Yep, and the wicked seem to gravitate into the halls of power far too often... Good description of some of the Catholic Church's atrocious historical record, GUEST. I think the American Indians or the Cathars might well have responded by saying: "Inside the Church there is no salvation," and they would have been a good deal closer to the mark.

Bill - Yeah, it's "wreak havoc" all right, and I used to know that too...must be getting tired, I guess... :-)

Here's an afterthought...the Israelis don't trust the Palestinians (with good reason) or the Arabs either (ditto), and the Arabs and Palestinians don't trust the Israelis (for equally good reasons). That makes it extremely unlikely that either side can be depended upon to adhere to the terms of ANY agreement for very long...unless there's someone far more powerful holding them to it. The moment they see a clear advantage, they will take it, and the fighting will resume.

(Still, to seek an agreement is definitely wiser than to simply continue fighting...)

The real problem here is similar to the problem in Africa, where numerous wars have simmered or flared for decades now and where genocide has been attempted frequently...it's similar to the problem in Latin America, where the Reagan administration conducted a completely illegal war by proxy against Nicaraugua until they wrecked the place, despite unequivocal rulings against the USA for so doing by the World Court, whom the USA simply ignored. It's similar to Chechenya and to Afghanistan, where the Russians and Americans played power games at the expense of the Afghan people, and sowed the seeds of the future Taliban.

The problem is...there is no impartial world authority with the teeth to back up impartial rulings and enforce a totally consistent body of international law and justice regardless of the ambitions of great powers OR local despots.

There is no real world armed forces capable of enforcing world law. The World Court is a sham if it cannot command force greater than any single nation, and if it cannot enforce a ruling on the USA, and the UN is a sham when a few powerful countries in the Security Council can veto any initiative of that body that they don't like...or the USA can refuse to pay its yearly dues (which was the case for a long time).

So, what I'm saying is: Someday in the future we have to form a genuine New World Order...not dominated by any single country or any group of countries, but representing all nations in an equal way. That World Order's first business would be: A worldwide Bill of Rights and Common Laws, a worldwide Court of Justice, a single truly multinational military and police force enlisted from all nations equally, and a worldwide initiative to immediately start assisting devastated economies in poor areas, and improving education in all areas.

Then...the disarmament of ALL individual nations in terms of long range offensive weapons, and the disbanding of all standing national armies.

Then...World citizenship. World rights. A world minimum wage. No travel restrictions. This would only be possible following an approximate equalization of social services, job opportunities and wages worldwide...otherwise the poor areas would simply flood into the rich areas, and you would soon have civil insurrection.

It's just a dream now, but...so were democracy, the 35 hour week, labour unions, unemployment insurance, racial equality, religious freedom, and women's rights...once. They were all just a dream.

Until then, the strongest and richest will rule...and the poor and weak will strike back from the ghettos and the shadows in whatever way they can, and no one will truly be safe. Even the biggest nuclear arsenal will not make anyone safe no matter where he lives as long as the world community of nations exists in a state of legal, military, and moral anarchy...which is what it basically has now, beneath a thin veneer of misleading rhetoric and patriotic flag waving. No one is safe. That was proven by Sept 11, as much as by the slow destruction of the Sandinistas in Reagan's illegal terrorist war.

There is no justice out there, because there is no neutral, disinterested authority out there with the power or the means to enforce justice. And no superpower or local despot wants such a neutral authority to exist. In fact, they will do anything they can to stop it from ever happening, because once it does, their era is over...just like Al Capone's. Finished.

- LH