October 2, 2004

The United Nations is beyond redemption National Post - Tony Clement, former leadership candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada: The UN, in its current form, is weak, ineffectual and unfixable, and Paul Martin should know this. Its mechanisms for collective security, the very reason for the UN's existence and embodied by the UN Security Council, have worked only very rarely since 1945. The Cold War meant Security Council stalemate for 44 years. Now, the great divide continues on another front. The United States now invokes the doctrine of pre-emption in order to strike at rogue nations and terrorism threats before they reach the shores of the homeland. America's military preeminence means that it can go it alone or with a few other willing allies, rather than rely on clunky alliances (NATO) or diplomatic niceties and mandates (the UN). Meanwhile, middle powers like Russia and France seek to buttress their fading power and authority by restoring multipolarity via the only mechanism available to them: the ties that bind in the United Nations. This is the real story behind the story: Other nations using the UN as a tool or a prop as they seek their own national interests. But just like the "dog bites man" story never makes it to the front page, nations pursuing their interests are neither new nor shocking. 12:54:51 PM

UN investigating claims Kassams transported in UN vehicle [Jerusalem Post] UN officials said Saturday they are investigating a claim by the Israeli military that Palestinian terrorists transported a rocket in a vehicle with UN markings, but accused Israel of having made false allegations in the past. On Friday, the IDF released video footage taken from an unmanned aircraft, or drone, flying over the Jebalya refugee camp. The blurred black-and-white video showed three men walking toward the U.N. vehicle, including one who carried an elongated object. The army said the object was a rocket. Peter Hansen, the head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Saturday that "we are doing our best to see what the basis for the allegations is," and that U.N. ambulance drivers were being questioned. 10:09:00 AM