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Growing Chorus Challenges UN

Yesterday we posted an item on the hollow attempts of Kofi Annan's UN to "reform" itself. This followed a previous post about Congressional efforts to use America's financial muscle to compel true reform.

It seems that the voices of discontent are growing louder. Whereas the UN was once a sacred cow whose legitimacy was almost unquestioned and whose credibility was considered inherent within its charter, critics are now much more willing to openly call for radical changes. Once the province of isolated individuals who were outside the formerly monolithic political consensus that bestowed upon the UN a chaste and virtuous imprimatur, sharp critiques of the UN, its leadership and its underlying mission are now coming from reputable and mainstream quarters. And these critiques do not only carry the weight of respectability, but they also come with very real power and influence. As such, they cannot be summarily dismissed by preening UN functionaries or self-indulgent international diplomats.

Perhaps most pivotal, thus far, is today's piece by Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) in the Wall Street Journal. The title, "Kofi Annan Must Go," pretty much says it all.

While many questions concerning Oil-for-Food remain unanswered, one conclusion has become abundantly clear: Kofi Annan should resign. The decision to call for his resignation does not come easily, but I have arrived at this conclusion because the most extensive fraud in the history of the U.N. occurred on his watch...

Since it was never likely that the U.N. Security Council, some of whose permanent members were awash in Saddam's favors, would ever call for Saddam's removal, the U.S. and its coalition partners were forced to put troops in harm's way to oust him by force. Today, money swindled from Oil-for-Food may be funding the insurgency against coalition troops in Iraq and other terrorist activities against U.S. interests. Simply put, the troops would probably not have been placed in such danger if the U.N. had done its job in administering sanctions and Oil-for-Food...

As a former prosecutor, I believe in the presumption of innocence. Such revelations, however, cast a dark cloud over Mr. Annan's ability to address the U.N.'s quagmire...

it is clear the U.N. simply cannot root out its own corruption while Mr. Annan is in charge: To get to the bottom of the murk, it's clear that there needs to be a change at the top...

All of this adds up to one conclusion: It's time for Kofi Annan to step down. The massive scope of this debacle demands nothing less. If this widespread corruption had occurred in any legitimate organization around the world, its CEO would have been ousted long ago, in disgrace. Why is the U.N. different?

As chairman of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Coleman is influential. Less important, but noteworthy, is Dick Morris weighing in today in The Hill.

Whether the United Nations were located in New York or in Geneva, Congress cannot and should not continue to spend our money paying dues to an organization that will not open its records to our elected officials who are seeking to investigate numerous reports of corruption reaching high up in the U.N. organization...

If the United Nations refuses to open its financial records to our congressional investigators, the United States should suspend payment of part of its annual dues as a punishment for the United Nations’ intransigence...

It is usually France’s business, not ours’, if their president, Jacques Chirac, or their interior minister, Charles Pasqua, profited from the oil for food program. It is usually Russia’s business if Putin or his United Russia Party was enriched from the same table. But when Chirac and Putin were influenced by these payoffs to cast their nations’ votes in the United Nations for or against the Saddam Hussein regime, the matter becomes our business. We must not let the U.N. Security Council become an auction in which the corrupt sell their votes to the guilty or the aggrieved based on who can pay them off more handsomely.

Jonathan Rothenberg blogged for Bush at 9:46 AM in category Loser Watch

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Comments

New bumper sticker:

Pissed off because Bush won?
Going to Canada?
Take the UN with you!

Posted by: k6whp at December 1, 2004 09:52 AM

I got an email from Move America Forward, which is the group working to get the U.N. out of the U.S.
The head of this group is scheduled to appear on Fox News at 12:30 Eastern time. Just FYI.

Posted by: KJC at December 1, 2004 10:25 AM

KJC,

Thanks for the heads up. This cannot happen soon enough! After they leave, we can use the offices for something truly more beneficial..

..like low income housing, shooting galleries, etc. By the way, speaking of truly useless, insignificant works of art, if you tire of Garry Trudeau and his insipid Doonesbury, there is a very clever antidote. Chris Muir draws an internet strip that is really piquant in its skewering of liberal foibles. Sorry for the off-topic post, but I think Mr. Muir deserves some recognition for his work.

Posted by: k6whp at December 1, 2004 12:07 PM

The matter is clear and all that remains is to cleanse the inept and corrupt United Nations.
Jonathan Rothenberg

I agree. But we must do the following...

First: GET THEM OFF US SOIL!

Second: Cut off our funding!

Third: Encourage our allies (Britian, Italy, Poland, Austrailia, etc.)to get out of there as well.

Fourth: We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Posted by: Make War Not Appease at December 1, 2004 12:54 PM

Here is an item that says just about all that needs to be said about the UN. Enjoy.

Posted by: Tannenberg at December 1, 2004 01:38 PM

The role of the UN since inception has been under question and without focus. A liberal dream of a unified world government under a body such as the UN will never come to be if the elected governing body holds itself above investigation by stonewalling and collusion by it's own menions. If a member - a founding member - can not have the freedom to investigate a matter such as this with global impact on so many nations we need to ammend the guidelines to allow such actions - as long as our own underwear is clean.

Posted by: Richard at December 1, 2004 07:35 PM

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