For many years Canadians have been taught that the United Nations is some kind of respected body of wisdom. If actions have United Nations approval, then everything is okay and we can rest easy.
If we took the blinkers off for only a few minutes we would realize that the United Nations is a body of despots, dictators and killers. Its rules are bent to cover any sick leaders attempts to gain recognition around the world.
Last week we heard news of North Korea taking over the chairmanship of a disarmament conference. North Korea has defied the world by producing nuclear weapons, testing them, selling technology to Iran and providing the delivery means.
That wonderful little country is run by one of the most oppressive regimes mankind has ever seen, in which citizens are starved in order to feed a huge army.
Yet, the only country that has voiced any concerns about North Korea chairing the conference is Canada. Three cheers to our Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for denouncing this awful event.
We did have a tiny surprise when Syria backed away from membership in the Human Rights group. On the other hand, Iran and Iraq, even under Saddam Hussein, had centre stage.
They had a human rights conference in which Canada had to boycott the event because it was a hotbed of anti-Semitic activity. How about letting Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad, two leaders at killing off democratic rights, gain the world stage.
One would have to write a complete book to list the weird and sick results imbued in the activities of the United Nations. The skimming of funds in the oil for food fiasco in Iraq may have filled pockets of United Nations officials and their friends, but it didn’t do children any good, which was the intent.
Some of my friends argue that the United Nations does some good with its programs and that I should ignore the bad things. Well, Al Capone had a history of giving to charities, but he was still a crook.
There has been demands for transparency in the manner in which United Nations funds are spent. The efforts to stop corruption and control spending have been meaningless.
How would you explain the action in Libya when the same killing is going on in Syria and the United Nations is mute? Do we have different policy for one dictator than another?
The United Nations used phony data to support its claims on global warming and yet, when caught at it, they won’t change. They just want our money. The conferences they hold on global warming are rigged and real debate is not allowed.
The truth is that membership in the United Nations has no rules. Any country that wants in, has a pass. Doesn’t matter if you kill thousands of your people on a regular basis, you still get a seat and a vote at the United Nations.
The United Nations Security Council is really no better than the General Assembly. Scores of people have been raped and killed in Darfur because China would veto any action.
We may not be able to change or improve anything at the United Nations. We can however, place that organization into a more honest perspective. The United Nations is a corrupt warped organization and we need to take it off the pedestal of something grand and good.
It may be the only game in town, but we need not honour the dictators who make up the vast majority of its membership.
Mel Wilde is a retired Director of Operations for a large Canadian corporation. He is a noted world traveller and has studied geopolitical issues for many years. His most noticeable interest is in the effects of different types of governance and organizational behaviour.