If we finally got smart and built a United Free Nations, based on eligibility requirements of free markets and free peoples, with transparency in commerce and government, civilian control of military etc, we could actually have a decent peacekeeping organization.

Where would be get cheaply paid conscripts for this new outfit? From developing nations that ditch their Marxist and Islamic masters and are striving to join the civilized world and willing to sacrifice to do it.

Africa is in a lot more trouble than the Mugabe issue, she needs a lot of real help and direction. Instead, we let the UN send criminals and the Chinese send private armies. It’s a travesty.

The people of Zimbabwe had a lot of hope and looked forward to Change.

This is what happens when people are led by fools with philosophies like Mugabe’s or Rev Wright’s.

It looks like the poor people of Zimbabwe can now only be saved by raising their taxes. After all it takes a village.

same thing that’s happened in South Africa where the white farmers have been exterminated by the ANC while singlehandedly contracting the economy, wrecking the infrastructure, and increasing the poverty nation wide. nice track record.

check out what happened to Walvis Bay when it went from the hands of white South Africa to the hands of Black Namibia.

reminds me of the recent interviews with palestinians in gaza hoping for a return of the israeli occupation as long as they get rid of hamas…

I’ve personally spoken to a number of recent Haitian immigrants that assure me that although duvalier ran a cleptocracy they at least ate everyday a much better situation than the orgy of death that the lavalas/aristede circus unleashed…

maybe there’s a pattern and a lesson here…

The UN has engaged in many useful activites throughout its history…in the fields of Health, Food, Education etc it has done good work. Even in the area of regularizing international law through the International Law Commission and the International Court of Justice there has been a lot of success, whether or not one agrees with everything they have done.

That said, the main purpose for which the UN was formed was security. It came out of WWII and its chief function was to prevent another World War. So, 5 victors from WWII received permanant seats on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and received vetoes…the UNSC can do nothing if one of the Big 5 votes against. (I could never quite understand how France got itself included in that group). Some may say that the absence of a WWIII cannot be credited to the UN. I don’t know but, for the purposes of agrument, I would like to stipulate that this was an achievement of the UN.

The problem is two-fold. First, these countries act not in the interest of the “greater good”, but in their own self interest…and really, who would expect anything else? Secondly, we see international law being made by the decisions, or non-decisions, of the UNSC. Thus, if the UNSC votes against an act taken by a member State of the UN, such act becomes illegal at international law…or at least it is taken to be. Superpowers, such as the US, Russia, China can withstand the pressure and act in their own self interest…indeed, with their veto, they can ensure that no act they undertake will be declared illegal.

But, for the rest of us, the situation is quite different. To put it crudely, no international act can be legal if France disagrees with it. (I use France, but insert any one of the Big 5).

For many states, therefore, acts which they might consider legitimate in their own self-defence could find themselves being defined as illegal.

Examples from today’s news: What chance is there of a Security Council condemnation of the buildup of Russian Troops inside Georgian (Republic of) territory? What chance is there of a condemnation of China’s occupation of Tibet? Or of its cultural genocide there (this exists…read the Genocide Convention and the Statute of Rome)?

As a Canadian, we saw lots of French involvement on our separatist movement during the 1970′s and 1980′s (less so now, because the separatist movement is basically dead). If Canada had ever needed to take steps to maintain its territorial integrity, what would France have done at the Security Council? I feel quite sure that we would have found ourselves in the same situation as Serbia does today…it is a member in good standing of the UN, yet it dare not take any steps to deal with the separatists in Kosovo. And now we see, in Georgia, a similar situation.

In then end, I am sometimes left to conclude that membership in the UN is not merely useless, it is detrimental and counter-productive to national security. I frequently wonder whether a State would be better off, with more freedom of action, if it were not a member of the UN and not bound by what the UN, or the UNSC, decides is international law.

It’s only a rumination but, when I see how the people of Zimbabwe have been abandoned by the UN or, more accurately, by its structure, I have to think.

A place where third worlders have access to hookers, a posh NYC life style and political immunity.

Its mandate is to stop international aggresion… to stop wars BETWEEN countries…

Glad you keep pointing this one out, Ed. As one who maintains interest in that neck of the woods, I know it gets ignored a lot. However, even this is not as big a mess as what is continuing to go on in the Congo; lives lost there apparently still are thousands per day. And the UN troops response to that has been to trade guns for gold and ivory.

Just another great example of why the UN is broken, and why we should kick them throw these worthless maggots out of NY.

Hening on April 30, 2008 at 8:36 AM

Couldn’t help myself.

don’t do much good except in regulation of commerce

I would argue they can’t even perform this function well. Can you say “Oil for Food”?

The UN is no longer serving the purpose for which it was created. Its a failed experiment. Time to clean it out and figure out something else.

In the meantime, we should take out Mugabe and his thugs. Unilaterally, without warning or negotiation. He is a terrorist and a murderer and deserves the same fate as any common street thug holding a hostage at gunpoint.

Isn’t Kofi around to lead the charge?

I was Kuwait. No other United Nations delegation ever contacted me or followed up on any conversations after I tracked them down asking for help. They were completely useless.

At the time, I believed nothing happened because I was dealing with a bunch of busy, university students. It wasn’t until I was older that I realised the experiment was actually a success perfectly illustrating how useful the United Nations really is.

Here’s an idea that works really good from the UN,
how about sending Mugabe a nasty letter telling how
upset the UN is,and if they really push it,the UN
will start resolutions like the Irag ones,and he
can defy those for about 10 or 15 years!

Now that should scare the H-LL out of him!

They are structurally and intellectually incapable of seeing any problems outside that framework.