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U.S. Finds Many Critics, Few Friends in the UN
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11272 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1986 |
1,242 Words |
| Author
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Narayan Keshavan
Narayan Keshavan is a freelance writer who specializes in
United Nations affairs. |
A day after the April 14 air strikes against Libya, as a heated debate began in the 15-member UN Security Council, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations made a forceful defense of the American action amid a chorus of criticism.
President Reagan, in his nationally televised address April 14, set the tone for America's defense at the world body. Reagan made it clear that the air raids were in "self-defense" and were not an act of retribution. This argument was more clearly elucidated by General Vernon A. Walters when he addressed the council of April 15.
In a voice that at times crackled with emotion, Walters, a former deputy chief of the CIA, said: "The United States took these measures of self-defense only after other repeated and protracted efforts to deter Libya from its ongoing attacks against the United States in violation of the [UN] Charter."
The retired general said "this self-defense action became necessary" after "quiet diplomacy, public condemnation, economic sanctions, and demonstrations of military force failed to dissuade" the regime of Colonel Muammar Qadafi.
However, with the exception of Britain and Israel, no other nation seemed to buy this argument, at least not publicly.
Rhetorical animosity toward the United States reached a vitriolic crescendo as members of the Arab bloc initiated the process of "America bashing," as one U.S. official put
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