Sunday, July 16, 2006

The Uselessness of the UN

The UN Security Council spent nearly two weeks trying to craft a resolution condemning North Korea's actions that include testing and launching missiles that have a potential range that puts the US, Japan, and much of East Asia at risk.

And it took North Korea 30 nanoseconds to reject the resolution.

Considering that the resolution had no consequences attached to it should North Korea not comply with the terms of the resolution, this situation is a classic example of how and why the UN is useless in these situations.

The situations in Iran or the Israeli defense against ongoing attacks from Gaza and Lebanon are no different. The UN cannot act in those cases either. Either the US will veto any action against Israel - defending Israel's right to self defense in the process, or Russia and China will veto actions against Iran, to protect their economic self interest.

The UN is simply a place where countries can talk, get soundbites, and without consensus on the Security Council to back the words with deeds - do so without worry or concern that any meaningful action will be taken.

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