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Iran's Power at the UN

[Forbes] Claudia Rosett - With Iran racing down the homestretch toward a nuclear bomb, the UN Security Council has spent more than two years expressing "serious concern." In flagrant violation of five Security Council resolutions and a chronic abuser of the UN charter, Iran's despotic, terrorist-backing, nuclear-wannabe regime ought to qualify for expulsion from the UN. At the very least, one might suppose that on UN premises, Iran would be something of a pariah. But that's not how it works. Iran's government has the UN so well-wired, in so many ways, that it's hard to find an angle Iran is not busy exploiting. That ought to be of serious concern to President-elect Obama, who has promised to give the UN a far bigger role in U.S. policy. Iran, which pays less than 1/100th of the U.S. contribution to the UN, has wangled itself an astounding array of influential slots, including seats on the governing bodies of at least eight prominent UN agencies. That setup serves both to legitimize the same Iranian regime that is busy violating the UN charter, and gives Iran a say in how billions in UN funds - much of that money supplied by U.S. taxpayers - get spent around the world.
2008-12-12 08:00:00
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