Just Call It the UN's Conference On Dignifying North Korea

If there’s a silver lining to North Korea holding the presidency this month of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, it is that this outrage is focusing some attention on the truth that apart from managing to dignify one of the worst rogue states on the planet, this UN outfit has accomplished virtually nothing in years — except to spend millions in taxpayer money. Over at National Review, the Heritage Foundation’s Brett Schaefer looks at the $4.64 million slated to sustain this Conference for 2012-2013, and draws the reasonable conclusion: It’s time to just scrap the entire outfit.

Of course, the UN being a vast bureaucracy sustained by collective appropriation of other people’s money, shutting down UN gravy trains is no easy job. But one place to start is with truth in advertising. The U.S. Mission to the UN has a new ambassador for UN Management and Reform, Joseph Torsella. If he wants to make do right by his responsibilities, there’s a wide open opportunity for him here: Why not make a pitch to rename the Conference on Disarmament to reflect is real function? — The UN Conference on Dignifying North Korea.