Good stuff.

If you want a great book that shows how completely incompetent, or even corrupt, the UN is, read "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda" by Philip Gourevitch.  Amazing account of the Hutu-Tutsi conflict and French/UN reaction to it.

I like how it justifies Bush, flip-flopping for him: "It's not about WMD's, it's about the top-to-toe corruption of the entire international system by Saddam Hussein."  We're never told what "It" is supposed to be.  I'm guessing perhaps the war?  Thus, preparing the next flip-flop.  I hate this vague political writing.  

Supposing the "thesis" that the UN is too corrupt for us is correct, how does it then follow that we're supposed to abandon international forum?  The last time we did that, we soon had to pay for it with a World War.  If the UN is too corrupt, why not come up with a different international forum to replace it?  

Remember, the UN itself was the successor of the League of Nations.  If the US abandons the world again, and the consequences are as grave as the first time, it will be twice in  that it has made the same error.    

I'm taking the article's advice.  I've downloaded the report, but, otherwise, the link is worthless.

... next thing you know, we will find out the UN is as bad as Congress legislating tax policy.  

Let me try to put things in simple turms.  The UN is especially good at one thing -- international sanctions.  If your kid screws up, you can beat hell out of them or you can send them to their room.  The first alternative feels satisfying but has lots of bad consequences.  The second alternative often works better than the first.  It may not stop you and your spouse from having an argument about it and somebody may sneak the kid in a sandwich.  

Grow up!  This is a (badly) coordinated effort by people with lots of different agendas and many different ways of looking at the world.  It will never work perfectly.  That does not mean you dump it.

Affectionately,  Harry