I'm sure the Queen didn't realize it when she was speaking to the UN, but by saying that the UN is the "real force for good" she sorta (in my opinion) bitch slapped the US Navy. After all that's their new motto. This from SkyNews.
"You have helped to reduce conflict, you have offered humanitarian assistance to millions of people affected by natural disasters and other emergencies, and you have been deeply committed to tackling the effects of poverty in many parts of the world."Wow, I knew the new Navy motto struck me as being odd, off and not worthy of a military organization...I knew that the new 'partnership' doctrine seems out of place....now I know why.
But the Queen warned "much remains to be done".
She explained: "Former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold once said that 'constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon'.
"Good nurses get better with practice; sadly the supply of patients never ceases."
She went on: "In my lifetime, the United Nations has moved from being a high-minded aspiration to being a real force for common good.
The Naval Services...US Marine Corps included...are beginning to act as if they were an armed NGOs.
Warfighting has to become central to our mission again. Any and everything else MUST remain secondary...even partnership and war prevention efforts.
UPDATE!!!!!
My feelings on the Navy's Motto are well known. What I didn't know is where the phrase..."a force for good" came from.
Think Defence has his theory. This is his statement from the comments...
A 'force for good' unfortunately started to creep into UK doctrine and strategy publications about a decade ago.Wow, I can see it now. 10 years ago a Lt. Commander was on exchange duty in the UK and heard Robin Cook a few times and got inspired. He comes back stateside and is put in the puzzle palace and the call goes out to revamp the Navy's image with a new slogan...
It originated with Robin Cook, the then Foreign Secretary, when discussing ethical foreign policy.
Robin Cook resigned over Iraq, one of the very few politicians with any sense of honour or conviction I disagreed with a lot of what he said but he was a formidable and very well respected politician, a rare breed these days.
Amazing. Pure conjecture on my part but it feels right.
The UN is a useless corpse.Should be disbanded.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it was not a hint to the US Navy, it's an appropriate expression for what the UN strikes or should be. I don't think it's useless simply because it involves others, not just the US. To make myself clear, aren't you tired to go everywhere there's a problem? I think it is appropriate that other who can do it too. I mean, the UN provides these others with the chance to claim glory by going to help other countries in need :-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously now, there are mission which don't involve the US, at a smaller scale, especially in Africa.
The UN is a paper tiger and has to 'borrow' military assets from other countries. And usually those are third world, sub-par units as many third world countries see it as a way to make some money; the modest 'hazard pay' bonus paid to deployed 'blue berets' usually go straight into their governments pockets. That's why you usually see troops from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India running most (African) missions.
ReplyDeletei get what ALex is saying (although i do agree with Marcase and elgatoso that the UN is currently useless)...i would love to see the US take a back seat to many of these missions.
ReplyDeletea big debate going on in the US is the stationing of so many of our troops at bases overseas...good news for the Navy and Marines if they start pulling them back...bad news for the Army and Air Force if they do.
A 'force for good' unfortunately started to creep into UK doctrine and strategy publications about a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteIt originated with Robin Cook, the then Foreign Secretary, when discussing ethical foreign policy.
Robin Cook resigned over Iraq, one of the very few politicians with any sense of honour or conviction I disagreed with a lot of what he said but he was a formidable and very well respected politician, a rare breed these days.
Have a look at some of his quotes here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4128320.stm
and the speech that coined the phrase 'force for good' in 1997 is here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1997/may/12/indonesia.ethicalforeignpolicy
So I guess you can blame the Queen, or her ministers for that one but 13 years seems a long time to bare a grudge!!
ah it was meant tongue in cheek.
ReplyDeletethe Queen appears (at least on this side of the Atlantic) like someone's sweet Grandma...in other words the last thing she would do is bitch slap anyone.
i just can't stand that motto and think that the Navy should change it. i'm going workout but i'll post your history of the force for good in the story instead of just the comments section.