Why Idealists Support the UN

The UN was originally created in response to the post-war disillusionment of returning WWII soldiers, who realized that governments make wars, not people.

The UN should be a voice for the peace-loving people of the world, but it has been ham-strung by lack of government goodwill and is more often than not used as a propaganda tool (and not just by the USA, OK?). It badly needs reform, particularly with regards to Security Council members and their right of veto.

I certainly do deplore the stolen oil-for-food funds and I also deplore the UN's many other failures, yes I do! BUT...

Let's imagine Bush had spent as much time and money supporting the UN as he has on his keep-it-in-the-family war machine. Let's imagine the USA had spent as much time coercing other nations to help improve the UN as it has spent coercing them into supporting the (ahem!) "war on terror" (I hate that stupid term - how can you have a war on an idea? and how do you defeat it with guns? it's just a recipe for never-ending war, great if your family owns the war machine... but I'm rambling).

Let's imagine Bush had supported the International Criminal Court (which Clinton signed up to but Bush immediately pulled out of, just like he pulled out of Kyoto, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the Geneva Convention) and let's imagine Bush had urged the ICC to try Saddam in absentia, then the UN had authorized a forcible arrest of Saddam, supported by a Stabilization Force that included Arab-speaking soldiers with an understanding of Iraqi language and culture. This would have been a legitimate, legal and internationally supported path to peace for Iraqis, which could have served as a warning to despots across the world.

But then the USA wouldn't have got its hands on Iraqi oil, and US troops would not have bases in Iraq for the next 50 years.

Call me idealistic, but we can and should imagine a better world, and we should work towards it every day as responsible, peace-loving individuals. Call me old-fashioned, but I think government should be "of the people, by the people and for the people..." And that should mean all the people of the world, not just US citizens.