If you support the UN action against Libya do you also support one against Yemen?

[cali]

In Yemen civilians are being killed. The Yemen envoy to the UN just quit because of violence directed at civilians. There's a brutal gov't crackdown on the protesters. So what should the U.N. do?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-yemen-resignation-idUSTRE72J23V20110320

[joshcryer]

1. If the UNSC has a R2P proposal I do not believe it should be vetoed by the United States.

Or by anyone else at all.

The key is that the UN probably would be too slow to act in Yemen that it'd have to escalate at least to the level that Libya did 3 weeks ago for it to be worth considering.

[Hugabear]

6. So your support for civilian life is contigent upon UN approval

So if the UN approves military action to protect civilian life in Yemen, you're okay with that. Otherwise, they can fend for themselves. Sounds about like what I'm hearing.

[joshcryer]

7. Actually, I would prefer there be a global police force that allowed people to express themselves...

...without persecution.

However, I am being practical. There is no such police force. Until there is I do not believe countries should interfere with one another unless international law deems it necessary.

[PurityOfEssence]

9. Twice as many protesters were killed in Yemen on Friday than in any single incident in Libya

I am talking about the shooting of unarmed demonstrators, not armed insurgents fighting in military operations. The only incidents I can find cited on Wikipedia show one incident in Tripoli of 24 fatalities, one in Benghazi of 24 fatalities, one in Benghazi of 10 fatalities, Ajdabiya had 4 fatalities, Qubah had 2, Misurata had 6-14 over a four day period and there were 4 killed in an incident in Tobruk. There were 300 killed (including the 24) over a six day period in Tripoli, but they were not completely peaceful protests; government buildings were set on fire.

There were 52 people killed in Yemen on Friday, with reports stating that most were head-shot by snipers. This has prompted many resignations from the government, and the situation is unfolding as we speak. The Bahrainis have had 10 fatalities, and have not taken up arms against the government either. King Khalifa is going to give 1,000 Dinars (approx $2,652.06 USD) to each family.

So, it looks like the most recent incident in Yemen has taken more than twice the number of lives of any incident in Libya involving unarmed protesters.

We differ, obviously, but your consistency is commendable; I do not see this as warranting intervention either, but if it persists, there will be some point where I will.

However the authorization is couched, though, it is a war resolution; the language is so broad that it can be used to justify all sorts of things.

[joshcryer]

11. Yeah, you lowered the bar by trying to say how many people were "armed."

Really fucking twisted, that. A kid picks up a gun for the first time in his life and doesn't know how to use it, automatically an armed rebel.

[somone]

2. And Bahrain

[mmonk]

3. If everyone in the UN resigned over the hypocrisy,

it would create quite the dynamic.

[midnight]

4. Good question.... U. N. should declare war null and void...

Every one go home and let peace reign.

[RB TexLa]

5. You will not have the same support from Arab countries for action against Yemen

There is not going to be Western military action that close to Saudi Arabia because Saudi Arabia would oppose it and others would oppose it because of them. There is a group of people here who act like politics is some how suspended in these decisions.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[Chan790]

10. Yes.

But then again, I'm both hawkish (that's an understatement possibly) and fiercely-supportive of autonomy even when against our interests.

I also think that we as a country have an obligation to stop propping up the House of Saud and our #1 policy initiative should be to end US reliance on foreign hydrocarbons in the most immediate sense possible. (Even if it means nuclear energy and increases in the price of consumable-goods.)

[CommonSensePLZ]

12. Kind of

These are the times that force the UN to make choices in how far it is willing to go and which actions it sees fit in enforcing the Human Rights laws it swore it would protect.

I would say outright "YES!" if I weren't realistic. Obviously asking "can the people have freedom? Pretty please? With sugar on top?" isn't going to work when you're talking about governments that are willing to shoot unarmed dissidents, but it might not always be easy to get the troops to fight every single despot..

:shrug: