spynverzyon

Firstly, the benefits of the oil food programme and how it helped Iraqi children:
http://www.un.org/News/dh/iraq/oip/human_relief.htm

“UN’s extreme secrecy about the program’s finances”

THe US had US reps on the committee that reviewed every single oil for food transaction. So we can say that the UN i.e. US, UK, and the other security council members failed to take action to amend oil for food. I dont deny they were all culpable.

The UN is accountable to the Security Council and the GA. The later reflects the world as it is, which is not ideal but is realistic. Replacing the UN with a league of democracies might be an option, but bear in mind that the opposition to the Iraq invasion came from other democracies (France, Germany) so that would not have helped the US prior to the invasion.

Your point about the UN providing cover as a scape goat for countries who do not want to take action is very very correct i.e. Rwanda, where the US and the West did not want to take action, they could blame it on the UN.

“I would agree that U.S. foreign policy has sometimes gone astray”

This is true, but then you cite the cause as Baker and Schultz and not Bush and the neo-cons it made me laugh out loud, thanks for the light relief:)

In summary, the UN is an imperfect organisation, but the world needs an international body to address international issues. And remember, outside of the US the vast majority of peoples and countries want and appreicate the work of the UN. And coming from a democratic country i am sure you will agree that the majority view counts.