We Live in a World Without Law or Order
Elio Delgado Legon
HAVANA TIMES — With the title “Un mundo caotico sin ley ni orden” (A Chaotic World Without Law or Order), I wrote a commentary in January 2009 that was published in various media in different countries as well as in my personal blog, “Cuba para el Mundo.”
The main theme was the brutal aggression by Israel against the Palestinian people and the impunity with which such crimes are committed, though they constitute crimes against humanity.
What I was expressing remains relevant today, though it’s now possible to add even more facts to support its argument. All of this is aggravating the situation in the world in which we live.
My article began as follows:
“Since 1941, when Nazi Germany began invading foreign territory without having to face obstacles other than the resistance of the peoples under attack, the world has known what it is to live without international law or an established order to curb expansionist, hegemonic and imperialist appetites.
“With the defeat of Germany — at the cost of tens of millions of dead and mutilated, mainly from the Soviet Union — the world understood the need to establish order and to set up an authority to prevent such acts from ever happening again. For this reason the United Nations was created and international laws have been implemented that should be respected.
“Who has not heard of international law, international human rights or the International Court in The Hague?
“However, neither the resolutions of the UN’s General Assembly nor those of its Security Council are binding; when these are approved they are ignored by the aggressors.
“There is no shortage of examples. The United States has invaded dozens of countries, massacred entire populations (such as in Vietnam or Iraq) and used prohibited weapons. These have been acts for which they should have been tried, yet nothing has happened.
“They have lied to the world to justify their crimes, but when the lies are discovered, nothing happens.”
Now we can add the following facts:
Crimes have been committed by the occupation troops against defenseless people in Afghanistan. Torture has been practiced on prisoners who have remained in jails — secret or otherwise — without any legal protection, with the perpetrators ignoring the fact that these are human beings with rights that must be respected.
The situation created in Libya to overthrow the legitimate government of that country began with the organization of rebel groups to destabilize the country. They were trained and armed from abroad, after which time the government was accused of massacring civilians. This was a scheme that fooled everyone; even the Security Council approved a resolution against Libya.
Although that resolution didn’t include the bombing of civilians, NATO was bombing, destroying and killing civilians. This continued until they achieved their goal of overthrowing Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, who was murdered with impunity.
No one knows exactly how many civilians were massacred and how many had to flee from the country that had achieved the highest human development index in Africa. The problem was that its government was disliked by the US and the other Western powers.
More recently they have created a similar situation in Syria in order to apply the same recipe as in Libya. Armed foreign groups have entered the country and have committed all sorts of crimes and terrorist acts.
In addition, they have mounted a media campaign intended to blame the Syrian government for such crimes and to oust the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Apparently it doesn’t matter how many innocent people die if they finally achieve the goal of the regime change of those governments that don’t please the West.
My commentary from 2009 — which is more relevant every day — concluded with:
“So, what good is the UN, its Security Council, the Hague court, international human rights law and all of the approved documents whose compliance is supposedly mandatory?
“The world cannot continue along this road that is leading us to an abyss. It is necessary to democratize the UN and its Security Council. We need to apply the laws established to punish wrongdoers, those who are now protected by their nuclear powers and believe themselves to be immune as they inflict suffering on helpless peoples whose rights are violated without anything happening.“There can’t be humanity cannot live in a chaotic world without law or order.”
That photograph of Raul shaking the hand of Bashir el-Assad, dripping with the blood of 20,000 dead Syrians who dared oppose his dictatorship says more than the clueless essay.
nice to hear from a delusional american. guts is never part of murder and theft. by your definition all psychopaths are brave. guts would be for america to extend it’s wisdom and bounty to others. but for now usa is wholly owned and operated by and for an elite group of wealthy families who have only the maintenance of their wealth and positions in mind. the rest of us are as important to them as palestinians or cubanos or servants. american leaders seem very willing to put others in harms way. no member of congress or the executive has had a child go to war nor have they had any medical bills. but at least they are free to receive insider stock tips so as to enrich themselves. moses would be ashamed of you.
Elio, you should write what you really want to say. The world should punish the US. At least have the guts to speak your mind, since it is clear you do not have the guts to act it out. You see, that is the difference between our countries. Americans do as we say. While you and I certainly disagree on our viewpoints, I believe we can agree on this. While American leaders have the courage of character to put American lives in harms way to pursue our national convictions, Cuban leaders would prefer to write about their convictions in strongly worded “Reflections” leaving the hard work to others.