Antonio Guterres took the reins of the United Nations on New Year’s Day, making it clear that his top priority will be preventing crises and promoting peace, Edith M. Lederer of The Associated Press reports.
“As Guterres begins his five-year term facing conflicts from Syria and Yemen to South Sudan and Libya and global crises from terrorism to climate change, U.S. support for the United Nations remains a question mark.”
This is something that enrages me more than anything else. When The AP equates what Donald Trump says with what America thinks!!! No, the U.S. does NOT think the U.N. is a place where people get together and talk. No, we DON’T believe things that Oaf of Office Donald Trump believes. We do NOT agree with the awful choices he is making about who is going to put in charge of some of the most important agencies in the U.S. government. Please, DO NOT EQUATE what he says with the the citizens of the U.S., or even the politicians of the U.S. government think or believe or say.
In the first minute after taking over as UN secretary-general, Guterres issued an ‘‘Appeal for Peace.’’ He urged all people in the world to make a shared New Year’s resolution: ‘‘Let us resolve to put peace first.’’ Yayyy for Guterres. At least he can utter the word peace. Most leaders can utter the word peace. Few can empty their pockets of the cronies they are indebted to and actually work to achieve it. No, they leave it up to those of us WITHOUT oil company profits and corporate greed financing our children’s educations, financing our several homes around the world, our whirlwind vacation trips to exotic locales several times a year.
Guterres is quoted as having said ‘‘Let us make 2017 a year in which we all — citizens, governments, leaders — strive to overcome our differences,’’ he said.
Is it overcoming differences?
I’m assuming the AP is reporting accurately on what Guterres said. Like there is enormous difficulty in solving conflicts (okay, I can understand that when we are approaching genocidal conditions in several parts of the world); a lack of ‘‘capacity’’ in the international community to prevent conflicts (okay, I can understand that when you have warring countries going after the almighty black gold, oil, crude); and the need to develop ‘‘the diplomacy for peace,’’ which he plans to focus on. Okay, “diplomacy for peace.” Doesn’t this just sound like another attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the citizens of the world who deserve clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, food to eat, and to not be born, wake up, and live with the sound of bombs exploding, the sight of our family members being maimed and killed, the sight of strangers’ bodies being dismembered and strewn around our cities in terrorist attacks, the sight and even the news of hospitals being mistakenly blown to pieces, along with the wounded and sick patients and the doctors who are volunteering to try to make them well again?
“Guterres has said he will also strive to deal with the inequalities that globalization and technological progress have helped deepen, creating joblessness and despair especially among youth.” This all sounds well and good but how are we going to deal with the wars that are taking place and the tens and hundreds of thousands who are losing their homes, their countries and their lives …. NOW? TODAY?
Pope Francis said “The new year will be good in the measure in which each of us, with the help of God, tries to do good, day by day, that’s how peace is created.’’
Francis told a crowd of 50,000 pilgrims, tourists, and Romans gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his noon blessing and remarks. I wonder if there were any politicians from any countries from around the world there. I wonder if they think any of this applies to them. I doubt there were, and if there were, I doubt any of them thinks any of that applies to them, because for them, it’s not about doing good. What politician do you know who lives his life based on what he or she thinks “doing good” means? Name me one. Just one.
Source: New UN chief has New Year’s resolution: ‘Put peace first’ – The Boston Globe
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