Disney y las princesas tradicionales

According to Fjeld (165: 2005), relational adjectives ―denote the relative requirements between the noun and some objectively fixed or indisputable standards or requirements.‖

The keyword of this quotation is ―fixed standards.‖ The interpretation of what is meant to be the ―fixed standard‖ reveals the subjective nature of these axiological evaluative adjectives. Their subjectivity gives the instrument of power of interpretation to who uses them because they are both context-dependent and context-changing, especially in the case of diplomatic documents such as UN resolutions. The value of the implicit standard is not specified in the lexical entry of the word, but is rather set contextually, and so it may vary in different utterance contexts. For instance what counts as

‗appropriate‘ in one context could probably not be ‗appropriate‘ in another context. Furthermore, the use of relational adjectives and of evaluative axiological adjectives in general affects the context with respect to which subsequent uses of vague predicates get evaluated. For example, when something that has been indicated as ‗appropriate‘ gives origin to a war, it can be appealed to for subsequent cases because the wording has created a precedent. This risk cannot be underestimated in diplomatic texts, and so these words should be used with caution, because their meaning may depend on factors external to the adjective, such as the meaning of the noun, or the context of the utterance, unless their meaning has been expressly agreed on and legally defined.

Table 29 below contains the relational adjectives found in SCRIraq1:

Relational Adjective Frequency

Appropriate 16

Duly qualified 2

Inadequate 1

Practicable 1

Reasonable 1

Table 29: Relational adjectives used in SCRIraq1

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In SCRIraq1 some relational adjectives are used more frequently than others. One of these is

‗appropriate‘. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, ‗appropriate‘ is what is

―suitable, acceptable or correct for the particular circumstances.‖ In order to analyse this adjective further, Table 30 below shows its co-occurrences in the corpus, followed by examples:

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(107) 6. Calls upon the Authority, in this context, to return governing responsibilities and authorities to the people of Iraq as soon as practicable and requests the Authority, in cooperation as appropriate with the Governing Council and the Secretary-General, to report to the Council on the progress being made […]. (S/RES/1511(2003))

(108) 25. Requests that the United States, on behalf of the multinational force as outlined in paragraph 13 above, report to the Security Council on the efforts and progress of this force as appropriate and not less than every six months […]. (S/RES/1511(2003))

As seen, the cluster ‗as appropriate‘ is the most frequent in the corpus, and it seems to be used as sort of passe-partout giving discretion to the subjects involved. The definition of ‗appropriate‘ in itself (―suitable or proper for the particular circumstances‖) recalls its contextual and situational dependency for interpretation and application. In the corpus, there are many occurrences of the adjective

‗appropriate‘ as a noun modifier, co-occurring with several nouns, as can be seen in Table 31 and examples below:

Clusters of „Appropriate‟ + Noun in SCRIraq1 Rank Frequency Cluster

1 2 appropriate measures

2 1 appropriate arrangements

3 1 Appropriate implementation procedures 4 1 appropriate Iraqi ministers

5 1 appropriate Iraqi ministries

6 1 appropriate steps

7 1 appropriate support

Table 31: Clusters of ‗appropriate‘+ noun in SCRIraq1

(109) 21. Decides that the prohibitions related to the sale or supply to Iraq of arms and related materiel under previous resolutions shall not apply to arms or related materiel required by the Government of Iraq or the multinational force to serve the purposes of this resolution, stresses the importance for all States to abide strictly by them, and notes the significance of Iraq‘s neighbours in this regard, and calls upon the Government of Iraq and the multinational force each to ensure that appropriate implementation procedures are in place […]. (S/RES/1546 (2004))

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(110) 5. Appeals to all States to continue to cooperate in the timely submission of technically complete applications and the expeditious issuing of export licences, and to take all other appropriate measures within their competence in order to ensure that urgently needed humanitarian supplies reach the Iraqi population […]. (S/RES/1382 (2001))

The use of ‗appropriate‘ indicates evaluation in relation to a system of values, which are thus subjective. In a diplomatic contextits subjectivity gives complete discretion of applicability to the parties involved to decide what would be ‗appropriate‘. For instance, S/RES/1483(2003) uses the expression ‗appropriate steps‘:

(111) 7. Decides that all Member States shall take appropriate steps to facilitate the safe return to Iraqi institutions of Iraqi cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance illegally removed from the Iraq National Museum, the National Library, and other locations in Iraq since the adoption of resolution 661 (1990) of 6 August 1990, including by establishing a prohibition on trade in or transfer of such items and items with respect to which reasonable suspicion exists that they have been illegally removed, and calls upon the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Interpol, and other

international organizations, as appropriate, to assist in the implementation of this paragraph […].

(S/RES/1483 (2003))

Several nations implemented this resolution with particular legislative or administrative actions. The European Union enacted Council Regulation 1210/2003⁷¹, which, in paragraph 3, prohibits the import, export or dealing in Iraqi cultural materials ―if there is reasonable suspicion that the goods were removed in breach of Iraqi‘s law and regulations.‖

The UK enacted Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 1519, which prohibits the import or export of any illegally removed Iraqi cultural property. The dealing in any such items constitutes a criminal offence unless the individual ―proves that he did not know and had no reason to suppose that the item in question was illegally removed Iraqi cultural property.‖

The U.S. has continuously maintained a prohibition on import of, or other transactions involving Iraqi cultural materials as described in the UN Resolution. Moreover, as Stone, Bajjaly, and

71 Source: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:169:0006:0023:EN:PDF (Last accessed: June 2011).

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Fisk (2008: 189) note, the ‗Emergency Protection for Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act‘ allows the President to exercise his authority under the Cultural Property Implementation Act to impose import restrictions on any cultural material illegally removed from Iraq after August 1990. The statute defined

―cultural materials‖ in accordance with S/RES/1483(2003) and more broadly than the Cultural Property Implementation Act. This legislation ensures that there are no gaps in the import restrictions by eliminating the process for Iraq to bring a formal request for import restrictions and eliminating review of the request by the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. However, President Bush never exercised this authority and the import restriction on Iraqi cultural materials remains in place under Executive Order, thereby continuing the original sanctions.

Therefore, the term ‗appropriate‘ has left room to dishomogeneous and subjective implementation of the resolution. The resolution has worked in a way similar to directives, but on an international level. Probably it would have been better to have a stricter rule of conduct directly from the Security Council.

A typical relational adjective is ‗(in) adequate‘. Two examples are included below:

(112) Noting that under the provisions of Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949), to the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate […]. (S/RES/1472 (2003))

(113) 4. Authorizes the Secretary-General and representatives designated by him to undertake as an urgent first step, and with the necessary coordination, the following measures:

(b) to review, as a matter of urgency, the approved funded and non-funded contracts concluded by the Government of Iraq to determine the relative priorities of the need for adequate medicine, health supplies, foodstuffs and other materials and supplies for essential civilian needs represented in these contracts which can be shipped within the period of this mandate, to proceed with these contracts in accordance with such priorities […]. (S/RES/1472 (2003))

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The first example is a quotation from the Geneva Convention, while the second deals with the delicate issue of guaranteeing medicine and food in Iraq. The wording ―to determine the relative priorities of the need for adequate medicine, health supplies, foodstuffs and other materials and supplies for essential civilian needs‖(S/RES/1472(2003)) has given rise to many polemics during these years related to the way of dealing with the post-war and embargo and blockade humanitarian crises in Iraq.

Notwithstanding the Oil for Food project and humanitarian supplies, a March 2003 WHO estimation⁷² suggested that 18 million out of a population of 24.5 million people in Iraq lacked secure access to food. At that time, almost 60% of the population was solely dependent on food distributed by the government each month. Almost half of Iraq's total population of 24.5 million were children. UN agencies estimated that one out of eight children died before the age of five; one-third of Iraqi children were malnourished; one-quarter were born underweight and one-quarter did not have access to safe water. Many essential public health services, such as blood transfusion and water quality control services have not been functioning optimally due to shortages of laboratory reagents. Although significant quantities of medicine and medical supplies and equipment have reached Iraq under after these resolutions, probably ‗adequate‘ was actually not ‗enough‘.

Another relational adjective that can be found in the corpus is ‗reasonable‘:

(114) 7. Decides that all Member States shall take appropriate steps to facilitate the safe return to Iraqi institutions of Iraqi cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance illegally removed from the Iraq National Museum, the National Library, and other locations in Iraq since the adoption of resolution 661 (1990) of 6 August 1990, including by establishing a prohibition on trade in or transfer of such items and items

with respect to which reasonable suspicion exists that they have been illegally removed […].

(S/RES/1483 (2003))

In legal language, ‗reasonable suspicion‘ is a legal standard of proof that is less than ‗probable cause‘, the legal standard for arrests and warrants, but more than an inchoate and unparticularised suspicion or hunch. According to the Merriam-Webster‘s Collegiate Dictionary (2004), it is ―an objectively

72 Source: http://www.who.int/features/2003/iraq/briefings/iraq_briefing_note/en/index1.html (Last accessed:

June 2011).

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justifiable suspicion that is based on specific facts or circumstances and that justifies stopping and sometimes searching (as by frisking) a person thought to be involved in criminal activity at the time.‖

It is thus a commonsense, nontechnical concept that deals with the practical considerations of everyday life on which non- legal experts act. As such, the standard depends on the discretion of an objectively ‗reasonable‘ officer. Thus in the case of the paragraph from S/RES/1483 (2003), its application could either be widespread, guaranteeing maximum protection to Iraqi cultural material or its subjective discretion could lead to the loss of many objects of Iraq‘s cultural heritage forever.