THE UNITED NATIONS — A PAST THAT COMES TO HAUNT IT

The United Nations was formed in San Francisco before destiny linked to greed caused it to be situated in New York. There was a time when a decision was made to house the United Nations (UN) at the Presidio of San Francisco. The greedy Rockerfellers had purchased a large tract of land and using their clout and undue influence persuaded the movers and shakers in the United States to build a building that would house the present United Nations building.

I was talking to the legendary Doctor Robert Muller in the presence of some participants at the State University mess hall the one nearest to the Seven Hills conference room in San Francisco. It is true that the UN was considered to be moved to the Presidio of San Francisco but then the Rockerfellers has the land and the clout to complete a deal. The land on which the UN sits today was a slaughter place and Native American legend foretold of a time when a glass building would be built and this building would bring about peace! "Much blood has been shed on that land where sits the UN, today the UN chooses in its wisdom to deter the forces that create war to bring about peace and stop bloodshed."

The UN has come a long way since 1945 and soon we all will recollect and review the past 60 years of the UN. Today, June 26, 2004 is the UN Charter Day and the participants of the conference - " Toward a Democratic United Nations for the 21st Century" held at the San Francisco State University took time to pay homage to this legendary institution that has long endured and played a vital role but now needs reformation to meet the needs and requirements of a fast changing world.

World leaders met at Malta and deals were cut by FDR, Winston Churchill, Stalin, others. The Polish resistance fighters were given a raw deal. The millions of Gypsies who died in World War II were not remembered. Secret deals that the British made with Hitler were shoved under the bushel - Chamberlain has taken the secrets to his graveyard.

The veto power given to China, France, Britain, the United States, and Russia are seeds that are not pure and stem from inferiority complex that has come to haunt the world all these many years since 1945.

Once the members of the UN agreed not to use force as means of settling disputes. The UN Charter says a lot in general terms and very diplomatic language. In my opinion it is paramount that any institution worth its salt has to be fundamentally pure - the source of the founders should be grounded in spiritual values that command respect. The seed that one plants should be a good one for it is important that it may take many life times before it germinates, grows into a tree, and bears good fruit. Good fruit can not be borne from a seed that is dubious in nature and has not stood the test of time - time and time again. Fire!

Can we pause a moment and remember the millions of Russians that Stalin murdered. In the same vain pause and think of the millions who died in Cambodia. Did the same happen in Rwanda? How long is it since the plight that befell Kashmir has not been resolved? Did Tito do right in now Bosnia and Serbia? Have millions died all over South America while the UN looked the other way? Each of the 191 countries has a factual history where the UN could not exert its influence. Atrocities have been committed in Britain against many and the Irish in particular, in the United States on the First People the American Indian, in China where millions have died under Mao and even now Tinamen Square, in France with its colonies and closer at home. In Russia the fall of the Soviet Union has revealed millions of skeletons.

At the Nuremberg trials where I lived in the late 1970s it was said never again. If what we have going in Iraq today is not a mockery of the role of the UN and the abuse of the US Constitution - nothing else is.

The Holocaust has many faces and many light and dark shadows that fall in places and times - some can be recorded and others so dark for history to track and not record. In my lifetime I have met women and men who have been jailed, tortured, and endured the limit of human endurance. Some of them have spoken and into others I have looked deep into their eyes and felt the warmth of their hearts. Not a word but tons of silent wisdom and joy that heals Mother Earth from those who have been to hell to rejoice forever in heaven.

In recent months we have seen changes in Europe and admired the European Parliament make great advances. It takes 135 translators to facilitate the deliberations. In Europe many languages are spoken and in the world many more. Imagine the World Parliament!

I did not mention the millions that have died in Iran. Do I have to say a word about Iraq? How about Afghanistan? Did people die in Kuwait? How many are put to death in Saudi Arabia with the US and UN looking away in the direction of smelling petrodollars?

In the land of Jesus of Nazareth as in the birthplace of Abraham the Father of all Nations - blood and unnecessary killings take place every day. The UN left Iraq and on the borders of Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Palestine is as confined and confused as the whale that beaches miles away from home.

There is no doubt in today's contemporary world cyberspace will play an important role to bring people together. In the last 5 years more people have been able to share information much the same as I do and can monitor daily with souls all over the world that I will never meet and shake their hands. Often times they e-mail me at odd hours of the day and night and from far away countries and places. This is power and this power should be brought closer to the day to day deliberations that the socalled Superpowers have FAILED to share and have been hard of hearing.

The UN has left the YOUTH out in the cold. Has been slow to embrace women from all the countries and not done enough to care for children. The UN fears the fake dragon that is the US and falls on its knees begging for money. In the UN itself many from poorer countries have made their abode with some little attention to serve the people but more their pockets. We cannot generalize but this has been the case.

The UN has wasted billions in all the years it has been in existence. Some where along the line it has chosen to think of itself as superior and failed to understand its mission objective. It all began in San Francisco and today and every day we read:

We the peoples Of the United Nations

Determined

To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind And To reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and

To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and

To promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

And for these ends

To practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, and

To unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and

To ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed forces shall not be used, save in the common interest, and

To employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all people

Have resolved to combine our efforts To accomplish these aims

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.


To one and all I say
Each one can make a difference
Let that seed
You plant
Be a good one
And let your heart
Bleed a little for those
That need help
Power and Greed
Will fail
Spirituality
Will win
For one simple reason
It stands Supreme
The United Nations
Has won and failed
The sour note
Of Rwanda and Cambodia
Argentina and Cuba
Kashmir and China
Bosnia and Iraq
Are as complex
And compelling
It has brought succor to many
And quelled epidemics of mind and body
Squashed diplomatic squabbles
Aims to create a World Parliament
Let us plant a seed
Well chosen, good, and sound
On this Earth so finite
Infinite with Wisdom

Francisco Da Costa
San Francisco
June 26, 2004

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