McFreedom

Gene and I listened to Mr. Powell's UNSC presentation on the way to the airport, yesterday. He finished just as we got there, and we listened to the Chinese ambassador's opening remarks. While I've unfortunately been unable to find a transcript, she - I presume the ambassador is a she; we were listening on the radio, and the translator was female - essentially disregarded the Secretary's presentation and said that a "political solution" was required.

Now, it is entirely unsurprising to me that the ambassadors to the UNSC did not significantly change their positions. They are not policy-makers; they are agents of their respective governments. Each had prepared remarks long before hearing Mr. Powell's speech, and it would in any case take several days for Mr. Powell's evidence to sink in back at home and new directives to be issued. So I believe all those who took the remarks of the ambassadors to mean the end of the UN are being premature - we'll see over the next few days who is actually swayed.

Mr. Powell's presentation had been billed as dramatic reenactment of Adlai Stevenson's famous performance in the Security Council of so many years ago. The U.S. had accused Russia of moving nuclear weapons into Cuba, an unacceptable threat. The U.S.S.R. denied the charge. On October 25, 1962, Ambassador Stevenson dramatically confronted Ambassador Zorin. "All right, sir, let me ask you one simple question: Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the U.S.S.R. has placed and is placing medium- and intermediate-range missiles and sites in Cuba? Yes or no—don’t wait for the translation—yes or no?" When Ambassador Zorin gave no reply, Ambassador Stevenson, famously continued, "...I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over, if that’s your decision. And I am also prepared to present the evidence in this room." He then proceeded to unveil satellite pictures of the weapons the Soviets had been claiming did not exist.

Even this dramatic moment, however, was not in and of itself, decisive. The Soviets insisted the evidence was fabricated. There was no sudden change in the Security Council. In this context, it was not surprising to me that no positions were changed, yesterday. Mr. Powell's evidence was overwhelming in aggregate, but there was no sudden, convincing piece.

The Chinese Ambassador's remark about political solutions did remind me of another famous quote, however, from her own Chairman Mao: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." If the U.N. is unwilling to deploy force when mocked for twelve years, then it has no political power. We'll see in the next few weeks if the U.N. will become a powerful force to hold despotic regimes accountable, or will remain a playground for governments that oppress their own people.