Four major world religions must have veto powers in UNSC

Says Cohen: "The Baghdad bombing of the U.N. headquarters proved beyond a shadow of doubt that the internationalising the occupation of Iraq is not, by itself, going to do the trick. The United Nations, it is often said, has no enemies -- yet its headquarters were blown up and at least 23 people were killed. They were in Iraq simply to do good. But inevitably, the United Nations was helping to do the work of the United States."

"The differences between Israel and Iraq are palpable. The Islamic militants who are suspected in the UN bombing are mostly coming from elsewhere. They do not represent a national movement, like the Viet Cong or, for that matter, the various Palestinian liberation movements. There is always the possibility that these militants will make matters so nasty that we will give up and, as with Vietnam, leave."

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"Israel, on the other hand, is in a different position. It unmistakably squats on land that was once Palestinian -- never mind its international right to do so. That grievance, particularly when it comes to the West Bank, is not likely to be mollified by turning on lights or giving everyone a food blender. The Palestinian grievance is both real and ongoing, exacerbated by Israel's persistent encroachment on West Bank territory. The two brands of terrorists are not the same. The Palestinian ones are indigenous, may be funded by others, but coming from the very communities that Israel occupies. What's more, some of the suicide bombers are not religious militants, but merely people, who in their own way are saying they can't take it any longer. The trick for Israel is, as always, to pull out of the territories, build its defensive fence -- and wait for a generation to accept the status quo."

Now contrast the truth spoken by a Mr. Richard Cohen, a Jew, with the white lies in President Bush's speech in St. Louis on August 26. President Bush toed the neocon Zionist line to the letter, blaming the Palestinians for everything. The President used the code words the Zionists love to use all the time that "the terrorists hate us because of our freedom, because of our democracy." While the President will do nothing to stop the annual 4 billion dollars of US economic aid to Israel that finances the construction and security of the illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands, he wants the Europeans to bar charities from sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinian civilians. Echoing the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President Bush not only wants the Palestinians disarmed, he wants them starving as well! In his speech, the President also said something as incendiary as his "crusade" speech. Bringing the explosive issue of religion into the fray, he said that the Islamic militants hate "the Christians and the Jews." (Good news for Hindus and Buddhists; according President Bush, Muslim militants don't hate them!). With more soldiers in Iraq dead peacekeeping than war-making, with a policy of selective punishment for the Muslims, and tax cuts that will dispatch America 500 billions of dollars into deficit this year alone, Americans do not realise the harm this man is doing to America's future!

Mr. Richard Cohen is right about the UN; it does a lot of "good." The UN wears different hats. Almost all of its branches, WHO, UNICEF to name a few, do good. That is why it was excruciatingly painful to see Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello and 22 of his decent humanitarian colleagues perish in the Baghdad blast. There is one branch of the United Nations, however, that does not always do good; it is the Security Council. Quoting Richard Cohen again, it does the "work of the United States." And the West! It is the Security Council that sanctioned the birth of the State of Israel on Palestinian lands. It is the Security Council that does nothing to punish the number one violator of the UN Security Council resolutions, Israel. The Security Council continues to turn a blind eye as India refuses to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir as was mandated by the Security Council. On the other hand, the Security Council-enacted sanctions were responsible for millions of civilian deaths in Iraq. Iraq's so-called violation of the Security Council resolutions was trumpeted as one of the reasons for invading it. While nations like Israel go scot-free for scornfully ignoring Security Council resolutions, the Security Council has become the primary instrument for punishing the Muslim nations. While President Bush and the West preach democracy as the panacea cure for all, in the Security Council they ruthlessly practice the dictatorship, in the form of a resolution-destroying veto.

It is astonishing that all the ordinary members of the United Nations accept the dictatorial powers of the five permanent members, the US, Britain, France, Russia and China. As has been demonstrated repeatedly, all the permanent members protect and promote their own interests and that of their friends, such as Israel, at the expense of other members. Since President Bush is successfully dividing the world into religious groups, one has to wonder why four out of the five permanent seats in the Security Council belong to Christian nations (US, Britain, France and Russia). Where is the permanent seat for the world's second largest religion, Islam, practiced by 1.3 billions? What about a seat for the Hindus? For the UN to have any legitimacy, the smaller nations must demand that the hegemony of the Christian/western former colonial powers in the Security Council ends. If dictatorship is to continue in the United Nations, that dictatorship has to represent the world's four largest religions: one seat only for the Christians, one seat for the Muslims, one seat for the Buddhists/Confu-cians, and one seat for the Hindus. If the Muslims do not get a seat as a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council to protect their interests, they will be stupid not to leave the UN en masse. They will have to remain docile, servile and gluttons for punishment to stay in the UN under the current partisan and repressive format. Switzerland is not a member of the United Nations. The last time I checked, they are doing great!