Showdown in Cairo

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Timothy Wirth, a U.S. Under Secretary of State and a leader of the American delegation going to Cairo, denies that the U.N. plan would impose Western values on other cultures. Argues Wirth: "Everything in the document is done within the framework of national laws, cultures and religions. The U.N. is not going to dictate what a culture can do."

The delegates to Cairo appear to have two main options: approve the essence of the draft proposal, allowing the Vatican and its supporters to file dissents, or try to find some consensus language that papers over the conflicts, which usually happens with U.N. documents. The need for consensus reduces action plans to pallid, inoffensive wish lists that quickly disappear into bureaucratic oblivion after the signing ceremonies. Such was the outcome of the Earth Summit that convened in Rio de Janeiro two years ago. But continued indecisiveness on the population issue may be a formula for disaster. Speaking in Washington recently, Nobel-laureate physicist Henry Kendall of M.I.T. observed, "If we don't control the population with justice, humanity and mercy, it will be done for us by nature -- brutally."

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CREDIT: [TMFONT 1 d #666666 d {Source: U.N.}]CAPTION: POPULATION TOTALS