Dec. 09, 2004 - 21:17 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Untied

As it goes it becomes accentuated it seems. In the editorial section of the Rocky Mountain News this morning is an editorial, in full:

U.N. admits foxes to the henhouse

"The United Nations has recognized that its 53-member Commission on Human Rights is in dire need of reform."

"A report prepared for Secretary General Kofi Annan accurately noted that some of the grosser huan rights violaters are seeking commission seats as a way of deflecting and avoiding criticism of their records."

"Sudan, guilty of tolerating both slavery and genocide, is serving a third term as a member. Sudan's man at the United Nations said the United States was in no position to criticize Sudan's abysmal record on human rights because of the Abu Ghraib prison scandals, a truly bizarre assertion of moral equivalence."

"Cuba won uncontestd re-election to the commission even as the Castro regime was pointedly jailing dissidents. Libya was even commission chair for a term."

"Zimbabwe -- another routine violator of human rights -- was given a seat over U.S. objections."

"Having these members on board further paralyzes a body whose activities on behalf of human rights can best be described as sluggish."

"The best solution would be for the United Nations to confront its worst members by establishing standards for membership -- rule of law, free press, independent judiciary, humane criminal justice system. Like membership in NATO or the Eropean Union, candidates would be expected to meet certain criteria."

"But the reforms proposed to Annan would go the other direction. There would be no standards and membership would be thrown open to any U.N. member who wanted to serve. This is as good as having no commission at all -- an option that begins to look more and more attractive as the commission grows more and more ineffectual."

"And that would be too bad because, for all the organization's faults, many millions of people really do look to it for help. Given the current state of the United Nations, however, it may simply be too much to expect that an institution founded in part to protect human rights would actually BOTHER to do so."

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Perhaps the old, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone," should keep me from the rock pile. But it is hard.

I wonder just exactly what the wording of the proposal to Annan was ?

Daring to even think that there should be requirements to be on that commission would probably be their grounds to disposses us and ship us out to Antarctica.

United Nations seems to be much like our big airline -- Untied . . . . . . . . .

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