Can the UN survive Bush's onslaught?

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By Salim Lone
August 23, 2004

Too little has been learned from the cataclysm that befell the UN in Iraq a year ago.


Little seems to have been learned from the cataclysm that befell the UN a year ago.

The UN is precious - not because of its name, but because it struggles, however imperfectly, to reach global consensus on the world's critical issues. The fanatics who blew up the UN mission dealt a severe blow to its fortunes in the Middle East.

But more lasting damage is being done to the legitimacy of this irreplaceable institution by demands to obey US dictates. If it continues to bow to pressure, its capital will be squandered and its resolutions rendered weightless for large chunks of humanity.

Member states and the Secretary-General should see this eroding legitimacy as the greatest challenge the organisation faces.

But they will be unable to make effective headway unless the US itself recognises that it needs, in its own interest, to show greater respect for the UN, from which it can learn to define and pursue its own interests more wisely.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/22/1093113049409.html?oneclick=true

[bemildred]

1. "Little seems to have been learned"

We don't do learning, everything of importance is already
well understood ...