>>What did the U.N. do about the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo?
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>I am not talking about what has been done in the past, but about what should be done in the future.
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>Specifically, international cooperation should be sought to solve the different problems of the World.
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>Just imagine that there was a difference of opinion between two of the states, in the United States. Would you agree that one of the states attack another one directly, or do you think the problem should be resolved on a higer level (through the federal government)? Personally, I find the second alternative preferable. Similarly, the problems of the World should be solved through a World Government, World Federation, or something similar.
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>This hasn't happened in the past (at least, not to a sufficient degree), but this is exactly what should be sought.

Hilmar;

We had a disagreement within our history as a nation and it caused a Civil War. When states disagree they will sometimes go to the federal government to resolve issues if they are unable to work things out amongst themselves.

A few notes about our Civil War:

We must remember who fired the first shot - the south. As General Longstreet said, “We should have freed the slaves before we started the war”! That would have given the Confederacy legitimacy under the eyes of England and the rest of the world. England did back the South but only to a point.

Had the slaves first been freed by the Confederacy, then we truly could state that our Civil War was a war for States Rights as opposed to federal control. However, the economy of the south depended upon slave labor to be competitive and profitable. Imagine that without slavery you would not have southern gentlemen! Without slavery southern gentlemen would have to work for a living and not abuse humans to create their wealth.

The south destroyed itself due to world opinion and its position on slavery. Imagine while all this was going on the United States was assisting Mexico to rid itself of France and Maximilian. Remember Mexico, the nation we had defeated in 1848 during the Mexican American War? Interesting stuff in my book.

Does any of this relate to today? Who knows as each administration is different and the world changes every day. There is no one set of rules that every nation is willing to follow. There are many reasons for that bit of reality and one is national sovereignty.

No two nations on the face of the earth do everything the same way. Laws, and customs are different. To have all the nations of the world adhere to one set of rules would never work. One nation cannot take the Constitution of another and be successful. An example of that in history is, Brazil at one time copied the Constitution of the United States. It caused many serious problems and was abandoned. Brazil wrote its own constitution.

The world needs an organization such as the United Nations, but nothing is perfect.

At one time a few years ago our media was discussing three wars and only three. In reality there were 53 wars being fought at that point in time. The United States does not start all the wars of the world. In may intercede politically, economically or military as it sees fit. Our media will discuss limited events and with bias. Is that good or bad? It depends upon your point of view. I do not think you have heard of too many evil deeds the United States has conducted such as the attempt to eliminate races of people. Evil deeds by individuals yes, but not by our nation. We have not attempted to destroy a nation but that does not matter to others.

As far as an international court of law is concerned consider this. In our nation a person is considered innocent until proven guilty. In some nations a person is considered guilty until proven innocent. We have specific rights given to us by our Constitution. Do you agree that our citizens should be allowed to live under our Constitution or should we give up all our rights and allow others to dictate what we may and may not do? One set of laws for the world is impractical unless you change the laws of every nation.

Our nation has the capability to destroy the world 770 times with nuclear devices alone. When is the last time we did that? Can we be trusted? Try us and see. Perhaps we should change our ways and just eliminate any country or city we do not agree with. Now where is that famous red button! :)


Tom