No Longer What They Proclaim To Be

Incompetance and iniquitous incarnate

Editor's Note: Thomas's commentary is in blue and Marcie's is in purple.

Since 1945 the United Nations was supposed to have served as an international organization devoted to peace and human rights. Their stated aims, in fact, are to maintain international peace and security, to safeguard human rights, to provide a mechanism for international law, and to promote social and economic progress, improve living standards and fight diseases. But as we have seen over the years, especially in the last several years, this is far from the truth with regard to this organization. We have seen corruption in their ranks, deceit at the highest levels, and a blatant attempt -- time and again -- to cover up for the world's worst thugs and dictators. This is an organization that goes beyond being merely inept. It has delved into the criminal side of that which it was specifically supposed to protect the world from.

Exhibit A -- Iraq

In 1991 Iraq lost the first Gulf War to a coalition of nations, led by America, operating under a United Nations mandate. The order was simple -- remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. That task was completed, and then-President Hussein agreed to terms of surrender; terms that he hardly abided by. Additionally, sanctions were levied against Iraq, which did more to hurt the people of Iraq rather than its thuggish leader. In an appeal to alleviate their suffering, the United Nations was asked if Iraq could sell their oil to a few choice countries. It was agreed upon, and the UN Oil-For-Food program was initiated. But as we discovered before and after the 2003 invasion, Saddam was not funneling those funds to his people. Those funds went to reconstitute his military, to build more effigies in his name, and it went to kickbacks for those in the program -- overseen exclusively by the UN -- to keep officials quiet. In the end, three people involved with the program have been indicted, and the United States Senate estimates that over $20 billion went unaccounted for in bribes and kickbacks. And this all occurred under the "watchful" eye of the United Nations. Though three people face severe criminal charges for their involvement in the bribery and kickbacks of the program, many -- like former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his son Kojo -- have escaped the prosecution they so rightly deserve.

Exhibit B -- North Korea

Many think that only their nuclear program falls under UN scrutiny. Not so. The UN was aware of, and covered up Kim Jong-Il's counterfeiting operations. National Review contributor Claudi Rosett blew the lid off of this scandal in January of this year when she revealed that the UN was receiving these counterfeit notes as payment from North Korea and that they held stacks of counterfeit US $100 bills in a safe in their office in Pyongyang. It has since been discovered that the UN is complicit in "laundering" this cash through outside banks. Additionally, the North Koreans received cover, albeit reluctantly, from the IAEA when after the most recent set of inspections (prior to the newest agreement between the US and North Korea) that Kim Jong-Il was still working on his nuclear weapons program, despite overtures from the UN Security Council to cease and desist all such operations. These demands from the Security Council came both before and after their successful nuclear test, and the Security Council has continually refused to do little to encourage the end of this program aside from offering up "sternly worded letters" of condemnation. In fact, the last set of sanctions slapped on North Korea were refused by china; they blatantly stated they would not abide by them, and continued to funnel aid to Kim Jong-Il. It was through the diplomatic efforts of the US State Department that has led Kim to realize that he must end this program if he and his nation are to survive. Otherwise he would face a continuing famine, and the looming threat of a coup from his own military; something that has occurred twice before in the last decade or so.

Exhibit C -- Syria

It was bad enough that in 2006 the best the UN could muster during the Israeli/Hezbollah conflict was a condemnation of Israel for their actions against the terror group, and that was after Hezbollah kidnapped an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid from Lebanon. But on September 6, 2007, Israel launched an airstrike on a suspected Syrian nuclear site. For the better part of the month, Israel and US intelligence officials agreed the site housed some nuclear components. North Korea, which was involved with Syria in the operation, condemned Israel, as did Iran. Syrian officials initially denied the site housed nuclear materials. But on October 17th it was revealed that a Syrian official -- one high in the government hierarchy -- admitted the site did indeed house nuclear materials. How did the UN react? They redacted the admission from their official report, and changed the wording so as to cover-up the Syrian official's admission. As we stated in a previous column, this is indeed a serious problem in the region. We do not know whether Syria was working with Iran to gain this material, or whether Syria was pursuing the WMD technology on their own for their own purposes, but this is a nightmare the region does not need. The UN, however, does not recognize the dangers of allowing a regime like Syria gaining such technology, given their association with Hezbollah; a terror group that would shed few tears of a team of their martyrs smuggled such a weapon onto Israeli soil, and detonated it. Furthermore, the UN seems unwilling to try and contain such technology in an attempt to prevent an arms race in a region known to be fairly unstable, and prone to outbursts of violence.

Exhibit D -- Iran

This is the one that really galls us right now. Intelligence officials worldwide agree that Iran is rapidly pursuing nuclear weapons despite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's half-baked promises to the contrary. Two thousand-plus centrifuges are online, the Iranians are continually upgrading their medium-and-long-range missile forces, and construction has begun on yet another nuclear reactor in the Islamic Republic with the welcomed assistance of Russia. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has promised that he will deal with Israel, Western Europe, and eventually the United States (the sort of "dealing" that can only lead to a military conflict), and yet the UN can only bring itself to issue warnings and condemnations against him. IAEA inspectors were allowed to tour one facility just a couple of short months ago. That was the Natanz site, which is being shut down in favor of the Arak site currently under construction with the help of Russian engineers. As the UN dawdles, it buys more time for the Iranians to complete the work on their program. Intelligence officials estimate that they could have a working nuclear warhead in as short as eighteen months, or as long as ten years. Know what that means? It means that no one, aside from the Iranians, really knows how close they are. But a nuclear armed Iran will do little for world peace, and it is likely that they will use these weapons for blackmail purposes. What is the UN doing to curb this madman's goal? Contacting their secretaries to draft yet another useless letter rather than executing the toughest sanctions possible, and warning the Islamic Republic that a military option could be used to end their pursuit of such weapons.

Exhibit E -- UN Peacekeeping Missions

Supposedly these people are sent to nations in dire need of security when the populace is victimized by war and dictators. The problem is that they do not necessarily do that. After the Israeli/Hezbollah conflict in 2006, UN peacekeeping forces were dispatched to Lebanon to serve as a buffer between the two, but they have done nothing to curtail the continuing Katyusha rocket attacks from Hezbollah into Israel. In fact, those same peacekeepers have been threatened by Hezbollah that if they interfere, Hezbollah will turn on them. So the peacekeeping forces sit there twiddling their thumbs, and watching as Hezbollah continues their attacks unabated. Additionally, peacekeeping forces in Congo, Haiti, Liberia, and Sudan have been implicated in a number of sexual abuse scandals surrounding children in those countries. In the Congo, the young girls (the youngest one recorded being nine years old) were "targeted" by peacekeepers, and basically were turned into prostitutes. They even gave them the nickname of "Kofi's Dollar Girls," and would have sex with the peacekeepers for money to help feed their starving families. At times the peacekeepers would not even pay, but rather they chose to rape them. These men represent the United Nations, and this is how they treat those they are sent to protect. So much for "safeguarding human rights."

As we can see, the United Nations doesn't believe in it's mission any longer. The case could be made in it's early years that it did take it's mission seriously, and worked within it's own guidelines to foster peace and cooperation around the world. No more. The UN has become corrupt, from the top down, and serves only it's own interests now. They do little, if anything, to stop genocide around the world. (They denied genocide happened in Rwanda, and still deny genocide is happening in Darfur, Sudan.) In Mogadishu, Somalia, they refused to allow the US military to intervene when UN aid workers fell under the fire of Mohammed Farah Aidid's guerillas. They openly condemn and threaten sanctions against Israel almost every time the nation defends itself against its neighbor's aggression. They condemned the US invasion of Iraq despite the fact we were upholding their resolutions -- seventeen of them that Saddam Hussein flouted over twelve years. And they continue to cover-up for thugs and dictators around the world, hoping no one will notice it. In a post-World War II world, an organization like the United Nations had it's place. But in a 21st Century world, it does little to abide by it's aforementioned mission. It serves it's own self-interests, and many agree the their interests now do little, if anything, to serve the world. They serve a different master whose only goal appears to be power and chaos, not peace and cooperation.

He is a scholar of history, especially American history, and the United States Constitution. She has finished her undergrad studies, graduating with a BA in English and history and will move onto law school this fall where she will specialize in Constitutional Law. Together, Thomas and Marcie form the vanguard of conservative opinion at Hamilton, Madison, and Jay -- a blogging site devoted to advancing the conservative cause by challenging the liberal lies and deceit spread by the media, and espoused by the Left in general. Both are expert debaters, and have beaten many liberals into submission with their collective wit, and unmatched knowledge. The pair is married, and resides in Arizona

Archives of "Throwing Down the Gauntlet"

Send an e mail to Thomas Clark and Marcie Packard

Check out Thomas and Marcie's blog: Hamilton, Madison, and Jay