Should the UN be closed down?

[shamus11]

UN oil for Food Corruption Track

By

James Bredin

UN credibility is away down there these days,
Good time to close it down and all their crooked ways,
Dead folk in Africa by the millions always shut out,
Tormented now by peacekeepers whose conduct is in doubt.

Plenty of pompous dictators dispensing pork,
Send their appointee big shots to the UN in New York,
Make announcements here and there about this or that,
Why they need foreign aid to help with internal combat.

Now that peacekeepers have become part of the trouble,
Added that to Kofi Annan’s son’s and it goes for double,
Add that to the disgraced Commission of Human Rights,
Add Kyoto to all that and you can turn out the lights.

The finger of blame pointed at Kofi Annan,
His son Kojo they say was a big point man,
Billions of dollars from a guy called Saddam,
Oil for food money where no one gave a god dam.

Politicians get worked up about UN obligation,
Distract public attention as if this is salvation,
International Court at The Hague is never in doubt,
But no one seems to know for sure what they’re about.

If they do close it down should they think of something new,
An organization of democracies with all in view,
And dictators can all call their appointees back,
And look back at their oil for food corruption track.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

http://tinyurl.com/5c6s4

 

[crit13]

I don't think we should shut it down, but it certainly needs an overhaul.

 

[no1important]

RE: Should the UN be clos

It should not be shut down. I don't think it needs a major over haul or any over haul for that matter.

The UN works fine, It is the Americans who bitch the loudest when the UN does not do or agree with what America wants. The UN is a world organization and not a puppet of America, America does not understand that. They just like to take the "knee's out" for their own political gain to distract the public from the real incompetent person, "W". end of story in my opinion.

Who was it that owed the UN hundreds of millions for years and never paid their dues? America.

 

[missile]

Yes,the world needs the UN,or something similar to it.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Should the UN be clos

Institute Kofi's reforms. They are good ones. Try to develop a time table where the veto goes away.

Of course that isn't going to happen...the last thing George Bush wants is effective reform of an institution he has no control over.

 

[ElPolaco]

Instead, let's shut the US down. Divide it up into a coalition of peace and social justice focused democracies.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Should the UN be clos

That's an idea, El Polaco. What gets me about all this UN-bashing is that it's so obviously driven by the Republican Party for political reasons. Nobody denies that the UN needs to reformed, but that simply won't happen if George Bush has a say.

 

[mrmom2]

Koffi is a crook the Un needs to be cleaned up.The coruption needs to be exposed and cleaned up.Having the UN investigate its self is a joke.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/033005F.shtml

 

[Reverend Blair]

The panel, headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker, issued its second report over corruption charges at the U.N. The panel found nothing to indicate that the U.N. secretary general had any "affirmative or improper influence" in choosing Cotecna.

The company, which administered a program as a contractor that allowed Iraq to buy goods with oil revenues while worldwide sanctions were imposed against the country, was chosen for its lowest bid, Volcker said.

"There is no evidence that the selection of Cotecna in 1998 was subject to any affirmative or improper influence" in the selection process, according to the report.

Let's look at the things that nobody is talking about, Mr. Mom.

The Security Council, including the USA, had oversight of every contract, every sale. They were informed by UN officials, but didn't do anything.

The man who worked to corrupt the program is in custody. His name is Saddam Hussein.

Paul Bremer received $8 billion from Oil for Food to administer to the Iraqi people. The lion's share of that went to Halliburton and its sudsiduaries in no-bid contracts and disappearred with little or no oversight. Halliburton still sends cheques to Dick Cheney.

The purpose of Oil for Food was to feed the Iraqi people and keep keep WMD out of Iraq. It accomplished both of those goals. It was, in fact, successful enough that the US asked that it be kept in place for a year after the US took over.

Everybody knew the program was corrupted from the start. It was obvious...Saddam was building palaces. We all know that isn't free.

The UN, and its Secretary General, have no money, no army, and no power except what is granted to them by member nations.


This is nothing but a witch hunt. It began about three minutes after the BBC got Annan to say (and they had to press him) that the US invasion of Iraq was illegal.

 

[Jay]

The united nations as an oxymoron; the nations are not united. We should dismantle it, and set up a round table of nations. A body that has no power, but is a meeting place for nations to discuss international issues. No votes, no laws, no courts, just discussion.

 

[Rick van Opbergen]

The UN needs reform; there is a broad consensus about that, even among UN officials themselves. However, we should also take in consideration that the UN is far more than the Oil-for-Food programm. The UN have literally saved millions of lives with their vaccination programmes, loans to poor countries and their push towards democratic changes around the world (just to say a couple of random things). UN to be closed down? Definitely not.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Should the UN be clos

It's funny that the US is trying to push Kofi Annan out and saying they want reforms at the same time. Annan has introduced more reforms to the UN since he became SG than any of his predecessors. The biggest bunch are the proposals he now has on the table.

So why are the Bushites trying to push him out now? Could it be that they don't want reforms, that they prefer to destroy the UN instead?

 

[Jay]

maybe they don't trust him?

 

[Jo Canadian]

The UN when concieved was a pretty good idea in theory. As of late though my faith in their effectiveness has declined even farther than in the 90's. Sudan seems to be the biggest catalyst in proving the ineffectiveness, it is a shame really.

Hopefully something good may come out of these reformes because the world will be needing help from someone besides the "benevoleant" US.

So why are the Bushites trying to push him out now? Could it be that they don't want reforms, that they prefer to destroy the UN instead?

I dont' think that Bushco wants to get rid of the UN, Keep it the same yes, but eliminate: No. It's too useful as a whipping boy when they have to lash out regarding scandals to distract from their own.

 

[ElPolaco]

Back in the 50s and early 60s, when the UN was basically an organization to rubber stamp US foreign policy, we were told ( and taught in school) what a wonderful organization the UN was. As soon as the 3rd world countries formed a bloc that did not generally suppout US policy, the UN was considered misguided and those who wanted to destroy it or pull the US out were on the lunatic right wing fringe. Today that unilateralist anti-UN psychosis of the former right wing periphery has become mainstream political thought.

 

[mrmom2]

The US is pushing for Clinton to take over Koffi's job.Wolfowitz the head of the world bank Clinton running the UN.The world is heading for a whole lot of hurt.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Should the UN be clos

I doubt that they'll get rid of Annan. He has an awful lot of support around the world. Bush has a lot of trouble with the fact that he doesn't run the UN. Clinton would be a long-shot at best, especially as a Bush appointee. He has no record as a diplomat or with working within the UN.

 

[shamus11]

Independent Inquiry Committee Second Report

By

James Bredin

UN bureaucrats are in an area that is gray,
Delay, delay, and in time the scandal will blow away,
And eventually their sinister silence will pay off,
As they continue to feed like pigs at the trough.

Cotecna’s six-month contract extended several times,
No conflict of interest and definitely no crimes,
Efforts to conceal financial arrangements must be lies,
Kojo Annan had the previous day said his goodbyes.

And sensitive files that Riza shredded are long gone,
Was Kojo a consultant for Cotecna all along?
Did he meet with UN officials to further their cause?
Payments channeled here and there just because.

Why the relationship with Cotecna so well hidden?
Never mentioned at the UN and strictly forbidden,
And conflict of interest was never exposed,
And now with the silence and the subject is closed.

The second interim report says it all,
Allegations enough to make them all crawl,
Should Kofi do the right thing and resign now?
Or should the complete UN be closed down somehow?

Wednesday, March 30, 2005



Click here for the second interim report

 

[Paco]

Re: RE: Should the UN be closed down?

Back in the 50s and early 60s, when the UN was basically an organization to rubber stamp US foreign policy, we were told ( and taught in school) what a wonderful organization the UN was. As soon as the 3rd world countries formed a bloc that did not generally suppout US policy, the UN was considered misguided and those who wanted to destroy it or pull the US out were on the lunatic right wing fringe. Today that unilateralist anti-UN psychosis of the former right wing periphery has become mainstream political thought.

Gee, who'd a thunk it? Agree with a person (or country)and they say nice things about you. Disagree with them and tension develops.

You just described basic human nature. It surely follows the diplomatic relations of every nation in recorded history.

You're fucking brilliant.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Should the UN be clos

You don't get to run the world, Paco. Live with it.