Dear Editor,
I simply could not believe that Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah), being an educated person, could even begin to suggest, as he did, that the United States did not need the United Nations because we are “half of the world.” It is shameful when our elected officials have such a narrow view of the world.
First of all, contrary to what Cannon and his Utah Valley supporters might think, might does not make right.
Simply because the United States military is far superior to every other military in the world, it does not mean that the goals and ambitions of the United States are superior to the rest of the world’s.
In fact, I would call our ambitions far more questionable when we generally have a world view that only looks to other countries when they are useful to us in someway, whether strategically or economically.
Secondly, the United Nations is one of the few tools that our nation has to promote cooperation with the rest of the world.
In contrast to Cannon’s view on national security based on temporary, militarist, “us against them” thinking, the only real, holistic security can come at the hands of international cooperation.
Furthermore, the United Nations, far and beyond its limited peacekeeping role, serves the world in a variety of other ways through a variety of agencies. How does supplying
vaccines to children who otherwise would not have them, seeking to build an understanding of human rights or building global environmental coalitions damage our freedom?
Frankly, I am tired of hearing the selfish arguments of those so consumed with what they deem to be U.N. infringements on our national sovereignty, when the United States on its own does so little to cooperate with other countries.
Leslie Street
Pensacola, Fla.
