The 62nd General Assembly of the United Nations commenced last Tuesday, and the finger-pointing began almost immediately.
That’s the problem. Bickering and accusations from world powers obstruct the U.N.’s primary goals: peacekeeping, economic development, social progress and human rights. Ring any bells? These values were established after World War II to prevent such an outbreak from ever happening again.
The pouting of stubborn dictators should not be the concern of such a truly global enterprise. Even so, President Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pestered the Assembly with their inflammatory presentations. Bush’s rant and Ahmadinejad’s rebuttal mostly just pissed off and polarized those they discussed, which was mostly each other.
Bush went first. After calling for the world’s cooperation in aiding the impoverished and the destitute, he submitted a naughty list of violent dictators. Personal stamps of American disapproval were distributed with about as much logical progression as late-night orders at BK. His “brutal” regimes included Syria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, North Korea and Belarus.
The Cuban foreign minister stormed out in protest, later calling the President’s remarks an “infamous tirade.” This is at the very least an improvement from last year’s assembly, when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez compared Bush to Satan.
Ahmadinejad spoke a few hours later. Bush, as an additional snub, missed the presentation to attend other meetings. The New York Times reported that the only person spotted in the otherwise empty American delegates’ seats during his address was a note taker.
Ahmadinejad frequently referenced the United States in his speech. He accused the U.S. of “setting up secret prisons,” “trials and secret punishments without any regard to due process” and “extensive tapping of telephone conversations.”
“Some powers sacrifice all human values, including honesty, purity and trust, for the advancement of their goals,” Ahmadinejad said. Maybe it was good that Bush wasn’t around.
The last thing the world needs is a public display of animosity at the one location where everyone’s supposed to be on the same team. Granted, America and Iran both occupy prominent places in global affairs, but their problems are not the world’s only problems. There are 190 other nations represented at the U.N. with equally serious issues.
Two-thirds of the 192 members are developing countries. Two-thirds of the U.N., with a wildly disproportionate percentage of the world’s wealth and resources, are forced to suffer the ramblings of bloodthirsty politicians keen on image and legacy.
Next year, can we hear opening remarks by the representatives from El Salvador and Sierra Leonne? Next assembly, can we start off on the right foot towards peace?