The Left's dogmatic insistence that the answer to all of America's foreign policy questions lie within the hallowed halls of the United Nations continues to bewilder the clear-thinking. The persistent belief that the UN is somehow the world's "moral compass" is due more to hopes and dreams than fact and reason. The UN's record of incompetence and corruption is truly mind-boggling, and it seems to grow every day.

The most well-known moral failure of the UN in recent memory took place in Rwanda, in 1994. UN peacekeeping troops did nothing to prevent Rwandans from being slaughtered in a spasm of "racial cleansing." The UN did worse than nothing -- Canadian General Romeo Dallaire was ordered to withdraw UN troops as the killing began. Soldiers and civilians of the Hutu majority killed more than 500,000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in 100 days; an estimated 800,000 were murdered altogether. According to UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, "Ten years later, the children of Rwanda are still suffering the consequences of a conflict caused entirely by adults… For them, the genocide is not just a historical event, but an inescapable part of daily life today and tomorrow." Now the UN is repeating its Rwanda apathy in the Sudan, where Arab militia are murdering the inhabitants of Darfur (the western province) by the thousands. The Sudanese government -- dominated by the country's Arab minority -- denies that any ethnic-related violence is taking place against members of the Zaghawa, Fur and Masalit tribes. Vice President Ali Osman Taha accused the West of fabricating the situation. A statement from Andrew Natsios, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, estimated that "[i]f we get relief in, we could lose a third of a million. If we do not, it could be a million." The government of Sudan is obstructing the flow of aid to the people of Darfur. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he "cannot call the killing a genocide even though there have been massive violations of international humanitarian law." Apparently the phrase that became the UN's motto after Rwanda, "Never Again," meant "Until Next Time."

The UN's failures are not limited to inaction in the face of genocide. The UN's mismanagement -- to the point of complete bungling -- of the Balkans is appalling. After more than five years, the region is still in chaos. "The vagueness of the national status of Kosovo is a strain on people. Various nationalistic movements see this kind of a situation as insulting," said Harri Holkeri, the chief U.N. envoy in Kosovo. Racial violence is still a constant threat. Refugees still live in camps, afraid to return home. The people are so unhappy with the conditions there that they voted their former dictator Slobodan Milosevic a seat in Parliament, even as he sits in jail in The Hague.

As far as morals are concerned, the UN certainly has no right to claim the high ground. Sexual predators thinly disguised as UNHCR aid workers took advantage of their positions of power in West African nations to demand sex from children as the price of aid for their families. The BBC reported in 2002 that workers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea had been exploiting those people who came to them for help. Now the sexual abuse in return for protection and food has moved to the Congo, where the 4,000 UN peacekeepers stationed in Bunia have fathered an unknown number of illegitimate children on unmarried girls. The head of the UN in Bunia, Dominique McAdams, said that she "requested evidence and proof on this matter, but I have not received anything from anyone." In the late 1990's, UN police in Bosnia were running a sex slave/forced prostitution ring. When it was discovered and reported by American policewoman Kathryn Bolkovac, she was fired from DynCorp, the company the UN had worked through to hire her.

The UN is also the seat of world-class fraud and corruption. The massive oil-for-food/oil voucher scandal (often nicknamed "UNSCAM" or  "oil-for-fraud") is only just beginning to make a dent in the "mainstream" news. Powerful and influential figures in UN member states, especially France and Russia, received millions of dollars in discounted oil vouchers, which could be sold on the open market. The list of 270 recipients (which covers just the year 1999) includes politicians, religious figures, and heads of corporations, many of whom figured prominently in the opposition to the liberation of Iraq. One name that stands out on the list is that of UN Undersecretary General Benon Sevan, head of the oil-for-food program that was set up in 1996 to guarantee that humanitarian aid reached the Iraqi people through the UN's sanctions. The UN itself oversaw each transaction, and took a 2.2% administrative fee, amounting to $1.2 billion over the years. Under UN mismanagement, deliberate or not, Saddam Hussein managed to siphon off over $10 billion with which to buy palaces, illegal weapons, and the United Nations.

Workers at the UN are well aware of the corruption surrounding them, but accept it as the only way to advance their careers. Deloitte Consulting LLC recently released the findings of the United Nations Organizational Integrity Survey 2004, which compiled responses of UN staff to a variety of questions concerning morals, integrity and organisational corruption. Of some 18,000 UN workers worldwide, about a third responded to the questions. The incredible results included such insights as, "Staff members feel unprotected when reporting violations of codes of conduct," by 46% unfavorable to 12% favorable responses. 65% of UN staff reported that they have observed breaches of ethical conduct. Only 15% agree that breaches are reported and 17% agree that they are investigated. 44% believe reporting violations is "career limiting." I have a feeling that Ms. Bolkovac would have agreed.

So this is the repository of moral superiority in the Western world, the organisation that Liberals feel uses its power more responsibly than the US. Even without debating the insanity of putting Libya in charge of the Human Rights Commission or Iraq in charge of the 2003 Conference on Disarmament (as was scheduled before Iraq was liberated a few months before), the UN is no more than the ultimate old-boy network of bribery and dishonesty. Sexual abuse, underhanded scandals, fraud, mass corruption and ethical breaches of all kinds permeate the United Nations while it pretends to hold a position of moral ascendancy. Putting the United States under its control, as many on the Left would do, would be just like having Bill Clinton back in the White House. Permanently.

Exploding Liberal Myths 11: Home Spying Hogwash 
Exploding Liberal Myths 10: The Plame Name Game
Exploding Liberal Myths 9: The Separation of Church and State 
Exploding Liberal Myths 8: The Nazi Meme 
Exploding Liberal Myths 7: Fidel Castro, Demigod?
Exploding Liberal Myths 6: A Less Safe Post-Iraq
Exploding Liberal Myths 4: Runaway Global Warming
Exploding Liberal Myths 3: Outsourcing Woes
Exploding Liberal Myths 2: The Eeevil PATRIOT Act
Exploding Liberal Myths 1: Nigerian Uranium  

UPDATE (28 June 04): The Washington Post is finally reporting on the Sudan situation. Representative Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) recently visited a refugee camp. Perhaps they can get some help to those people before it's too late.