Posted on 01/26/2004 12:39:25 PM PST by knighthawk
News emerged on Friday that Paul Martin has asked United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to visit Canada. Mr. Annan, who met with the Prime Minister at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has agreed to address our Parliament in March. The subject of his presentation will be -- what else? -- the importance of the United Nations as an international organization.
Mr. Martin is no doubt pleased with himself for scoring this coup. But rather than simply basking in the Secretary-General's Parliamentary bromides, we suggest the PM capitalize on the opportunity to convey to Mr. Annan the urgency of reform at his Turtle Bay talk shop.
As David Frum and Richard Perle recently argued on the op-ed page of The New York Times, the UN is an institution that was designed in the aftermath of the Second World War to prevent war between nations. But that mandate is outdated: The main threat to world peace today comes from sub-national groups such as Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. Moreover, in some cases, pre-emptive wars against rogue nations are morally and militarily necessary -- such as the campaign against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which Mr. Annan and his allies in continental Europe did their best to stop.
A related problem is that tyrannies have the same formal standing before the United Nations General Assembly as democracies. Thus, Arab and Third World nations regularly collude to pass all manner of offensive resolutions. The result: an upside-down moral world where democracies such as Israel are lambasted while Zimbabwe, Cuba, China, Sudan and other autocracies typically escape censure.
We don't favour doing away with the UN entirely. As the United States is learning as it organizes elections in Iraq, there are some areas where the world body has an essential role in promoting peace and stability. And certainly, some humanitarian agencies, such as the World Food Programme, do good work and save many lives.
But the body must be modernized to better fit the reality of today's world. A good start would be the suggestion supplied by Messrs. Frum and Perle: Explicitly broaden Article 51 of the UN Charter, which recognizes that states have an inherent right of self-defence against armed attack, to ensure that the right may be exercised against rogue states that harbour, finance or otherwise support terrorists.
The United Nations' bloated bureaucracy could use a giant downsizing, too. And some sense must be injected into the mindless manner in which offices are assigned. A year ago this month, members of the UN Commission on Human Rights elected Libya to chair its 59th session -- a country that has itself committed countless human rights violations. Even more embarrassing was the situation last May when Iraq was slated to chair a UN conference on -- of all things -- disarmament.
Canadians have an oversized fondness for multilateralism in general, and the United Nations in particular. And so it comes as little surprise that Canada's new Prime Minister is so eager to make nice with Mr. Annan. But if Mr. Martin truly believes in the UN, he will make it his business to help prevent the world body from going the way of the League of Nations. When Mr. Annan comes to lecture us about world governance in March, our PM must do more than just listen and clap.
And kick them out of the US
No more UN for US-list
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
Is this the same World Food Programme that exchanged food for oil in Iraq? The food the coalition forces found in Iraq rotting in warehouses? This was good work and saved many lives?
Tell 'em all about world governance, Kofi. You've done such a good job in Africa....
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