Not the Answer

For those who think that the United Nations is the cure-all and end-all of diplomatic and peacekeeping measures throughout the world, Africa should be exhibit A of why the UN is incapable of delivering on any of the promises made by its supporters.

The UN is busy trying to deal with the fourth day of rioting against UN peacekeepers in the Ivory Coast.

Militant youths once again took to the streets of Abidjan, tossing gasoline bombs at the United Nations headquarters and battering its walls with sledgehammers in an attempt to force the peacekeepers to leave the country they seek to reunite.

The numbers of protesters were smaller on Thursday than previous days this week, and as night fell many had dispersed. But the protesters succeeded once again in paralyzing the commercial capital and raised fresh questions about the ability of the government to control the youths who have long been the base of support for the ruling party of President Laurent Gbagbo.

"We don't listen to anybody," said George Kassi, 19, as he hoisted as a stone to throw at the headquarters of the United Nations mission. "We want the complete liberation of Ivory Coast. I won't go home until the U.N. and France leave my country."

Violent protests have wracked Ivory Coast since Monday, when an international group charged with uniting the country divided by civil war said that the mandate of the National Assembly, a power base of Mr. Gbagbo's party, the Ivorian Popular Front, should not be extended.

Many party loyalists saw the statement as an affront to Ivorian sovereignty and took to the streets to demand that the United Nations leave the country.

The peacekeepers opened fire on demonstrators who approached UN positions. The situation got progressively worse, and the peacekeepers withdrew their positions. The violence in Ivory Coast has Liberia worried, since they're still getting over their own civil war and troubles.

Elsewhere on the continent, Rwanda is continuing to deal with the aftermath of UN inaction more than a decade ago. There are more than 300 diehard perpetrators of the 1994 genocide still running loose. And that's happening all at a time when the UN is pulling up the stakes on the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Part of the problem faced with tracking down Rwandan war crimes stems from mainly European opposition to the death penalty - so genocidal criminals run loose as a result. Since many countries refuse to extradite criminals who may face the death penalty to countries that have the death penalty, justice goes unfulfilled. And the UN doesn't have a problem with that either.

Then there's Dafur, which is forgotten by most US media outlets. The region has been systematically been purged and ethnically cleansed and those that are left are harassed and killed by roving bands of Janjaweed. And the situation is getting progressively worse. The African Union is going to be handing off the peacekeeping duties to the UN, which has already shown that it cannot be trusted to handle peacekeeping anywhere in the world. Repeated problems with sexual harassment, assaults, and dereliction of responsibilities to the refugees of the various peacekeeping missions have heaped yet more scorn on the Secretariat and Sec. General Annan.

So, this is the UN that is going to save the day in Iran where genocidal leaders want to obtain nuclear weapons to fulfill their 'destinies.' While the Iranian Sith Lords plot openly about obtaining nuclear weapons and flaunt their power to do so without any limitations, the UN worries that a harshly worded resolution will be too harshly worded.

UPDATE:
Iran is moving faster than the UN, and is already taking steps to shield its assets from seizure in Europe by pulling its money out of those markets. Combine that with Ahmadinejad's meetings with Assad and the terrorist leaders in Syria and you've got a more agile opponent than the UN is capable of dealing with.

UPDATE:
Dave of Garfield Ridge guesting at Ace of Spades also noticed Iran's financial wizardry and thinks it points to a perfect storm. And not the good kind, at that.

UPDATE:
Two UN peacekeepers were killed in Haiti while manning a checkpoint when they came under fire by unidentified assailants. This isn't the first problem with the Haiti mission either. The elections have been postponed four times by the UN. The UN Commander of the peacekeepers committed suicide and other peacekeepers have been killed while engaged in peacekeeping. Most have been killed in gunfights with gangs alligned with Aristide.

Sounds like a quagmire to me.