THE SIX STAGES OF MULTILATERALISM

I haven't been too pleased with the performance of the UN, lately. Neither is David Brooks, who has an op ed piece in the New York Times about Darfur:

Every time there is an ongoing atrocity, we watch the world community go through the same series of stages: (1) shock and concern (2) gathering resolve (3) fruitless negotiation (4) pathetic inaction (5) shame and humiliation (6) steadfast vows to never let this happen again.

There is no way to describe what's happening in Darfur other than as genocidal ethnic cleansing, and what does the UN do? It frowns sternly in the general direction of Sudan an issues a "threat" to consider economic sanctions at some unspecified time in the future. That threat, of course, will be followed in due course with another lengthy debate about whether and how to impose the sanctions.

A threatened debate concerning mealy mouthed sanctions in the sweet by and by does nothing but give the maniacs who are doing the killing and raping and burning additional time to do whatever the hell they want, which turns out to be more murder, more rape and more burning.

And of course, sanctions, in the unlikely event that they are complied with and the even less likely event that they actually have the intended effect, will take additional time, measured in years, to achieve that effect. Darfur is burning today. People are starving right goddam now. An ethnic "militia" is murdering thousands as we speak. And the UN does less than nothing. It offers the people with the gasoline and matches more time to do their thing.

This is yet another magnificent performance by the UN. You'd think that their recent performances elsewhere in the world (and not just Iraq; remember Rwanda?) would shame them into at least acting like they wanted to do something.

The UN has become a pathetic farce which raises obstruction and obfuscation into an art form. And, if anyone, anywhere finally gets fed up with the delay and diplobabble, heaven forbid they should actually try to do something. God help the nation that says, "If you won't do it, we will." Only crude cowboys and complete morons say stuff like that.

Any actions taken to enforce (enforce? is that a word?) all those resolutions solemnly passed with great fanfare are characterized by Secretary General of the UN as illegal.

I have a (Mrs.) Kerry-like suggestion for Mr. Annan: Take your resolutions and your opinions and shove it. Your organization has become a sad, sick joke. Time and time again, the UN has watched and done nothing as its honored members violated every provision of its charter, resulting in death and suffering on a scale which can scarcely be imagined.

Where in the name of God do you get the gall to criticize the people who spend sacrifice their own lives and their own money to do that which you have so pompously declared over and over and over again needed to be done?

Those people may not be able to right all the world's wrongs, but they've fixed a boatload more than you have.