Recent actions by the French, who are pursuing their own financial interests by supporting the dictatorship in Iraq and opposing the United States, have only served to prove that the United Nations is a joke. I wrote a commentary on the United Nations situation which appeared in the Washington Times on Tuesday, February 18th. For those who missed it, I have reprinted it below

A Sad Day for Humanity

Saturday, February 15, 2003 may well be remembered as one of the saddest days in the history of humanity. The day may well become reviled by future generations. It was on this day that millions of "civil libertarians" and "peace advocates" took to the streets worldwide to defend one of the most evil and murderous dictators the world has ever encountered.

Not in a single speech or on a single poster did the demonstrators complain of the total lack of human rights in Iraq. Not one sign demanded equal rights for women or condemned the constant state-sanctioned rapes and murders in Iraq. The demonstrators saw no problem with the use by Iraq of chemical weapons to kill thousands of people. Nor did the demonstrators seem to have a problem with payments by the Iraqi government to the families of suicide bombers.

All condemnation came against the United States and Britain because of the desire of the leaders of those nations to rid the world of a corrupt dictatorship that has caused the deaths through war of more than 2,000,000 people in the last three decades. The apparent aim of the demonstrations was to force Britain and the United States to bow to the United Nations and the desire of France and Germany to continue to bolster their weak economies by the sale of arms and technology to Iraq.

And why would the vaunted United Nations support the dictatorship in Iraq against the democracies of the world? Because the majority of the member nations of the United Nations are dictatorships and monarchies. Indeed the United Nations Commission on Human Rights is now headed by one of the greatest offenders of human rights, the nation of Libya. Libya is run by the dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who among other atrocities ordered the bombing of a TWA civilian flight that killed hundreds.

The United Nations Commission on Disarmament is headed by the nation of Iraq, the very nation that is the focus of disarmament right now! It is their refusal to destroy weapons of mass destruction that has spurred American action.

The United Nations is run by petty dictators and corrupt monarchs; yet, even the government of the United States pretends that it is a democratic institution. Most United Nations funding is paid for by U.S. Taxpayers.

The fundamental flaw of the United Nations is the Security Council itself. There power is reserved for a few "permanent" members to safeguard its takeover by small nations run by dictators. That, at least, was the intent of the founding members such as the United States, the

United Kingdom and France. Unfortunately, the founders gave each of themselves veto power over all actions of the Security Council, believing that they were allies and would always agree. Now we are faced with a situation in which any nation in the Security Council, such as France, out of its own financial interests can veto the use of military force by other members.

Under these circumstances is the United Nations an institution in which the United States should remain a member? Is it in the best interests of the United States to give France and other nations absolute veto power over the actions of our elected officials, particularly when the majority of members of the United Nations are indeed dictatorships? The obvious answer is no.

On the day we begin military action to free the people of Iraq and rid the world of the threat of that nation’s weapons of mass destruction, President George W. Bush should announce the withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations. Because it caters to dictatorships and monarchies, the United Nations is irrelevant and a waste of taxpayers’ money.

If the United States remains in the United Nations, it will give credence to the kangaroo courts that have been set up in Europe, particularly in Belgium. These courts place arrest warrants out for the leaders of democratic nations such as Israel, while turning a blind eye to the atrocities of men such as Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

It is simply time for the United States to stay the course of democracy in the world and distance itself from dictatorships, monarchies and those who cater to them such as the weasel nations of Europe. The time may be at hand to form a new association of nations, one open only to those whose governments ascribe to democratic principles. No dictatorships need apply.

Congress is out for the week as the worst blizzard of the new decade crippled Washington, DC. This did not, however, stop the battle over the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the Circuit Court of Appeals. Conservative Hispanic groups have raised the cry for Estrada with full page newspaper ads in states with large Hispanic populations such as Florida, demanding that Democrat Senators vote to stop the Democrat-led filibuster against Estrada. Meanwhile Hispanic groups that receive favors and cash from the Democrat left tow the line against Estrada. Many of these Democrat front groups say that Estrada, a Harvard educated immigrant from Honduras, does not understand "Hispanic issues," whatever that means.

William J. Murray, Chairman