Tuesday, January 21, 2003

I took Latin in school; apparently Glenn Reynolds and Josh Chafetz didn't. Listen, guys, it's simple: the prefix "uni-" in "unilateral" and "unilateralism" means "one." Therefore, if you accuse a country of unilateralism, you're saying that country is acting alone. Chafetz says France is "unilaterally imposing its will on the rest of the [UN Security] Council"; Reynolds nods in agreement. But the story that's Chafetz's source says this:

But in a diplomatic version of an ambush, France and other countries used a high-level Security Council meeting on terrorism to lay down their markers for the debate that will commence next week on the inspectors' report. Russia and China, which have veto power, and Germany, which will chair the Security Council in February, also signaled today they were willing to let the inspections continue for months.

Only Britain appeared to openly support the U.S. position that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has thwarted effective inspections.


(Emphasis mine.)

Uni-? One.

Uni-? One.

Uni-? One.

Class dismissed.

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