Principles

In a long-overdue move, today a Congressional panel approved a measure which labels the massacre of Armenian civilians by the military forces of the Ottoman Empire as “genocide.” Proposals to apply this term to the atrocity committed nearly a century ago have been punted down the line from one Congress to the next for many years now. The wholesale massacre of civilians by a military force is inexcusable under any circumstances, and the fact that it has taken Congress this long to call the act by its true name is shameful and sad.

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In Principles for a Self-Directed Society Chapter 3 "Creating a Lasting Peace," I advocate a revised vision of the role of United Nations peacekeeping forces. There and elsewhere I maintain that the United States is not an appropriate arbiter of international disputes: such conflict resolution is solely the responsibility of the United Nations. To this end I advocate a strategy under which, in times of ongoing strife, U.N. forces should be empowered to intervene, using lethal force when necessary; not in support of any particular faction, but simply to do their best to prevent any continuation of the violence. I developed this position as a response to the horror I have felt at the unchecked genocides which have taken place in recent history and which are ongoing in Sudan. The world community’s shameful failure to respond to such terrible incidents calls into question the very notion that we are indeed a "civilized" society.

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