I congratulate the United Nations this month. Usually when I see the initials “U.N.” in a headline, I expect a story to follow about mind-numbing incompetence. But this past month it was not so. In fact, this week the United Nations General Assembly did not elect Iran to one of the rotating seats on the Security Council. I’ll repeat that: the United Nations General Assembly did not elect Iran to one of the rotating seats on the Security Council. Put another way: there was a possibility that Iran, a country currently under sanction by that particular body, would be elected to the Security Council. Is it just me or does letting a country under sanctions and investigations by more than one non-governmental organization onto a security council sound a lot like letting a pedophile sit in on PTA meetings? So congratulations to the United Nations for taking your heads ever so slightly out of your own asses. It was hard, I bet, and there you are, defiantly still shoulder-deep in your own colons, but at least it’s a step. The United Nations has, at best, been woefully incompetent and, at worst, guilty of international crimes (Oil-for-Food ringing any bells?).
The Security Council is a 15-member organization within the U.N. that wields the most authority. It is made up of five permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, France and Great Britain — who are all able to unilaterally veto any resolution, and 10 elected members representing regional blocks. Currently the 10 elected members of the U.N. Security Council are Burkina Faso, Libya, Vietnam, Croatia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic and the Dominican Republic. For those of you paying attention, that’s right, Libya is on the council commissioned by the United Nations “to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations.” So how does Libya, one of the worst human rights abusers in the world, contribute to international peace? Its idea of security is killing or jailing anyone that disagrees with the leadership. Gross stupidity, United Nations be thy name. That’s why I was surprised when Iran was not elected. If a human rights violator can get in, then why not a country under active sanctions?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s explanation for the failed bid provided more comedic gold than a presidential debate: “It is natural that these countries are disinterested in independent ideas or the entry of states that believe in the necessity of re-examining its structure; some do not have the tolerance to hear an independent voice.” It’s funny because Iran is not exactly the poster child for tolerance and progressive ideas. This is the same guy who said that there are no homosexuals in Iran. This view should come as no surprise and is just a continuation of the “Jews/United States control everything” line of thought.
Under the U.N.’s own charter and laws, the Iranian president could have been arrested upon entering the United States for threatening the destruction of another member state. Yet not only does Iran threaten to destroy Israel, but Iran is allowed to ignore the General Assembly, Security Council and other groups like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with no consequences. Why? Because it knows that the United Nations will not and cannot do anything. It is paralyzed by its own massive bureaucracy that operates on an efficiency level comparable to the gas mileage of a Hummer.
The United Nations is supposed to represent world interest as a whole. Its members are supposed to be thinking of the big picture, but instead they focus only on their separate and often diverging national concerns. Unfortunately, for every democracy there are a handful of petty dictators and broken regimes that are dictating the actions of the United Nations. The fact that Iran was even allowed to be nominated for a seat on the Security Council tells us a scary story of how the U.N. works, but it is perhaps the fact that 33 countries voted for it that really shows how much still needs fixing in what is arguably one of the most important NGOs in the world.