By Brooke Goldstein and Zack Kousnetz
If the UN were to form an anti-terrorism group dedicated to attacking the menace on a global scale, who do you think would be asked to lead it? A nation with a proven track record of anti-terror initiatives? A nation that esteems human rights and freedoms above all else? Unfortunately, in the case of the UN Centre for Counter Terrorism (UNCCT), the answer is emphatically neither.
The UNCCT was formed in September 2010 with the purpose of executing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, adopted by the General Assembly in 2006. In a move more befitting Alice in Wonderland than the United Nations, Saudi Arabia was named chair of the organization.
The Resolution that created the UNCCT highlighted four key "pillars" in the fight against terrorism. The first of these pillars, "tackling the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism," was undermined almost immediately upon the organization's establishment. Three months after the UNCCT's formation, WikiLeaks exposed a trove of diplomatic cables in which Secretary of State Hilary Clinton wrote "Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, LeT, and other terrorist groups, including Hamas." Clinton's US embassy cables also revealed Saudi resistance to prioritizing the issue in terms of its own domestic policy.
These revelations are perhaps not so surprising in light of the Saudi kingdom's lukewarm response to terrorism funding and recruitment within its borders. Remember when, in the months following the 9/11 attacks, Saudi Arabia denied the fact that 15 out of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens, before eventually confirming the undeniable truth in 2002? Even worse, this past February two former US senators involved in the 9/11 inquiries suggested in separate affidavits that the Saudi government may have played a direct role in the attacks themselves.
It's an ironic twist that the UN appointed Saudi Arabia, a country historically labeled by groups like the CATO Institute as a state sponsor of terrorism, to chair the flagship effort to end such practices. The UN's actions speak to a certain cluelessness it exhibits as a governing body: the organization bows to diplomatic and political courtesies while ignoring what's happening on the ground.
The designation is also farcical in another sense. Saudi Arabia's human rights record blatantly contradicts the UNCCT's fourth pillar, "ensuring respect for human rights against the backdrop of the fight against terrorism," as evidenced by the nation's treatment of its own citizens. Amnesty International's 2012 Report details the state's numerous abuses: public demonstration is forbidden, females face harshly oppressive discrimination in both the law and society, citizens are subject to torture and confinement for excessive periods of time without due process of law, etc. And the Amnesty International report is not even comprehensive. For example: it fails to mention LGBT rights or the fact that homosexuality in the Saudi kingdom is a capital offense.
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Replies
Un-believable. Thanks for the information.
The world today is like watching the movie "STING", but this is for real. We are all being had.
Steven,, They didn't make a 2nd Sting, `I'm FED-up with LBGT, Be-yond reasoning.!! Key word OIL..!!
THE FOX IS INCHARGE OF THE HEN HOUSE THAT WILL WORK HOW??????
It is just like Syria and China being in charge of human rights. ARE PEOPLE REALLY THAT STUPID
No Dennis BUT SHEEPLE are, or must at least feign that they are for the SAFETY in the Present moment.....LOL; Funny how P.C. always has the odor of a Crematorium.
This Hearkens back to "YES WE CAN' .....We sure is NOT The Ameican People. But If Conservative Christians are regarded by Our DOJ and the U.N. as being terrorists then this could be credible. That should merit an adrenalin spurt as the Moslems would view it as such.
I just have to say it one more time. The UN is an anti American organization that has suckered the U.S. long enough. Get our country out of the U.N., get the UN out of our country, and cut off any funding that they get from the U.S. The UN cannot make it more obvious, if we do not remove ourselves from that organization then it will be just one more reason to remove and replace this federal government that has gone so far astray.
Johnny, I echo your sentiments exactly. There is NO REASON for us and the U.S.A. to be part of an organization that despises "FREEDOM" and wants to destroy this Nation is NOT MY FRIEND..... GET the HELL OUT OF MY COUNTRY, PERIOD.
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