The failure of the UN

Perhaps that should read "failures," because the UN has had many. One has to wonder how long the world will continue to put its faith in this incompetent body:

There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the cease-fire as the U.N. pleaded for nations to send troops to an international force in southern Lebanon that is to separate Israeli and Hezbollah fighters.

Look, I'm not one who says that the UN is completely useless. I just think that the world has a misplaced faith in it and out of line expectations for what its capabilities. It is useful in that it can be a central, formal location for international diplomatic efforts during times of minor crisis. Unfortunately, it will always be an organization of lowest common denominators, and that will always serve to undermine it. It will also never be able to effectively enforce anything it resolves unless the actions in question are championed by major nations that are willing to put their young men where their mouths are.

The defiencies of the UN have become more and more glaring since the Gulf War came to an end. History may well look back and ask why we put so much faith in an organization that at best could not halt the march to war, and at worst contributed to it.