The UN: United in Opposition to the US
By Tom DeWeese (04/21/03)
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan continues to claim that only the UN can grant legitimacy to the United States' successful war to topple Saddam Hussein. Rationally, that claim can be viewed as little more than a pathetic, baseless whine from those clinging to a dying dream of global power.
It should now be clear to everyone that the UN is a house of cards. Simply stated, there never has been a better time to topple this clownish international institution. All that is required is for the US to extricate itself from the many UN treaties, protocols and conventions that have pilfered our national sovereignty on issues essential to our future.
Only months ago that possibility seemed remote, even impossible. Many American leaders sounded the mantra that, yes, the UN is a despicable, even clownish institution that wastes money in an overbloated bureaucracy motivated by a decidedly anti-American point of view.
Still, too many in Congress hold onto the belief that the United States must remain an active member in order to maintain our leadership role in the world. We are the leader. We do not need the United Nations. There are voices of both Republicans and Democrats urging us to stay on.
Supporters of UN membership argued that without the recognized legitimacy of that institution there would be no possibility of creating an international coalition to deal with terrorists. President Bush tried to do the politically correct thing. He went before the UN to plead for UN cooperation. Secretary of State Colin Powell made compelling arguments, providing proof of the dangers posed by Saddam Hussein. None of it worked. According to the rules of UN protocol, the United States was supposed to continue asking, begging, pleading and dealing.
In such a world, the French ploy was a sound one. The French, allied themselves with the Germans in a bold attempt to diminish the influence of the United States. In fact, the whole purpose of the European Union is to create a mechanism for leverage against the United States. The French and Germans were just following the game plan they had spent years debating and creating.
If the United States had played by the standard UN rules, the French gamble may well have paid off. We didn't. The United States, on its own, organized a coalition of more than 45 countries. We stood up for our own national interests and we declared our right to defend ourselves, no matter what the international community thinks. As a result, the UN and the European Union have both suffered immeasurable harm.
For those of us who have fought the battle to get the United States out of the UN it has been an astounding month. National television news programs, talk radio and newspaper commentary pages have suddenly begun questioning the need for UN membership. "Irrelevant" is the word most often used. Frankly, it's like reading from my own newsletter!
Anti-UN sentiment has never been stronger. Like the shock of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it could all happen almost over night. As we've said all along, the whole house of cards has been propped up by American power, money, and military might. Take those way and it all comes tumbling down. How could any of us ever have foreseen such a turn around? The truth is there has never been a better opportunity to send the clowns on the East River packing!
During my entire political career I have argued that, if only the United States would do the right thing, without caring what the UN or pompous diplomats from other countries thought, then the world would follow. Finally, President Bush did exactly that and the world did follow.
It's was almost comical to watch as the French and Germans jockey for roles, immediately after the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Suddenly they needed to be part of the post war rebuilding. The Turks quickly decided to open their skies to our planes and declared themselves part of the "Coalition of the Willing." We've also discovered the true nature of our new "friends", the Russians, whom we now find have been selling hi-tech equipment to the Iraqis.
Our nation's decision to go it alone has the possibility of truly creating a real "New World Order." One much different from the global village envisioned by the UN and those like Germany and France who hoped their past glories could be renewed under its socialist dictates. Instead, this new order could be one of proud, free, sovereign nations, operating independently, looking out for their own interests in a true free market and limited government environment. In fact, it would simply be the re-establishment of the proper international order. That will only happen if President Bush decides to take his decision to its logical conclusion and lead the United States out of the United Nations. It was because of UN dictates that the United States was stopped from toppling Saddam in 1991. It's taken us twelve years and more American lives to finish the job. Let's not make the same mistake with the UN. By returning to business as usual we will only help re-establish the UN's power over us. Ten years from now - in the next crisis - we'll have to fight the battle all over again as the UN proves it is still an enemy to the ideals of the United States. To reasonable people it seems obvious that the only logical step is to withdraw membership.
However, there is great danger that the United States won't take the right road; that we will go back and take our seat at the Security Council. The pressure has already started to lead us that way. It's the natural order of today's politics. In fact, it's much more likely the Bush administration will stay in the UN's comfort zone than lead the world in a different, bolder direction.
It doesn't have to be that way. For those of us who desperately want to end American support of the UN, our greatest battle is directly in front of us. We must raise our voices in an unyielding scream; "get us out of the UN now!" Say it and keep saying it to elected officials, talk show hosts, letters to the editor and to your next door neighbor. Don't lose this opportunity to rid the world of the most evil regime ever known. No, not Saddam - but the United Nations.
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