Originally posted by joe beyser
I totally agree. I heard that we provided Saddam with chemical weapons but I don't know for sure. The United States didn't want weapons of mass destruction to fall into the hands of terrorists. So the connection there shows that the war on terrorism is more of an excuse than a real war. It doesn't matter who blew up the towers. Could there also be a conne ould it be an example of why the UN should have more power and control? Is it all theatrics?
I think you're still overrating the UN.
I agree with FMF that the creation of the UN in the post WWII environment was a triumph. And, the fact that it exists and functions is in itself, a testament to improved geopolitical relations over, say, a century ago.
Still, when it comes to maintaining security and starting or ending wars, the UN has always been pretty much irrelevant. Did Argentina ask the UN before claiming the Falkans? Did the Brits give a hoot whether the UN gave them permission to beat the stuffing out of the Argentinians? Did the UN do anything to prevent the Russian/Afghan conflict? Has all the UN meddling in the Middle East done one iota to help anything? Did the UN promptly withdraw its peacekeeping force as soon as Nasser said the word? Was it the UN or the French that finally went into Rwanda to try to stop the bloodshed in the mid 90s after the rest of us westerners did nothing but wag our collective fingers? Was it NATO or the UN that went in and stopped ol' Slobo from massacring the Kosovars? Was the UN relevant in the decisions to go to Gulf War I or II? (Sure, UN resolutions were used as pretexts; but does anyone think Bush fundamentally cared about what the UN had to say?) Has the UN forced the US to withdraw from Iraq or set a timetable therefor; or is that up to Barack Obama? etc. etc. ad nauseaum
The UN is fine for dialogue. The UN might even be good for organizing humanitarian missions. But for security and stopping conflicts, the UN has proven itself over and over again to be useless.