ELIMINATE SECURITY COUNCIL AND VETO POWER OF PERMANENT MEMBERS AT UNITED NATIONS

When the United Nations was created in 1945, the founders created a peculiar system whereby the Security Council had all the power regarding peace and security, and the General Assembly had very little.

Furthermore, each of the five permanent members—Russia, China, Great Britain, France, and the United States—has veto power over any resolution regarding peace, war or security which is brought to the Security Council.

The conflicts in both Libya and now Syria bring up the necessity to amend the structure at the U.N.  Disband the Security Council.  Put all power in the General Assembly.  No one country should have the power to veto or stymie the work of the world body.

U.S. GOVERNMENT SHOULD OFFER AID AND FOOD TO IRANIAN VICTIMS OF SEVERE EARTHQUAKES

Iran suffers another catastrophic earthquake.  Thousands of Iranians are without food or shelter.

Why can't the government of the United States publicly announce that it stands ready to help out?

I ask the same question for the Israeli government?

Iranian victims are people who are suffering—men, women, children, young babies, old persons.

Just because the governments of the U.S. and Israel have quarrels with the leaders of Iran should not prevent basic human sympathy and prompt offers of assistance.

IRAN HANGS 29 CRIMINALS IN CRUEL IMPOSITION OF DEATH PENALTY

As my readers know, I am adamantly opposed to military action by the U.S. or Israel against Iran on account of its nuclear power development. However, from time to time, I think actions of the Iranian government are reprehensible and cruel. Consider for example the news reports today that Iranian authorities executed 29 criminals this morning by hanging.

The BBC reports:

"The latest hangings were carried out after the death sentences were approved by the country's Supreme Court, IRIB reported. "Twenty-nine drug smugglers and well-known bandits were hanged in Evin prison on Sunday at dawn," the statement said. "These criminals had smuggled thousands of kilos of narcotics in the country and outside the country." "

The only countries to rival Iran as the leading executioners are the United States and China. You might think that more civilized a country is, the less it would utilize the death penalty. But that apparently is not so.

For a state to impose and carry out taking a person's life is barbaric, cruel and without societal benefit. Some argue that the death penalty is a deterrent. If so, why does the world still have people who commit crimes punishable by death?

When the state takes a life, it is just as inhumane and barbaric as any murderer. Every imposition of the death penalty must be condemned whether done by China, the U.S. or Iran.

U.S. REFUSES TO BAN CLUSTER BOMBS, MAJOR KILLERS OF CHILDREN

The BBC reports more than 100 countries have reached an agreement to ban cluster bombs. But guess who refuses to go along? - the United States and George Bush.

Reports the BBC:

"More than 100 nations have reached an agreement on a treaty which would ban current designs of cluster bombs.

"Diplomats meeting in Dublin agreed to back an international ban on the use of the controversial weapons following 10 days of talks.

"But some of the world's main producers and stockpilers - including the US, Russia and China - oppose the move."

The only reason to use cluster bombs is their lethality. And not only against soldiers. Cluster bombs prove to be even more lethal against civilians, especially children, because to the untrained eye, cluster bombs appear to be attractive metal toys. Imagine a six-year old playing in his backyard and seeing a cluster bomber canister laying among the weeds. This is how cluster bombs kill children, they appear to be toys. But when a child picks one up, it explodes with deadly force.

That the United States is one of the few countries to support the continued use of cluster bombs is outrageous and cruel. All children of the world should oppose the U.S. in its stubborn and cruel irrationality against children.

AMERICAN NEWS PROGRAMS NEED TO REPORT ON U.S. MEDDLING IN SOMALIA

The BBC reports that aid agencies say that there is a looming humanitarian crisis in Somalia as thousands of families flee the Ethiopian shelling in Mogadishu. And today BBC.com reports that the interim puppet government set up by the United States and Ethiopia is preventing international emergency aid from reaching the refugees.

Why don't we see this story prominently reported on The NewsHour or on other major networks? The real heart of the story is that the Bush administration could not bear to see peace and tranquillity take hold in Somalia and in its capital Mogadishu after 16 years of chaos and warlord violence. The problem was that the first stable Somali government was Islamic. So the U.S. sent in its warplanes last December to bomb and kill members of the ruling Council of Islamic Courts and then the U.S. incited Ethiopia to violate international law and invade Somalia.

RED CROSS SEES WOUNDS ON IRANIAN DIPLOMAT WHO SAYS HE WAS TORTURED

The BBC reports that Jalal Sharafi, the Iranian diplomat kidnapped several weeks ago in Iraq, shows possible signs of being tortured. The BBC reports that:

"[t]he head of the International Red Cross in Tehran says he saw wounds on [Sharafi] who has alleged that US forces in Iraq tortured him."

"Iranian television has shown pictures of Mr Sharafi receiving treatment in hospital and quotes a doctor's report saying there are signs someone drilled holes in his feet as well as broke his nose, injured his ear and wounded his neck and back."

The U.S. says it had nothing to do with Sharafi's kidnapping. It denies that any U.S. personnel committed acts of torture against Sharafi.

"The United States had nothing to do with Mr Sharafi's detention and we welcome his return to Iran," said Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, last week. He dismissed the claims as "just the latest theatrics of a government trying to deflect attention away from its own unacceptable actions". An unnamed US intelligence official also denied any claims of abuse, saying: "The CIA does not conduct or condone torture."

Sharafi's claim is different and harsher than the reports of "harsh" treatment meted out to the 15 British sailors/marines by the Iranians. Mr. Sharafi did not receive a brand new suit, nor did he apparently have the chance to write letters home. Compare Sharafi's treatment to what seems to be the worst treatment suffered by the British sailors at the hands of the Iranians, the "harsh" treatment inflicted upon Arthur Batchelor. The BBC reports:

" . . . Arthur Batchelor, 20, the youngest of the British sailors to be held captive, told the Daily Mirror about his "nightmare" at the hands of his captors and how he "cried like a baby" in his cell. He told the newspaper: "A guard kept flicking my neck with his index finger and thumb. I thought the worst, we've all seen the videos. I was frozen in terror and just stared into the darkness of my blindfold."