STEYN ON THE UN

Mark Steyn is dubious about the UN’s fitness to make important decisions. He notes, for example:

Last month, the Russians were opposed to war on the grounds that there was no proof Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. This month, the Russians are opposed to lifting sanctions on the grounds that there’s no proof Iraq doesn’t have weapons of mass destruction.

Not only that but

You don’t have to agree (though I do) with George Jonas that the UN is a fully fledged member of the axis of evil to recognize that there’s little point in going to war to install yet another branch office of UNSCAM. If the problem is America’s image in the Arab world, in what way does it help to confine the Stars and Stripes brand to unpleasant things like bombs while insisting all the nice post-war reconstructive stuff be clearly labelled with the UN flag? If the answer is that that’s the price you pay for healing the rift with Old Europe, that presupposes Old Europe is interested in healing it. Tony Blair may be keen, but the Continentals have different agendas. Will the Belgian government approve the complaint against Tommy Franks for “genocide”? The petition accuses the General of “inaction in the face of hospital pillaging,” which apparently meets the Belgian definition of genocide. Unlike the deaths of over three million people, which is the lowball figure for those who’ve died in the current civil war in the Congo — or, as I still like to think of it, the Belgian Congo.

Heh. There’s more where that came from. Go read it.

(Hat tip: RealClear Politics)

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.