Can we stop pretending the UN serves a purpose now?

Michelle asked me a two tier question on the North Korean issue, so I thought I’d do my best to oblige her.

First of all, my general opinion:

I must say, I didn’t think Kim Jong I| was stupid/crazy enough to launch any missiles. Apparently, I was wrong. However, it’s starting to look like that maybe it wasn’t so stupid or crazy after all. Now that the initial indignation has passed, it looks like they might actually get away with it.

Any time a matter is referred to the security council of the ‘United’ Nations, it’s a pretty safe bet that the outcome is going to be totally impotent and ineffective. To wit, China only wants to issue a ‘presidential statement,’ which is the international equivalent of a slightly irritated letter. Non-binding, non-threatening, non-important. It doesn’t even qualify as a slap on the wrist, as there is no slapping. It’s pretty much just telling North Korea that they did a naughty thing and they better feel guilty about it. Totally worthless. I might as well do it on my blog. It’d be just as effective.

At any rate, to its credit, Japan is actually considering a military strike on North Korea. I say go for it. Incidentally, Japan is also backing a UN Resolution that would threaten sanctions against North Korea. It originally actually imposed sanctions against North Korea, but they’ve since backed off because China and or Russia would likely veto such a measure.

Not that sanctions are a good idea anyway. They’re not. Forgive me if I’m not impressed by the idea of imposing sanctions on a nation that has already had a few million people die of starvation and already deals more on the black market than the legit economy. Sanctions aren’t going to do anything except starve more people.

In my humble but accurate opinion, the only way to solve this crisis is to topple the regime and start over. Granted, not many people are too keen on this idea -- particularly China -- because such a scenario would lead to tens of millions of refugees flooding into China, causing a ‘humanitarian crisis.’

I find it curious that it’s only when they cross into China that these people constitute a ‘humanitarian crisis.’ They’re already starving at the hands of a maniacal dictator who spends more on the military than feeding his citizens. That sounds like a crisis to me. But hey, I suppose as long as they stay on their side of the border, China shouldn’t have to worry about it.

On a bit of a side note, I think this is a little tongue-in-cheek diplomacy by President Bush. After five years of being told he doesn’t use enough diplomacy, he’s saying ‘Alright, you want diplomacy? Here you go.’

I don’t expect anything meaningful to come out of the UN, but I don’t expect it to happen for a while. That is to say, it’s going to be a while before we realize that we wasted our time. (And just think, these are the same people dealing with Iran, too! Hooray!)

This is a real test for the UN. And as I totally expected, they’re completely blowing it. If they don’t deal with this crisis effectively, they’ll lose, or at least should lose, any remaining shred of credibility they might still have. Not that I would be horribly upset by that, but I’d rather not have to fight a war to expose the UN’s impotence.

I would, however, be thrilled if Japan happened to send a few bombs into Korea. But I’m not holding my breath for that, either.

Michelle also asked why we’re so indignant toward North Korea but don’t get upset when India tests missiles. Well, since it’s after 2:00 am and I actually have stuff to do tomorrow, I’ll give the short answer. Which is essentially: India is a stable democracy that isn’t using its nuclear program to threaten anyone (with the possible exception of Pakistan.) North Korea is a propped-up communist dictatorial regime headed by a clinically insane pervert with delusions of grandeur. One of these can be trusted with nuclear weapons, the other needs a hardy beating. It’s just a shame that they’re probably not going to get it.