The Un U.N.

 

Maybe U.N. doesn’t stand for United Nations. Maybe it just means "un" as in, not. After decades of supporting the once-venerable institution, I fear my endorsement must be withdrawn. What with the fraud in the oil-for-food program in Iraq amounting to billions of dollars to the resignation of the head of the refugee program because of a lack of confidence due to sexual harassment charges, it seems that the corruption and depravity that has plagued so many other governments and corporations has perhaps terminally infected the United Nations.

I don’t give up my support easily. As a child I collected change on Halloween -- "Trick-or-treat-‘n-UNICEF" -- and long and proud did I stand against the perverted undermining perpetrated by Jesse Helms and his psycho-reactionary ilk. But now the neo-cons aren’t even bothering to attack the U.N., perhaps recognizing that the dwindling support from its supposed backers indicates the creature is dying.

There are a number of reasons for the collapse, not the least of which were the attacks by the American right. Mostly the right-wingers are hostile to the idea that the United States should have to check with anyone before doing anything. Then until a decade ago they viewed any opposition to American policy as communist-motivated. Or anti-Semitic; we blocked virtually every attempt to bring peace to the Middle East if it included disapprobation of Israel, a policy that probably derailed a settlement by at least two decades.

Not only were the U.S. wing-nuts hostile to the United Nations, but the cowardly Democrats and thinking Republicans did little to counter the assault. They allowed the right-wing to bleed the U.N. dry by blocking payment of American dues. The shameless disregard of the organization and their weapons inspectors in Iraq two years ago left no question about the uselessness of the U.N. in American eyes.

The United Nations also failed on its own, electing in the past several decades, some remarkably incompetent leaders. The bureaucracy became bloated with pseudo-diplomats who were more interested in personal perks than helping the needy. They played petty political games, selling their votes to the highest bidder or simply tweaking big power noses.

What is so tragic about the implosion is that it leaves the world without a policeman, at a time when the cowboys in Washington seem to have assumed the mantle themselves, without opposition. Whatever the history, we now probably need to build a new world organization from scratch.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.

 

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