This is not the cure you're looking for
The Freedom Bloggers (tireless defenders of the Bush Administration line) outdid themselves Friday with their twisting of a statement by John O'Shea to further their agenda (see the comments - if they last - for the dissection of the FI post by Jim of Our word is our weapon).
O'Shea's bona fides as a humanitarian concerned with the suffering in Africa are beyond dispute (unlike some others I could mention), and he frequently delivers a needed kick of reality to the backside of governments and well-intentioned (but naive) celebrities. The attempt to contort his words into an attack on the existence on the UN is reprehensible but, alas, entirely predictable, given the politics of those behind it.
The same goes for the claims of Bush apologists that John Bolton - soon to become a recess appointment to the UN by Bush - will bring reform. People should reflect on the reality that the very people in the US pushing this argument are the ones who have deliberately done most over the past decade or more to hobble the UN. It should be beyond dispute that a major US Republican Party goal is to emasculate this body of the international community.
This is not to say that the UN doesn't need reform; far from it. Among other things, there is an urgent requirement to reconstitute the UN Security Council, both to better reflect today's realities of the most powerful nations and to limit the veto, the abuse of which is a primary cause of the UN finding its hands tied.
Would fixing the veto - the most necessary reform of all - find support among certain (right-wing) elements of those professing to have the best interests of the UN at heart? I leave that as a question which answers itself.
Postscript: RTÉ have what looks like an interesting documentary series coming up, on the subject of Irish soldiers serving abroad on UN duties. It's called "Tales from the Frontline", and it begins at 10.35pm on Tuesday 2nd August on RTÉ One.
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