Now That's Just Sick.

The resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council (1973[2011]) against Libya on 17/3/11 was a Chapter VII resolution. A Chapter VII resolution allows the UN to identify and take action against a threat to the peace, a breach of the peace or an act of aggression that undermines the territorial integrity, political independence or sovereignty of a state. In short Chapter VII is there to prevent one nation waging an overt or covert war against another state in order to gain control of their land of natural resources. Therefore the only legal application Chapter VII has in the Libya situation is to authorise military action against France and Britain. The UN's second mistake was to apply the resolution to all of Libya rather then just the rebel area which is limited to approx 33N and 25E.

My mistake was to say that the resolution passed by a majority of 1 vote. In fact it passed by a majority of 2 votes. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is a 15 vote body with 5 permanent members, all of whom have nuclear weapons, and 10 lesser members who rotate every two years. In order for a resolution to be passed it needs to be voted for by a minimum of 9 members and not be vetoed by any 1 of the 5 permanent members. 1973(2011) was passed by 10 votes with 5 abstentions and 0 vetoes. At first glance the erroneous votes appear to have come from The US, South Africa and Colombia. Although I think they were expecting either Russia or China to use their veto as punishment I think these nations should be given the task of ensuring that none of Libya's oil enters the market until the civil war has ended, Libya's territorial integrity has been restored and those who have engaged in war crimes have been arrested including the rebel commanders who have been conscripting 15 year old boys into their army.

In an ironic twist Britain will tonight (18/3/11) will be hosting the Comic Relief charity appeal. As an off-shoot of the Live Aid movement this non-governmental charity was set up specifically to help people in war torn African sh*tholes. However in order to get it on TV this year the British government has insisted the organisers give a high proportion of the money raised to British charities because we've got a Royal wedding to pay for.

The event itself involves British celebrities, especially the ones with BBC contracts, being subjected to stressful and humiliating situations, including sleep deprivation, for the entertainment of the public. So everyone needs to be on best behaviour today because the list of people who need help is about to get a whole lot longer.