U.S. Attacks UN To Undermine International Law

[IndianaGreen]

U.S. Attacks UN To Undermine International Law, Not Reform International Institutions

By Phyllis Bennis

6-24-05,9:34am

The recent attacks on the United Nations have nothing to do with the so-called "scandals" involving the oil for food program. Rather, they are part of a well-orchestrated campaign by elements of the Bush administration and their far-right allies in the U.S. press, aimed at punishing the UN for its refusal to support Bush's war in Iraq, and at undermining the overall power and influence of the UN and international law. Certainly U.S. domination of the UN is an old story, extending back as far as the very creation of the global organization in 1945, when U.S. agents wiretapped the train cars and hotel rooms of 50 nations' diplomats heading to San Francisco to create the United Nations.

But in response to the UN's eight months of defiance in 2002-2003, when the UN joined the global mobilization against Bush's war in Iraq, Washington has launched one of its most intense attacks on the legitimacy and credibility of the UN. The U.S. goal is to make sure that the United Nations never again stands with the peoples and governments around the world who mobilize to "prevent the scourge of war." And in undermining the UN, the Bush administration seeks to legitimize its replacement of international law and multilateral decision-making with unchallenged U.S. unilateralism and military prowess.

One part of the administration's campaign has focused on escalating attacks on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, weakening the SG's ability to manage the UN, and crucially, muzzling his voice. Certainly, like any big bureaucracy, the UN faces problems of individual staff members' corruption and incompetence. But that is not why the UN is under attack in Washington. The attacks are designed to insure that never again would Annan state (however reluctantly) that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was "illegal." Never again would the UN itself dare to stand up to Washington, however illegal the U.S. action. President Bush is determined to make real his 2002 claim that the UN is "irrelevant.

To accomplish that goal, the U.S. is using its vast power to orchestrate the ouster of key officials in the UN and its various agencies as well as in the international financial institutions, particularly the World Bank, and their replacement with officials appointed for their accountability to Washington's agenda.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/1362/1/102/

[libodem]

1. this is right on

and I think it's why they hate Hollywood as well. They think there is no one big enough to thwart their purpose. The only entities powerful enough to contradict them are the ones that they relentlessly attack. This administration won't police themselves. International law is the only challenge they face. They won't tell the truth and set out purposefully to deceive and lie to the public. Hollywood stars voicing their opinions are much more likely than the average citizen to receive any coverage. That's why all the boo hiss stuff is starts when Barbara Streisand dares to speak up. I wish Hollywood would produce a good movie about now, with parallels to LIHOP, the ensuing war on terror, and the big corporate oil grab. They would only have to tell the truth for the best high crime drama on the planet.