Posted on 02/03/2005 10:37:05 PM PST by hedgetrimmer
That's President Bush agreeing with it.
these gun haters do not like Bush. this is from the UN affiliatied International Campaign to Band Landmines ( a cover for small arms confiscation)
it does me good to see how much they dislike Bush policy
Author/Origin: Jody Williams williamsSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERicbl.org
(Monday 16 July 2001 Washington, DC)
Hello to everyone in the ICBL.
It has been a very long time since I have written to everyone, but the latest from the Bush administration is just too disturbing to ignore.
As we have talked about many times, a big concern to many of us in the ICBL -- and some of our government friends who really do care about the civil society-government partnership that we have forged -- has always been that some governments would try to make sure that that model was not replicated to resolve other issues -- such as child soldiers, small arms/light weapons control, the establishment of an International Criminal Court, to name just a few.
I guess it should be of little surprise given the arrogant isolationism of this new administration and its hostility to almost every international treaty whether already negotiated or in the process of negotiation that the US government just this past week at the United Nations attacked the very model that we established with the ICBL.
As you all now, there is a three-week conference underway at the UN to try to deal with the proliferation of light arms and small weapons. You might have read the news reports of the US’s very hostile position toward the conference. There were articles about it in the Washington Post and opinion pieces in the New York Times to name just a couple, this past week. But what I had not seen mentioned was that the US was not only hostile to the negotiations it is also trying to block the open participation of citizens in the discussions.
In case you haven't seen it, John R. Bolton, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, addressed the Plenary Session of the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons for the U.S. And he said:
“We do not support the promotion of international advocacy activity by international or non-governmental organizations, particularly when those political or policy views advocated are not consistent with the views of all member states. What individual governments do in this regard is for them to decide, but we do not regard the international governmental support of particular political viewpoints to be consistent with democratic principles. Accordingly, the provisions of the draft Program that contemplate such activity should be modified or eliminated.” (If you wish to read the entire address it can be found at: http://www.state.gov/t/us/rm/2001/index.cfm?docid=4038)
In other words, Bolton and the Bush administration are saying that NGOs should not be allowed to express views on issues under negotiation -- particularly, as Mr. Bolton notes in so many words, if such views "offend" any single country (such as the U.S., for example). The administration is trying to re-establish the tyranny of consensus that we were able to avoid in the Ottawa Process and with government-civil society partnership in that process . And he is saying that the rules of procedure of the negotiations should be changed to silence our voices.
In so many words, the Bush administration is saying that having a point of view and expressing it is not “consistent with democratic principles.” Am I alone in feeling that I’ve fallen through the looking glass and the jabberwocky is talking gibberish?
We all know that what we have achieved in the ICBL is much more than the eventual elimination of landmines. It is the model itself and the empowerment that we all have gotten by working together for a common goal -- even if we don't always agree on every detail of how to get there. As we all know, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is about a whole lot more than just landmines. Even if we only were able to get rid of this indiscriminate weapon and help landmine survivors around the world, it would be a significant contribution to a better world. But, the Campaign has done so much more than that and has become a powerful example of what ordinary citizens can do when they work together and express their views. For that, in part, we received the Nobel Peace Prize.
You might recall that in its announcement of the 1997 award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, among other things, “that the ICBL, in making up a network through which it has been possible to express and mediate a broad wave of popular commitment in an unprecedented way.....has grown into a convincing example of an effective policy for peace." In concluding, the Nobel Committee noted that as “a model for similar processes in the future, it could prove of decisive importance to the international effort for disarmament and peace."
Apparently, the Bush administration recognizes that our model could prove of decisive importance and wants to stop it now. I hope many if not all of you share my outrage at this attempt to take away our voices -- and that you will let your governments know that you are outraged that the 'world's greatest democracy' is behaving in such an undemocratic fashion.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Jody Williams
http://www.icbl.org/news/archive/old/64
"The United Nations redistribution policy".
hmmm... no, i didn;t know it was mentioned during Condi's grilling..
rats
but (hehe)
but.. i still have hope.. i KNOW Bush was playing the dems when he said he would sign the fienstien Gun Ban law if they got it to his desk. either he KNEW he could say that knowing it wouldn't make it there, or.. he was just bluffing...
i'm holding onto hope here. he did get us out of that ICC..
Agenda 21 is a bit old. The implementation isn't by UN action, it's by fed through local zoning, land use, code, EPA, ect rules. In addition, requiring planning for everything drives operating expenses up even further. The plans aren't allowed to be flexible either.
Folks never really see the connection. It comes in little peices and by stealth as buried items in budget bills. Required land use planning came as an item attached at the last minute to a budget bill at the end of legislative session. Most have no interest anyway, because they have nothing at stake and are shown what they have to gain in this taking of other folks property.
They won't be happy till they take our guns.
When people start talking about confiscating our weapons, it has the opposite effect on people like us.
We have been buying guns and ammo in this house. One never knows when one might need them....lol
FYI... (source here-> http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=82&id_news=106 )
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sentences a former Yugoslav General, among other things, for the destruction of and damage to the World Heritage site of the Old Town of Dubrovnik
01 February 2005
On 31 January 2005, the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sentenced retired General Pavle Strugar of the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army to eight years in prison for war crimes perpetrated in 1991. He has been found guilty of war crimes against the civilian population and, under Article 3(d) of the Tribunal’s Statute, of the destruction of and wilful damage to a number of historical and cultural sites located in the Old Town of Dubrovnik, in Croatia, a site inscribed on the List of World Heritage since 1979. This Judgement illustrates clearly how destruction of, and damage to, world heritage sites under the 1972 UNESCO Convention can be sanctioned under international humanitarian law.
Damaged by the armed conflict of the 1990s, the Old City of Dubrovnik became the focus of a major restoration programme co-ordinated by UNESCO. In 1991, the city was immediately included on the List of World Heritage in Danger in order to draw international attention to the situation and carry out the necessary emergency protection measures. With UNESCO providing technical advice and financial assistance, the Croatian Government restored the facades of the Franciscan and Dominican cloisters, repaired roofs and rebuilt palaces. As a result, in December 1998, it became possible to remove the city from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Today, the World Heritage Centre continues to provide international assistance to the site, most recently by financing two meetings of the Consultative Council of Experts for the Restoration of Dubrovnik.
The judgements and Press Releases of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia can be consulted at the following address: www.un.org/icty
and.. (http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=166)
World Heritage Committee
Actions
The World Heritage Committee is the statutory body responsible for decision-making on all matters related to the implementation of the World Heritage Convention.
It meets once a year, in June, to:
*
Select new properties for the World Heritage List from among the cultural and natural properties nominated by the different countries. The Committee is assisted by the Advisory bodies .
* Examine reports on the state of conservation of listed properties and ask the States Parties to take action when properties are not being properly managed.
* Allocate finances of the World Heritage Fund for properties in need of repair or restoration; for emergency action if properties are in immediate danger; for providing technical assistance and training; and for promotional and educational activities.
Structure
The Committee consists of representatives from 21 States Parties, elected by the General Assembly of the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention.
The Committee elects the Chairperson, the Rapporteur and five Vice-Chairpersons. At its first session, the Committee adopted its Rules of Procedure of the World Heritage Committee , subsequently amended at its 2nd, 3rd, 20th, 24th and 25th ordinary sessions and 6th extraordinary session.
The Chairperson
The Chairperson chairs the sessions of the Committee and represents the Committee for a period of one year. The Chairperson also has the authority to approve requests for preparatory assistance (maximum US$ 15,000), for training and technical cooperation up to US$ 20,000 and for emergency assistance up to US$ 50,000.
another one ... (http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=246&id_state=169)
United States of America
Date of ratification of the Convention:
07 Dec 1973
Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List:
Cultural
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (1982)
Chaco Culture National Historical Park (1987)
Independence Hall (1979)
La Fortaleza and San Juan Historic Site in Puerto Rico (1983)
Mesa Verde (1978)
Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (1987)
Pueblo de Taos (1992)
Statue of Liberty (1984)
Natural
Carlsbad Caverns National Park (1995)
Everglades National Park (1979)
Grand Canyon National Park (1979)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (1983)
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (1987)
Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek (1979)
Mammoth Cave National Park (1981)
Olympic National Park (1981)
Redwood National Park (1980)
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (1995)
Yellowstone (1978)
Yosemite National Park (1984)
We are trying to destroy America ourselves?
Haven't you read Agenda 21's manifesto?
Please add me to the "rights, farms, environment" ping. Thanks.
I hope someone brings this subject up again, if you do, please ping me. Night all.
BTW, in an e-mail to me, a British Conservative speaker and writer who is a member of a prestigious social organization (meetings at Buckingham Palace and that sort of thing) recently compared our US ease of buying and owning land to lebensraum--the old WWII Nazi plan to confiscate conquered lands for "living space." Projections like that are an old tactic in such propaganda. That's how messed up information matters regarding our way of life are getting in the convincing political speech of some influential political groups in some other countries. Also, bear in mind the increasing anti-Semitism in most radical environmentalist groups--foreign and domestic.
here;s another good mark for Bush on the 2nd am.
We have started a weapons collection programme composed of two phases. In Phase I, the Government announced general amnesty from 5 to 20 June for voluntary surrender of illicit weapons" — similar to the gun surrender program run by President Clinton's Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and recently terminated by the Bush administration. Under both the Clinton and the Pakistani program, the targeted weapons firearms owned by civilians, regardless of criminality.
http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel080601.shtml
People thought LOST was a joke at first. Now it's being pushed as polict by our own government.
Anything think the UN is just going away anytime soon? It isn't.
Agenda 21.This is dead serious, people.
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