Some "ifs" are easier than others.

Over the past years, the United Nations has provided a stupendous amount of evidence on how it handles peacekeeping operations. It does not require a brain the size of a planet to deduce that they would have not done as good a job as U.S. Marines and others are doing, and odds are pretty good that they would have fled Iraq after the first few casualties.

This, of course, is even assuming they could have been convinced to come in in the first place.

Damn straight nobody could have done better than the U.S. Unless of course we're talking just leaving Iraq alone and pumping the oil-for-food money to the U.N. and "favored nations."