UN Failing On Georgia 

By Sam Harari
August 13, 2008
The Bulletin
Original Source: http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=20014256&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8

The United Nations has shown its inability to take concrete action in relation to the Georgia-Russia conflict over the past week, in the diplomatic arena as well as on the ground.
In the political arena, the Security Council met for the fifth time in a closed meeting on Monday night, failing to reach any sort of agreement as to how to address the conflict.
Indeed, Georgian representative Irakli Alasania recalled the inept League of Nations to show what the Security Council is in danger of becoming.
Now I think the Security Council has to act. Inaction of the Security Council's predecessor, the League of Nations, led to the occupation of Georgia in 1921. If this organization, and Security Council, has any credibility today, the proposed action by the French delegation on the draft resolution should be passed.
A watered-down draft resolution, submitted by France and supported by the U.S., calls for a cessation of the violence in Georgia. The resolution also calls for the withdrawal of Russian and Georgian troops and reaffirmed the territorial integrity of Georgia.
The draft resolution neglects to make any specific reference to Russian aggression, despite insistence by the U.S. that Russia's actions be condemned. Despite this, American U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the U.S. is happy with the draft resolution. We support it. Whether it passes or not depends exclusively on Russia.
Russia is one of five permanent members of the Security Council that holds veto power, making it nearly impossible for any practical resolution critical of Russia to pass.
I cannot see us accepting this French draft of the resolution, said Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the U.N. He objected on the grounds that the draft contained no reference to Georgian aggression, no reference to the atrocities we have seen.
The situation on the ground has not been much better, with humanitarian, observer and peacekeeping missions barely able to fulfill any of their duties.
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe told the Security Council on Sunday that the United Nations had no firsthand information and was relying largely on media reports for its information. The U.N. had to rely on second-hand reports to find out about troop movements and the humanitarian crisis, despite the presence of UNOMIG (United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia) forces in the region.
In addition, UNOMIG observers, without objection, acquiesced to a request made by Russian and Abkhazian authorities on Sunday to withdraw from the Upper Kodori River Valley, which separates Georgian and Abkhazian forces.
This left UNOMIG unable to fulfill a key part of its mandate, to monitor and report on the situation.
In addition, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet said that UNOMIG had to scale down its operations, conducting only essential patrols.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that, because of security reasons, no U.N. agency has yet been able to carry out an assessment mission or aid operations in South Ossetia, where the conflict first began.
Nearly 100,000 people have been uprooted from their homes. The World Food Programme said it has begun providing critical humanitarian aid to more than 2,000 people. As of yesterday, only one airlift had reached the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, bringing 34 tons of tents, jerry cans, blankets and kitchen sets for those in need.
While Security Council meetings until now have been inconclusive, unusually fierce rhetoric, reminiscent of Cold War era diplomacy, emerged in Sunday's meeting.
The days of overthrowing leaders by military means in Europe, those days are gone, Mr. Khalilzad said, guessing at Russia's hidden motives.
Russian representative Vitaly Churkin challenged Mr. Khalilzad's argument that it was a campaign of terror Russian forces were waging.
This statement, ambassador, is absolutely unacceptable, Mr. Churkin said,  particularly from the lips of the permanent representative of a country whose actions we are aware of, including with regard to civilian populations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Serbia.
Georgian representative Irakli Alasania, defending the U.S., said, Russian-style peace enforcement is familiar to its neighbors, such as when the Republic of Chechnya had been erased from the face of the earth. A blind eye had been turned then, and must not be done now.