The 10 Worst U.N. Security Council Resolutions Ever

As the world's attention turns to whether yet another U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution will convince Iran to stop enriching uranium, a look at previous resolutions that have strained to meet expectations.

BY COLUM LYNCH | MAY 24, 2010

Following is a list of the 10 of the most ill-conceived, pointless, or just plain bad resolutions that have been adopted by the 15-nation security club. Some of these resolutions are perfectly fine, but contain flaws that have come back to haunt their authors. Others are good for some countries, but disastrous for others. And still others have simply outlived their expiration dates. In any case, they all highlight the fallibility of what dignitaries here like to call "this august body."

The Somalia Swan Song Resolution: 1863

Four days before Barack Obama was inaugurated as president of the United States, George W. Bush's administration pressed through a Security Council resolution calling for the establishment of a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia, which was on the verge of losing its Ethiopian occupiers and being overrun by Islamist militants. The move had been strenuously opposed by the U.N. secretariat, which argued that there was no peace to keep in Somalia and no countries willing to send troops.

"Some view U.N. Security Council resolution 1863 as simply an empty gesture -- a call for a U.N. peace enforcement operation in Somalia by an outgoing Bush administration which knew the force would never be deployed," said Kenneth Menkhaus, a scholar at Davidson College. "But others argue this resolution was actively harmful. It handed the jihadist group al-Shabab a perfect mobilization tool against the U.S. and the U.N. precisely at the moment when an Ethiopian troop withdrawal from Somalia and a change of government in Somalia had put the Shabab on the defensive. The resolution only served to stir up a hornet's nest in Somalia."

Susan Rice, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was also cool to the idea. "I am skeptical, too, about the wisdom of a United Nations peacekeeping force in Somalia at this time," Rice said at her confirmation hearing.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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Longtime Washington Post correspondent Colum Lynch reports on all things United Nations for Turtle Bay, an FP blog. Follow him on Twitter @columlynch

DRAGAN NENADOVIC

3:10 AM ET

May 25, 2010

The Bosnian Unsafe Haven Resolution: 8

What author failed to mention here is the fact that Bosnian Muslim’s fighters were allowed to have all kind of weapons in Srebrenica’s so called “ safe haven “. From there, they would go out at tight and spread terror throughout the Serbian villages that were located all around Srebrenica. When the day would come, they would go back to that so called “ safe haven “ and get protection within it from the Serbian forces that would try to catch them. It was not an isolated incident, but it was happening all the time from the very establishment of that “ safe haven “. Even the leader of the Srebrenica Bosnian Muslims by the name of Naser Oric, wrote in his book about it, and how many times they killed Serbians around Srebrenica from “ safe haven “. In that process, they killed close to 1000 Serbian civilians ( most of them defenseless children, women and old man ). This kind of evil behavior by the Bosnian Muslim’s fighters was silently allowed by Dutch blue helmets ( UN ). Serbian authorities complained to the UN on numerous occasions in regard to that.. But, as nothing was ever done to stop such killings of Serbian civilians, Serbian army took matters into its own hands.

As to the killings that happened in the after math of Serbian assault on Srebrenica, yes, it did happened. But, not the way that most Western newspapers had presented to its public, and definitely NOT IN SUCH NUMBER. It was an uneven fight where Serbian army was more numerous then Bosnian one, and better equipped. That is why more Bosnian Muslims died then Serbs. But, they brought it to themselves by previously constantly killing Serbian civilian villagers for the entire period of “ safe haven “ existence.

Number of 8000 Muslim civilians killed in Srebrenica is such an awful lie constructed by Western regimes that it simple needs to be addressed sooner or later. So far, only less then 3000 names of people killed are named.

1. How many of them were fighters killed in combat, no one from the West wants to mention.
2. How many of them were killed in some other parts of Bosnia and brought and buried in Srebrenica, no one from the West wants to talk about. ( Surprised at this ?????????? Well, we from the Balkan are not, it is well known here. )
3. How come that in such small Bosnian Muslim community, numbering just over 2 million, is not possible to identify the names of the rest of 5000 people killed ??? Everybody knows each other here.

There is so much more to be said about Srebrenica that it is just beyond this blogging. I just hope that my Serbian government will put as precondition for us joining European Union, that Srebrenica “ massacre “ be investigated by unbiased investigators that are coming from other parts of the world, but Western one. Because, as it stands now, Srebrenica event is an obstacle to reconciliation between our people, Serbs and Bosnian Muslims.

 

PETRIT SELIMI

5:26 PM ET

May 25, 2010

All known legal, political

All known legal, political and military facts, proved in millions of pages of documentation, confirmed in dozens of sentences of war criminals, confirm that Srebrenica was a story of genocide committed by Serbian forces, aided or at least not stopped by Serbian state, against Bosniaks. While it's clear that fighters within enclave were active, these rebel forces were not even close matching the overwhelming force of Serbian military and paramilitary forces, who once they attacked Srebrenica, divided boys and men from women, and killed over 7000 of them, in a spree that brought horror to thousands of families. It was the biggest single atrocity committed in European continent since the end of WW2. So, if UN was responsible for something, it surely is for not empowering its forces to act decisively against Serbian murderous gangs, but rather left a Dutch batallion stranded in the enclave with neither the mandate nor the resources to stop the butchers, just like in Rwanda. Serbian leader Karadzic is being currently tried by UN War Crimes Tribunal on genocide charges. Denying genocide is just like denying holocaust and only bad people deny them.

 

STEPHANIEBUNTELL

12:31 PM ET

May 25, 2010

Serbs Never Demilitarizes Around Srebtenica

Speaking of Srebrenica resolution, Bosnian Serb forces around Srebrenica were obligated to demilitarize, but they constantly violated the 1993 demilitarization agreements. Specific instructions from United Nations Headquarters in New York stated the Serbs should withdraw their heavy weapons before the Bosniaks gave up their weapons. The Serbs refused to honor their part of the demilitarization agreement and they never did withdraw their heavy weapons. In fact, "following the adoption of Security Council resolution 836 (1993), the Bosnian Serbs continued to bombard the safe areas at about the same rate as before. In Sarajevo, for example, Serb shells continued to land in the safe area at an average rate of approximately 1,000 per day." The Siege of Srebrenica lasted from April 1992 to July 1995 and ended with the Srebrenica genocide.

Srebrenica 1992-1995: How it all started?

From 1992-1995 Serbs from heavily militarized villages around Srebrenica had forced approximately 40,000 Bosnian Muslim refugees to live in the Srebrenica ghetto with little or no means of survival. The number of refugees increased to 80,000 by winter 1992/93.

Serb Army stationed around Srebrenica never demilitarized, even though they were required to do so under the 1993 demilitarization agreements. Furthermore, Serbs around Srebrenica constantly attacked neighbouring Bosnian Muslim villages, frequently bombarding them from air and with Serbian airplanes. More than 400 Bosnian Muslim villages were destroyed around Srebrenica in 1992 with at least 11,000 Bosniaks killed in Podrinje (region encompasing Srebrenica).

In July 1995 the Bosnian Serb army staged a brutal takeover of Srebrenica and its surrounding area, where they proceeded to perpetrate genocide. Bosnian Serb soldiers and paramilitary thugs, both groups commonly known as "Chetniks," separated Bosniak families, forcibly expelled 30,000 Bosniaks, and summarily executed at least 8,372 Bosnian Muslims - boys, men, and the elderly.

 

STEPHANIEBUNTELL

2:48 PM ET

May 25, 2010

6557 Srebrenica Genocide victims DNA identified

Nenad stop it please. You dont know the facts. DNA results of the International Commission on Missing Persons support an estimate of 8,100 Srebrenica genocide victims. So far, the identities of 6,557 genocide victims have been revealed by the DNA analysis.

 

PETRIT SELIMI

5:16 PM ET

May 25, 2010

Security Council resolution 1244

1244, the unhelpful resolution. The resolution was the basis that established UN mission in Kosovo in the aftermath of the 1999 war against Milosevic forces.

The resolution also called for negotiations for Kosovo's final status. 10 years later, UN envoy and Nobel winner Marti Ahtisaari suggested a settlement of conditional independence, but Russia blocked adoption of the plan in Security Council by threatening veto. Now Kosovo is recognized by all its neighbors bar Serbia. Its recognized by most of EU as well (except Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Greece and Cyprus), a well as 70 countries around the world. 1244 had a mistake that proved faithful. It was not envisaged to be up for annual renewal as other resolutions that established UN missions usually are. Hence, Serbia (and Russia, and less so China) can still claim that 1244 is valid and no new status has been confirmed by UNSC, while Kosovo (strongly supported by US, UK and France) will point out that SC could neither approve nor disapprove Kosovo's final status, hence people of Kosovo had a right of selfdetermination, as mentioned in Rambouillet Accords as far back as 1998, and accordingly consider themselves to be an independent, multiethnic nation.

 

ROSABAB308

6:51 AM ET

June 23, 2010

Security Council Sanctions

Anyone who has written publications on the Balkans knows this magic formula - Kosovo, UNSCR 1244. UNSCR stands for United Nations Security Council Resolution and is the politically correct way to refer to the breakaway state of Kosovo which is funnily refered to by the Kosovars themselves with the Albanian ending 'a' - Kosova. hp q2612a cartridge UNSCR 1244 placed Kosovo under interim UN administration and is the only formula acceptable to Serbians. I wonder if this will not happen again one day. I imagine this village with dozens of young families, some of them working remotely, some of them working the land, some of them living here and working elsewhere. Although this sounds like a dream it may happen one day as big cities become too crowded and too polluted and most importantly one loses one's connection to nature. We all know we miss it and we all know that we are handicapped without it. q2612a black toner When will the tipping point be? The problem is that getting back to such a place requires a change in the mindset, it requires living in a slower way, acquiring new skills even changing one's communication patterns.

 

LAL QILA

1:44 PM ET

May 26, 2010

Why did the Serb Christians kill Muslim Bosnian men and boys

Why did the Serb Christians kill Muslim Bosnian men and boys in cold blood, with such barbarity and in such large numbers?

Is this what Christianity has taught to the European, White, Serbs or were they motivated by other forces?

Why did the Serb Christians kill Muslim Bosnian men and boys in cold blood, with such barbarity and in such large numbers – Genocide of Muslims in Srebrenica by Serb Christians: the search for a terrible truth goes on

Read full article here: http://lalqila.wordpress.com/

 

TEODORO

4:12 PM ET

May 28, 2010

Words, words and more words

I don't think it seems to be a coincidence that there were more than 1200 resolutions passed in the past 20 years (since 1990) compared with less than 700 in the previous 50 years. The SC has become a union of words, rather than actions. Even the successes of 661/687 don't seem to outweigh the heavy paperweight of words.