Written by: Beck

Pardon me while I ramble for a bit.

This morning I noticed a trackback to one of my posts and followed it back. David Anderson had written a couple sentences on my Kofi Annan obsession. His point was that Annan isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and I needed to get over it already.

He didn't put it that way--he was entirely polite about it. He's also 100% right. So I began trying to come up with some new ideas. I definitely needed a fresh approach to my UN assault now that the Bush administration has said some nice words about Annan. Not to mention that Annan has flatly announced that he ain't goin' anywhere.

Around that same time, a coworker had just come in from a breakfast run. It's hard to beat greasy hash browns and a bacon, egg, & cheese biscuit for breakfast when you've had hardly any sleep and are feeling the effects of a long night of beer consumption.

So anyway, I hit on the idea to start highlighting the fact that the UN isn't just a corrupt wasteful den of thieves (also known as bureaucrats) who thrive on supporting dictators and spouting anti-American rhetoric. It's a corrupt wasteful den of thieves, etc., etc., who are doing it all by spending your money.

So to kick things off, I decided to find a good photo to illustrate what's going on in various places in Africa while the UN sits around issuing stern warnings.

Over at MSNBC I found a slideshow of photos from Darfur. Pay dirt, thought I, as I reached for the hash browns. So I fired up the slideshow, hit play, and then I saw this picture:



And suddenly I wasn't so hungry anymore.

The United States pays $7 billion--your tax money--to the United Nations each year, roughly a quarter of the United Nations total budget.

Let me make this abundantly clear. You work hard to make money. The government takes some of that money. Then they give some of what they took to the United Nations. Then you get this:



If you'd like to watch the slideshow yourself, you'll get to see pictures of some dead children too.

Clashes continue in Darfur.

[African Union] mediators at peace talks being held in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, gave Sudan and rebel delegates a 24-hour ultimatum Friday to stop fighting by 6 p.m. Saturday or face possible referral to the U.N. Security Council.

That's right. The Sudanese government faces possible referral to the Security Council. I'm sure the Sudanese government is scared. I wonder what this guy thinks:



From a Reuters article today:

The United Nations is expected to release a report on violence in Darfur before the end of January that will probably include names of suspected perpetrators. The report would also evaluate whether genocide has taken place in Darfur, Sudan's western region.

But unless the 15-member Security Council refers the issue to the Hague-based court, there are few alternatives for action, with Russia and China opposing targeted sanctions.

Gee whiz. A report will be issued. Before the end of January. This has been going on since April, incidentally. The report will even evaluate whether genocide has taken place. I'm sure that'll make a difference. Nothing like an evaluating report to rectify, for instance, this:



It's estimated that 70,000 people have died since April. 2 million have been displaced.