LETTERS: Saturday
U.N. provides best solution
The Orange County Register editorial in the April 24 edition gave a disappointingly one-sided critique of United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Haiti. Fortunately, we have access to far more objective and authoritative sources of information. The Rand Corp., a highly respected nonprofit research organization, issued a report in 2005 that stated “the United Nations provides the most suitable institutional framework for most nation-building missions, one with a comparatively low cost structure, a comparatively high success rate, and the greatest degree of international legitimacy.” Furthermore, a 2006 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office stated “it would cost the United States about twice as much as the United Nations to conduct a peacekeeping operation similar to the current U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti.”
Critics do their best to undermine U.S. support of the U.N. in order to keep it under funded and as weak as possible. They then set hopelessly unrealistic expectations for what the U.N. can accomplish. And when their expectations are not met they express shock, ignore the considerable good that has been accomplished, deplore the U.N.’s so-called ineffectiveness, and call for further cuts in funding.
Let’s remember that the U.N. peacekeeping forces operate on a budget that is pitifully small on an international scale.
They risk their lives daily in some of the most dangerous places on the planet. In 2009 alone, seven peacekeepers were killed along with at least 28 civilian staff members. And finally, the U.N. peacekeeping forces are a great boon to the U.S. taxpayer, because if they did not exist they would have to be replaced to a considerable extent by U.S. forces, placing an intolerable burden on an already overstretched U.S. military.
James J. Amato, Advocacy Chair, Pikes Peak Chapter, United Nations Association of the USA
Woodland Park
Coffman condemnation bill
Rep. Mike Coffman recently sponsored legislation (HR 5067) to prohibit the Army from expanding Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site through condemnation. Coffman favors expansion and wants his condemnation ban to replace the congressional funding ban that has stopped expansion for several years. He argues that his legislation protects property rights in southeast Colorado since it would allow “willing sellers” to offer land to the Army.
Coffman’s view of property rights is incomplete in two ways. First, he assumes that the federal government can participate in private “free markets.” His assumption is wrong. The federal government is a buyer with unlimited resources that would impose a drastic change of land use. Their mere presence distorts the market. The threat of expansion has already driven all potential buyers except the Army and speculators out of the market. The situation is analogous to government participation in a health care market. The government can undercut private suppliers and put them out of business.
Coffman also disregards county zoning which serves to protect property rights. All the land in question is zoned agricultural. If the Army buys land without condemnation, it should be held to agricultural zoning. Agricultural zoning does not include military live-fire training. I wonder if Coffman would object if his neighbor sold their house for urban warfare training. Is urban warfare training compatible with residential zoning?
Grady Grissom
Fowler
Break up the big banks
The Democratic Party caved on health care reform, taking single payer off the table from the beginning of the “negotiations”, where we are now mandated to buy lousy insurance to further enrich the insurance companies. I hope they insist on actual financial reforms while implementing plans to prevent another melt down, brought about by the greed of the “too big to fail” banks.
To do this, Congress must break up the big banks, ban conflict of interest trading, regulate derivatives, audit the Fed, and reinstate Glass-Steagall, nothing else will truly prevent another catastrophic meltdown of out financial system.
Dennis Warren
Woodland Park
