Free Republic

Kofi Annan & Co. might as well move to Brussels or Geneva. These are surreal times. Americans in Iraq are beheaded on videotape. Russian children are machine-gunned in their schools. The elderly in Israel continue to be blown apart on buses. No one — whether in Madrid, Istanbul, Riyadh, Bali, Tel Aviv or New York — is safe from the Islamic fascist, whose real enemy is modernism and Western-inspired freedom of the individual. Despite the seemingly disparate geography of these continued attacks, we are always familiar with the similar spooky signature: civilians dismembered by the suicide belt, car bomb, improvised...

The use of a single word in diplomacy can often mark a significant moment and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's use of the word "illegal" about the war in Iraq is one such moment. He has carefully avoided the word before. His previous phrasing was to say that the war was "not in conformity with the UN Charter". Mr Annan tends to avoid directness This was a typical diplomatic phrase designed to get over the meaning, but to avoid directness. It was not exactly a ringing phrase and Mr Annan was content with that. Now, in a BBC interview,...

The United Nations recently passed another blatantly anti-Israel resolution in support of extremist Arab Palestinian claims. There is no longer any point in entering into any serious dialogue with this organization. In countless ways, over many years, the UN has proven to be a discredited organization, with lawless elements, which can no longer claim to have any moral standing. Very few of its 191 members can be counted upon to put principle ahead of crass expediency. The hopeful vision that accompanied its founding in 1945 has long since evaporated. It was the United Nations that recognized Israel in 1947. Therefore,...

When Libya is in charge of human rights and Israel is hysterically condemned, it's time to rethink the world body's effectiveness The United Nations recently passed another blatantly anti-Israeli resolution in support of extremist Arab Palestinians claims. There is no longer any point in entering into dialogue with this organization. In countless ways, over many years, the UN has proven itself to be a largely criminal and discredited organization that can no longer claim to have any moral standing. Very few of its 191 members can be counted upon to put principle ahead of crass expediency. The hopeful vision that...

<p>April 7, 2004 -- TEN years ago today the Rwanda massacres began in earnest. It was the worst genocide since the Holocaust. And it will forever be a stain on the record of the Clinton administration, the United Nations and the whole so-called "international community."</p>

Think of Iraq as ten times more volatile than Kosovo and you have an idea just how bad UN biases against efficient privatization could make Baghdad look. And remember, in Kosovo Serbs and Albanians fight each other, but don't attack NATO. We all know how that differs from Iraq. In the five years since the NATO intervention in Kosovo, the devastated former Yugoslav province has lost the attention of global media and political leaders. This is dismaying for its residents, who have grown to depend on the world powers to assist them in finding their way, but is also unfortunate...

The United Nations is the tooth fairy of American politics: Few adults believe in it, but it's generally regarded as a harmless story to amuse the children. Since 9/11, however, the UN has ceased to be harmless, and the Democratic presidential candidates' enthusiasm for it has ceased to be amusing. The United Nations has emerged at best as irrelevant to the terrorist threat that most concerns us, and at worst as an obstacle to our winning the war on terrorism. It must be reformed. And if it cannot be reformed, the United States should give serious consideration to withdrawal. The...

<p>The United Nations is the tooth fairy of American politics: Few adults believe in it, but it's generally regarded as a harmless story to amuse the children. Since 9/11, however, the UN has ceased to be harmless, and the Democratic presidential candidates' enthusiasm for it has ceased to be amusing.</p>

When the U.S. 4th Infantry Division pulled Saddam Hussein from his hole in the ground on December 13, 2003, the Iraqi dictator was meek, bizarrely offering to negotiate with the U.S. By contrast, Kofi Annan, the U.N. secretary general who strained every sinew to stop the war of liberation and now aims to thwart U.S. postwar plans, remains thoroughly defiant. Yet if there is one person on the international stage who deserves to be called to account for his conduct over Iraq, it is Kofi Annan. Missing from the debate on how and where Saddam should be tried has been...

A deadlock over the formation of a new Cambodian government is threatening to derail plans to try surviving members of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime for genocide and crimes against humanity. More than five months after general elections, the ruling Cambodian People's Party and the two biggest opposition parties are still at loggerheads over the establishment of a coalition government required by the country's constitution. Senior legal officials have warned that unless a political compromise is reached within the next few weeks, plans to start the trial this year of up to 10 former leaders of the regime blamed for...

Twelve months ago, the international community heaved a sigh of relief as the major powers appeared to reach a compromise on how to manage Iraq. But Washington's determination to act on its own cut short the role of U.N. weapons inspectors and challenged the very notion that the organization has a role to play in issues of peace and security. Today, the international scene is much altered. Bogged down in Iraq, Washington is relying on multilateral processes to address threats of nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran. It also has backed down on protectionist tariffs on steel imports condemned...

<p>In the wake of Saddam Hussein's capture, Iraqi government officials have become quite open about voicing their displeasure with the United Nations' failure to help their people during decades of oppression by the deposed Ba'athist dictatorship. After U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave a speech to the Security Council on Tuesday ruling out an early return of the United Nations to Iraq, he was sharply criticized by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.</p>

In 1942, FDR spoke of a “United Nations” and the hope it could bring to a world torn apart by war. The dream was a good one. The reality has become a nightmare. The future of the United Nations is far from secure as it becomes more bloated, corrupt and centered on its own desire to dictate to the world. Does the UN do the job it was formed to do? From its own charter on Human Rights: Article 4: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their...

<p>After four uncelebrated decades patrolling remote cease-fire zones, the United Nations peacekeeping forces won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. "We cannot forget these brave soldiers," Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar said, noting that 733 had been killed on assignment.</p>

Iraqi minister tells UN to stop sniping, start helping Tue Dec 16, 1:57 PM ET UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s foreign minister told the UN Security Council to stop bickering over the war that brought down Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and come together to help rebuild his shattered nation. In a pointed address delivered with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) on hand, Hoshyar Zebari said the United Nations (news - web sites) had failed to stand up to Saddam to defend the Iraqi people, and called for a swift UN...

<p>NEW YORK — A U.N. monitoring committee complained yesterday that 108 nations have failed to file required reports on their actions in the war against terrorism, such as freezing assets and reporting the names of suspected terrorists.</p> <p>Frustrated committee members said they are considering asking for a stronger Security Council resolution with "more teeth" to force compliance from member states.</p>

Saturday, October 18, 2003 at 07:00 JST TOKYO — U.S. President George Bush told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over dinner Friday night that the United Nations is "old" and its structure should be reformed, according to a senior Japanese foreign ministry official. Bush made the comment after Koizumi asked him to "consider making better use of the United Nations" to spread America's ideals of freedom and democracy, the official told reporters. Koizumi's comments, which was made at a time of a rift in the international community over the U.N. role in war-torn Iraq, followed remarks about the importance of Japan-U.S....

<p>The apparent failure of the U.S. push for another U.N. resolution on Iraq is at least a clarifying moment. A body incapable of agreeing to endorse even post facto reconstruction could certainly never have been expected to enforce its Iraq resolutions in the first place. So much for the argument that a kinder, gentler approach by the Bush Administration would have won U.N. support.</p>

<p>Diplomats said the new text offered the U.N. a strengthened role in Iraq but not the central role in overseeing the country's transition called for by countries such as France, Germany and Russia. Britain indicated it could co-sponsor the text, the Financial Times said.</p>

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- There is an old saying that "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." The modern version might be "the United Nations passed resolutions while the world was destroyed by terrorists." President Bush gave a brilliant but useless speech last week at the United Nations, speaking on the need to combat global terrorism and rogue dictators before they strike or acquire weapons of mass destruction because the stakes are too high to do nothing. Unfortunately, "doing nothing" is exactly what the United Nations has in mind. The United Nations is at a "fork in the road," according to Secretary General...