At the time we were trying to get a resolution on Iraq through the Security Council, the membership consisted of China, France, Russia, the UK, the U.S., Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Germany, Guinea, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, and Syria.

Of these, China is a totalitarian nation. Russia? Who knows? France--the veto--was hauling in cash from Iraq. Pakistan was at the time actively engaged in secretly developing nuclear arms for radical Arab nations, and Syria (another totalitarian nation), even as it was voting on our resolutions, was illegally arranging arms shipments to Iraq.

Do you see the problem?

Turning over control of our foreign policy to the U.N. would be like 1920s Chicago putting Al Capone's gang on the city council. Or the police force.

Many people harbor an idealized illusion of the U.N. in their minds that has little to do with the reality.

And when the truth comes out about the oil-for-food program, it isn't going to improve things.

While there may be a place for an international assembly to decide international issues, the U.N., as it currently stands, ain't it.