devonst@burdvax.UUCP (Tom Albrecht) (10/01/86)
References: With the Daniloff case more or less behind us it would seem to be an appropriate time to stop and reflect on the question of whether the US should continue to support the United Nations. The facts in the case have continually pointed up that the UN is a hotbed of Soviet spy activity in the US. Intelligence reports estimate that roughly one fourth of the 800 Soviet workers in the UN are engaged in spying. Ironically, US contributions (which amount to over $350 million annually) are used to pay the salaries of these spys. Most of this money goes into the coffers of Moscow because employees must turn over their paychecks to the Soviet mission. The UN is a practically useless body. It is powerless to stop aggression anywhere in the world. UN "peacekeeping" troops in the Middle East can't even protect themselves never mind preventing warring factions from destroying one another. The UN is simply a forum for third-world, petty, anti-Israeli, anti-West dictators to let off a little steam. They have little need for any sort of constructive dialog as long as they can collect a handout to keep their shabby governments running. Most of these countries also populate the so-called "non-aligned" group, a mouthpiece for pro-Soviet propoganda. What good the UN does in the world through its relief agencies is more than offset by the bad. Even relief work can be twisted into anti-US propoganda as witnessed by the recent events at UNESCO. I believe it's time with withdrew our support from the UN and send all the delegations a nice, short letter asking them to remove themselves from New York. I'm sure we can put the UN facility to better use than the current occupants have. I believe we should face up to the fact that we were wrong when we said that the UN was the last, great hope for the world. As Jeane Kirkpatrick and other have said the United States is the last, great hope for the world and it's about time we started to act on that premise. PS Switzerland seems to be the only sane Western country in this regard. The citizens there have repeatedly refused to join the UN. They know that no one is going to safeguard their country but they themselves. -- Tom Albrecht
c50p-az@dorothy.Berkeley.EDU (E. Stephen Mack) (10/02/86)
With this U.N. posting, almost all recent high school and college debate
topics are under current discussion in talk.politics.misc, which
I find very amusing.
So, why not add the current Fall '8 semester college CEDA
(Cross-Examination Debate Association) topic to our list of
subjects? The current CEDA topic is:
"Resolved that improved relations with the Soviet Union are a more
important objective for the U.S. than increased military preparedness."
I think it's a very interesting topic, worthy of discussion. I _am_
currently debating this semester; if there is interest, I will post
current arguments and thinking on this topic. (If there is interest,
I can also talk about current college and high school debate standards,
common practices and criteria.)
[For those who are at all remotely intrigued, the topics now under discussion
in talk.politics.misc relate to the following high school or college topics:
Employment -- from a high school topic two years ago: "Resolved that
the federal government should provide employment to all employable U.S.
citizens living in poverty."
Terrorism -- from the Fall '85 college CEDA topic: "Resolved that government
restrictions on coverage of terrorist activities by U.S. media is justified."
U.N. -- from the Spring of '86 college CEDA topic: "Resolved the membership
in the United Nations is no longer beneficial to the U.S."]
Drugs -- a topic from high school Lincoln-Douglas debate about a semester
ago, but the wording escapes me.
Censorship -- ditto, from '84
Seat Belt Laws -- from a consumer safety topic in high school in '80.
Plus some other ones I'm forgetting. Any debators out there who can
help me out?]
[e. stephen]
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U.S. mail: E. Stephen Mack, 2408 Atherton Street, Berkeley, CA 94704
ARPA: stephen@miro.Berkeley.EDU -or- c50p-az@dorothy.Berkeley.EDU
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FRIENDLY DISCLAIMER: If you disagree with this posting, please realize that
I am only stating what I think. My opinions are entirely my own, and do
not represent the opinions of the University of California at Berkeley.
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