clear. Colonialism was the name of the game. Today, whether we like it or not, democratic hegemony is the new game. Which is why I believe that while I wouldn't say the U.N. is dead, I do think we will see the U.S. turn to her friends with in NATO in order to accomplish said democratic hegemony, and only use the U.N as a maintenance structure. China is the wild card and Russia may prove to be the joker in the deck.
As Winston Churchill said. "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honour, duty, mercy, hope."
"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

To blame Kofi Annan for what happened in Rwanda is akin to holding the speaker of Australian Parliament liable for the Workchoices reforms. To suggest that, at a click of his fingers, Kofi had the option of saving the day is ridiculous. The commitment of UN troops is a heavily complicated, bureaucratic purpose that rests largely on the nations within the UN. All human beings are to blame equally as much as Kofi for what is one of the most shameful, preventable humanitarian disasters the world has ever seen.

The US, in WWIII as someone called it, has annointed itself as the 'guardian of freedom'. Where was this guardian in Rwanda, in the Sudan, hell, take you pick of Africa.. Oh wait, thats right, genocide is ok if there's no oil there and we turn a blind eye.

The UN may well be crippled and weak, but to blame the spokesperson and the organisation itself is counter-productive and illogical. If the biggest superpowers who give the UN its power don't want to commit to ensuring 'freedom equality and justice' globally, then it will remain crippled. Stop pointing fingers and start thinking about things realistically.

Realistically... how would say, the Darfuri, think? Genocide. Never again. Somehow even with countless Security Council Resolutions, the UN appear to be little more than a guard dog with a mediocre bark and a non-existent bite.

To say that Kofi Annan is solely to blame would be absurd. To say that he isn't because others are also at fault would perhaps be even more so.

As far as his legacy goes? Sure, he has made positive contributions. However one must also take responsibility for their mistakes. For one with his tremendous responsibility, not learning from his own mistakes proved to be a costly one. But then the lives of Africans seem to be a small price to pay for many....

Today, whether we like it or not, democratic hegemony is the new game

I prefer such a form of benign evolution preferable to both the potential and present influence of Indonesia.