The UN: Rest in Peace

Well, seriously, how do you know it’s dead?  


It smells.

Actually, there have been many indications of its demise for a long time.  The massive attacks in its chambers against Israel was an early warning sign.  And, the very quiet that attended massacres in the Congo, the Sudan, and elsewhere were additional very clear signals.  And now we watch as Syria is torn limb from limb.  

So why did the UN die?  Because members long ago abandoned the principals on which the organization was founded.  It’s two chambers were created so that in the Security Council, the major powers emerging immediately after WW II would keep their power intact.  In the General Assembly, all nations were given representation.  Regardless of how small they might be.  Each nation would have a voice.

So let’s now look at the Security Council.  The Nationalist Chinese were forced out by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).  Considering the shift in power that occured in China, this, to some extent, made sense.  But let’s now look at the behavious of China.  You see them lay claim to all of the China Sea despite equally valid claims by the Vietnamese and the Phillipines.  Taiwan was then designated as a land subservient to the PRC despite its having emerged as a country with a democratic form of government, with a strong industrial base and an equally strong antipathy to the totalitarian ways of the PRC.  Nevertheless, it is allowed no vote in the UN.  And, let us not forget China's heel that remains on the neck of the Tibetans.

In the case of  Russia, we have a country that has scooped out for itself from Georgia provinces which it now declares belong to Russia.

The countries in the General Assembly number just under 200.  When Israel was recognized by the UN’s General Assembly, there were only 56.  And, in what may now seem ironic, Russia voted with America in support of Israel.  Islamic nations, on the other hand, were always united in their opposition to Israel being recognized.  Today, with the many new states that have been admitted to the UN General Assembly, the influence of the Islamic states has become far stronger.  But, who are these new nations?  Countries like the Sudan, Zimbabue and Mali; hardly model states.

The Syrian situation now makes clear for everyone to see how hopeless the UN has become.  Russia is sticking with Assad to the end.  He takes pride in showing the nations of the world that if you are an ally of Russia, Russia will stick with you to the end.  Allies of America get no similar assurances.  As for the UN, it means nothing.  It's dead.