Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Written by John F. McManus
There are several reasons why the United States should withdraw from the United Nations. One of our top reasons relates to protecting our military forces. Why? Let’s explain.
The complete text of the UN Charter’s Article 25 states: “The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.” That clearly stated requirement supersedes adherence to the U.S. Constitution. That any U.S. government official would agree to that is incredible. When the UN’s Security Council decides to act, our nation’s membership requires the United States to “accept and carry out” what the Security Council wants done. It is true that our nation possesses a veto that can be used to block passage of any Security Council resolution. But U.S. leaders don’t exercise this veto power. It was a UN Security Council resolution that got our nation into the 1950 Korean War, not a required congressional declaration. Had there been a declaration of war and if its inherent goal had been to gain victory, the Korean War could have been won. But victory was denied (by the UN) and as a result our nation still has tens of thousands of troops in South Korea — all of whom serve in the overall UN Command.
When the UN Security Council decides to send military forces to carry out its decisions, all member nations are required to participate. As stated in the Charter’s Article 42 and 43, “All Members … undertake to make available to the Security Council” whatever forces are needed. There are 193 UN member nations. Very few respond to Security Council resolutions as called for by Article 42. But the United States always responds with personnel, weapons, and the funds needed to carry out the UN’s missions. The U.S. military has become the enforcement arm of the United Nations.
Articles 52-54 of the UN Charter permit nations to form “Regional Arrangements” to conduct military operations. Under these three articles in the Charter, NATO and SEATO were created. The UN subsidiary SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) was relied upon to have U.S. forces participate in the Vietnam War. Restrictions placed on their actions prevented victory and assured defeat. SEATO no longer exists. NATO was then cited for authorization to conduct operations in Afghanistan. But no declaration of war as required by the U.S. Constitution was issued; none have been issued since our nation consented to UN membership in 1945.
Finally, Article 2 of the UN Charter states: “nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.” But the UN meddles in an array of matters, which are certainly within the jurisdiction of individual states (countries). The UN has meddled in our nation’s affairs in such matters as abortion, capital punishment, the right to be armed, border control, mining, judicial decisions, and more. It is perfectly obvious that the UN violates its own Charter. It should be known as a lawless governmental agency seeking power over the entire world. The United Nations cannot be fixed and made tolerable. Its founders intended it to be the seat of unchallengeable world power. Its reach has grown enormously and, every day, the UN moves closer to becoming the ruler of mankind, with the aid of our military! So the opportunity to withdraw, which is what many Americans want, should be seized upon. The abuse of our troops must end and the steady erosion of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution must cease. It is long past the time to Get US out! Contact Congress today.
John F. McManus is president of The John Birch Society and publisher of The New American. This column appeared originally at the insideJBS blog and is reprinted here with permission.
