Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named leading women's rights advocate Noeleen Heyzer of Singapore, who is also the former Qatari ambassador to the United States, to head up the Bangkok-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Ms. Heyzer was the "the first executive director from the South to head the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), where she has worked to promote women's empowerment and gender equality."

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Yakin Erturk, the special rapporteur on violence against women for the UN Human Rights Council, was dispatched to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a ten-day fact finding mission. Evidence of the sexual violence she encountered, which she described as "far beyond rape," was widespread--and absolutely sickening.

"Women are gang raped, often in front of their families and communities. In numerous cases, male relatives are forced at gun point to rape their own daughters, mothers or sisters," she said.

After rape, many women were shot or stabbed in the genital area, and survivors told Erturk that while held as slaves by the gangs they had been forced to eat excrement or the flesh of their murdered relatives.

Widespread sexual abuse in the various conflicts racking the republic -- which last year held elections hailed as marking a new era -- "seems to have become a generalized aspect of the overall oppression of women," Erturk said.

Not surprisingly, the local governments do little or nothing to punish the perpetrators, despite laws on the books. Read Professor Ertuk's full statement about sexual violence in DRC.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has hailed Rwanda's abolition of capital punishment.

"Abolition in Rwanda sends a very strong message," Ms Arbour said. "A country that has suffered the ultimate crime and whose people's thirst for justice is still far from quenched has decided to forego a sanction that should have no place in any society that claims to value human rights and the inviolability of the person. Rwanda is demonstrating leadership by action."

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Actor Ewan McGregor, a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador, is riding his motorcycle from northern Scotland to the southernmost tip of Africa in an effort to raise awareness surrounding children's issues.

McGregor, along with fellow actor Charley Boorman will make several stops in countries along the way.

This is not the first lengthy ride for the two friends: their first long-distance biking trip – called Long Way Round – was in 2004, where they rode from London to New York, stopping to participate in UNICEF projects in Mongolia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan along the way.

On this recent trip, Mr. McGregor and Mr. Boorman have met with children who have lost limbs to landmines in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. After a two-year displacement due to the 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea war, hundreds of thousands of people returned to Tigray to find their homes, lands and schools heavily mined.

"Educating children about landmines is so vital for children's futures...With landmines and unexploded ordnance lying in homes, fields, rivers and schools in Ethiopia and other countries, I can really see how UNICEF's Mine Risk Education is an essential life-saving intervention," said McGregor.

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Secretary General Ban ki Moon visited San Francisco yesterday to pay homage to the city that gave birth to the United Nations and also see, first-hand, some of California's cutting edge efforts to fight global warming. But before Ban meets with Governor Schwarzenegger later today, he had a personal stop to make. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

...as soon as his airplane lands at San Francisco International Airport, Ban's first order of business will be to visit Libba Patterson, 90, of Novato, whose family hosted him on his first visit to the United States more than four decades ago.

"San Francisco is a place close to my heart," Ban told reporters at a news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York last week. "I was a young foreign exchange student in the Bay Area a long, long time ago in 1962. The kind lady who opened her home to me lives just across the (Golden Gate) bridge. I cannot wait to see her."

Later today, Ban and Gov. Schwarzenegger will tour a Silicon Valley firm that has pioneered technology to make homes and businesses more energy efficient.

You probably don't recognize his name, but you have seen his work. In the 1940's Donal Mclaughlin headed of the Graphics Division of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the World War II-era precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. Among other things, McLaughlin helped design visual presentations for use in the Nuremburg Tribunals and even designed the courtroom itself. His most famous design was also produced in the wake of World War Two.

Via Design Observer, a blog about graphic and architectural design, comes the fascinating story of how McLaughlin created one of the most universally recognizable symbols: the United Nations emblem.

The US State Department announced its intention to convene the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco in June 1945, and the OSS's Presentation Branch was asked to create displays, certificates, maps and guides for the delegates, and one seemingly modest thing."It was my good fortune," McLaughlin told me, "to be assigned the problem of designing a lapel pin for Conference identification." He went through dozens of designs, struggling with the challenge of accommodating a suitable image with the conference's name, date and location, all in a one and one-sixteenth diameter circle. His solution was what McLaughlin describes as "an azimuthally equidistant projection showing all the countries in one circle," flanked by crossed olive branches. It appeared not only on the delegate's pins, but was stamped in gold on the cover of the United Nations Charter. On June 26, the Charter was signed by delegates of fifty nations, and the United Nations was established. Donal McLaughlin, without fully intending to, had designed its emblem.

Today, July 26, 2007, is McLaughlin's 100th birthday. And after a century on this earth he remains an idealist, "I still believe that the UN is really our only hope for world peace," he tells Design Observer.

Happy Birthday, Donal Mclaughlin. Keep up the good work!

Jane Holl Lute, Officer-in-Charge of the Department of Field Support--which works with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)--says that investigating misconduct allegations against peacekeepers is a high UN priority.

"We are not turning a blind eye to any activity anywhere," said Lute. "When investigations are conducted and it is demonstrated that the allegations are founded, we will take action."

The UN has imposed a zero-tolerance policy against sexual abuse and exploitation in response to numerous allegations of peacekeeping misconduct.

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From the UN News Center:

The United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) and the National Electoral Commission have finished training nearly 50 district officers, ahead of next month's presidential and parliamentary polls in the once war-torn West African nation.

The three-day training focused on polling and counting procedures for the 11 August elections, which are widely regarded as a watershed in democratic development for a country that is still recovering from an 11-year long civil war.

More.

From the UN News Center:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today sent a letter to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands inviting the country's Government to consider hosting the Special Tribunal on the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

In a statement released by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban voiced hope that the Dutch Government "will give serious consideration to the request."

The Secretary-General's letter stressed the fact that the Netherlands already hosts several courts and tribunals, such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Read more.

The rainy season is about the hit Chad, where 200,000 people live in internally displaced persons camps. Rain means mosquitoes. And for people living in squalid camps, that means malaria and possible death.

The situation is dire, but you can help. Nothing But Nets, a grassroots organization that sends insecticide treated bed nets to Africa, has launched an emergency appeal to send 40,000 bed nets to internally displaced persons camps in Chad in six weeks. The nets cost ten dollars each, and are suited to protect a family of four. Consider helping out. As they say: send a net, save a life.

From the UN News Center:

Acting on the findings of an internal investigation conducted by the United Nations Mission in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) which revealed serious allegations of widespread sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers there, the world body has suspended the contingent concerned, a spokesperson announced today.

The UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is currently conducting a full investigation, but the UN has decided to suspend the contingent's activities and has cantoned the unit within its base, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.

"The United Nations reiterates its zero tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and abuse and stresses its determination to work with our troop and police contributing countries to ensure that all UN personnel are held accountable to the highest standards of behaviour," she said.

These are obviously very serious allegations. You can read more about the UN's zero tolerance policy on sexual abuse and watch Assistant Secretary General Jane Holl Lute discuss how the UN responds to allegations of sexual abuse among peacekeepers.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad pens an op-ed in the New York Times today outlining a potential role for the UN in Iraq:

In Iraq, the United States supports a larger United Nations role because we believe that with the right envoy and mandate it is the best vehicle to address the two fundamental issues driving the crisis in Iraq.

First, the United Nations has unmatched convening power that can help Iraq's principal communities reach a national compact on the distribution of political and economic power. In the role of mediator, it has inherent legitimacy and the flexibility to talk to all parties, including elements outside the political process.

[snip]

Second, the United Nations is also uniquely suited to work out a regional framework to stabilize Iraq. Several of Iraq's neighbors -- not only Syria and Iran but also some friends of the United States -- are pursuing destabilizing policies. The United States supports a new mandate that creates a United Nations-led multilateral diplomatic process to contain the regional competition that is adding fuel to the fire of Iraq's internal conflict.

Read the whole thing.

From the UN News Center:

The head of the United Nations Independent International Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) probing the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri today reported progress in identifying persons suspected of involvement in the attack

"The consolidation of the Commission's findings across several areas of the Hariri case and in some other cases has helped identify a number of persons who may have been involved in some aspects of the crime," UNIIC Commissioner Serge Brammertz told an open meeting of the Security Council.

More.

Late last night, Russia rejected the final draft of a Security Council resolution on Kosovo. The resolution, sponsored by the US and EU, would essential replace United Nations authority in Kosovo with that of the European Union. While the United States and European Union stress that this is not an automatic road to independence, Russian seems unconvinced. Should the resolution pass, it would mean that Russia would effectively loose its ability to veto any future moves toward Kosovo's independence.

The measure was supposed to come to a vote today, but the threat of a Russian veto may prevent that from happening. Meanwhile, Condoleezza Rice told reporters today that Kosovo will have its independence "one way or another" suggesting that the US and EU might move the debate on Kosovo's future status out of the Security Council.

by former Senator Sam Nunn, Co-Chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative

The gravest danger in the world today is the threat of a nuclear attack.

Whether launched by a state or a terrorist group, a nuclear explosion in a major city could kill hundreds of thousands, close borders, erode civil liberties, slash trade and travel, and change the world as we know it. No country would escape the consequences.

Preventing the spread and use of nuclear weapons should be the top security priority of the 21st century. But this is not something that can be done by any one nation; it has to be done by many nations, working together.

Let me offer an example. Today, as energy needs rise and the pace of global warming increases, more and more nations are interested in using nuclear power to generate electricity.

That could be a good thing -- or it could be very dangerous. The process used to make nuclear fuel can also be used to make the key ingredient of a nuclear-weapon. If every nation that wants to use nuclear power decides to make its own nuclear fuel, the world could see -- over the next decade or so -- dozens of new nations capable of making not only nuclear fuel, but also nuclear weapons.

So how can the world accommodate more nations using nuclear power without creating more nations who can produce nuclear bombs?

There is only one answer: through intensified international cooperation. If nations that already have nuclear know-how can come together to guarantee a supply of nuclear fuel to nations who need it but can't make it, then nations who need nuclear fuel may be persuaded to elect to import it, instead of building the capacity to make it on their own.

That is why The Nuclear Threat Initiative, with Warren Buffett's backing, has pledged $50 million to help build an international fuel bank that will be available as a last-resort fuel reserve for any nation that is meeting their nonproliferation commitments that chooses to rely on international fuel markets rather than choosing to develop their own fuel supply facilities.

It is important that we build such a fuel bank, and the technical and financial means are there to make it possible. What is missing is the collective will to bring about the international cooperation that can make it happen. Cooperation is the essential challenge of 21st century security. Along with well-trained troops, top weapons systems, and effective intelligence services, one of our greatest security assets will be our ability to cooperate with other countries to achieve our common security goals. I believe we are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe - and cooperation is moving forward far too slowly.

We should consider two questions: If, in the years ahead, the world experiences a nuclear catastrophe, what would we wish we had done together to prevent it? Why aren't we doing that now?

During his White House meeting yesterday, Ban ki Moon asked president Bush to personally attend a high-level UN meeting on climate change, scheduled this September in New York.

From UN News:

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today invited United States President George W. Bush to attend a high-level United Nations debate on climate change to be held this fall.

"On climate change, which is a very important issue for all humankind, I appreciate President Bush's initiative, during the Heiligendamm G-8 Summit meeting," Mr. Ban told reporters after his meeting with the US leader in Washington, DC.

You can read President Bush's statement here.

From the AP:

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he will ask President Bush on Tuesday to have a top U.S. official attend a high-level U.N. meeting on climate change in September because "American participation is crucially important."

The secretary-general told a news conference Monday before he headed to Washington to meet Bush that he wants the September meeting to provide "strong political (momentum) and guidelines" for a major meeting in Bali, Indonesia in December on a new global climate pact.

More.

The first, big step towards North Korean disarmament was confirmed by IAEA inspectors today. The plutonium producing facility in Yongbyon is now closed—the result of a diplomatic breakthrough acheived through the Six Party talks in February.

So what does this mean? For one, it shows just how impractical refusing to negotiate with one's enemies can be. From December 2002 to February 2007 -- when direct diplomacy was shunned -- the North Korean government is estimated to have produced enough plutonium for ten nuclear weapons (and of course, actually detonated a nuclear weapon last October.) But more to the point, the recent progress shows that Security Council unanimity, combined with focused regional diplomacy and direct bilateral engagement with the United States can achieve desirable non-proliferation outcomes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has announced that it's reached an agreement with Iranian authorities to allow new inspections and safeguards.

...[I]nspectors will visit the heavy water research reactor at Arak by the end of this month and will also finalize the safeguards approach at the fuel enrichment plant in Natanz early next month, the IAEA said in a press statement issued at its headquarters in Vienna.

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From the White House:

President Bush will meet with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the White House on July 17. The President looks forward to discussing with Secretary-General Ban the many important issues on which the United Nations is engaged, including human rights, international peace and security, humanitarian and development assistance, and U.N. reform. They will also discuss other topics of mutual concern, including international support for Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Darfur crisis in Sudan.

Earlier this week UN Dispatch offered a critique of Megadeth's title track to their new album "United Abominations." The piece got some attention from heavy metal discussion boards, and on the website of Megadeth's record label front man Dave Mustaine responds to our criticisms. "I would rather feel right and be wrong with the semantics or facts in the song...than to feel wrong and be right," writes Mustaine in a lengthy post.

Good for Mustaine to admit he misrepresented facts about the United Nations in his song, even if he still feels them to be true. (There is a word for this by the way.)

Also, to his credit, Mustaine sees the silver lining of this little spat:

"Bottom line is I am stoked to see you all having this discussion about things that matter to us all. What a victory...I dig it when [fans] get to have discussions like this because we all win; we all learn something."

We dig it too. Promoting thoughtful discussions about the United Nations and multilateral diplomacy is what this site is all about.

The global treaty to protect the rights of the estimated 650 million disabled people worldwide could take effect by early next year after Qatar became the 100th country to sign the pact.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will enter into force 30 days after the 20th country ratifies the treaty, but so far only Jamaica has taken the step of ratification.

The UN Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities estimates that the next 19 ratifications could be reached by as early as the end of this year.

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Senator Biden's post now in the Delegates' Lounge will be the last installment of our Post on Peace series, dedicated to a discussion on conflict and its causes broadly defined. Over the last few months, we have hosted commentary by two other legislators, Congressman Donald Payne and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey; academics Stephen Schlesinger, John Prendergast, and Susan Rice; UN officials like the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the former Head of the UNFPA, and two representatives from the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia (link and link); a former U.S. Perm Rep to the UN; and, of course, Mark Goldberg's comprehensive Keeping the Peace series.

It's time to take the banner down, but you can always find the posts in our archives. We hope you've enjoyed the series and will continue to visit UN Dispatch for commentary on conflict and all other matters related to multilateralism and diplomacy.

Without much fanfare, there has been a recent flury of progress toward actual, verifiable North Korean nuclear disarmament. In the latest development, the IAEA announced this morning that a team should be on the ground by Saturday, July 14 to oversee the shutdown of the plutonium producing Yongbyon facility.

So what does this mean for the wider non-proliferation debate? It would seem that Security Council sanctions, backed by regional diplomacy and direct bi-lateral engagement with the United States can coax a country away from its nuclear ambitions.

In February, the six party talks yielded its first breakthrough since North Korea withdrew from the nonproliferation treaty in January 2003. North Korea, incidentally, agreed to return to the six party process only one month after the the Security Council slapped sanctions on North Korea in October 2006. Per the February arrangement, DPRK promised to dismantle the facility at Yongbyon in exchange for a package of food and fuel subsidies. But as the deadline approached in May, Pyonyang balked, demanding that the United States release $25 million in frozen North Korean assets. Then, on June 22 Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill made a surprise visit to Pyongyang to shore up the deal.

This was the first face-to-face meeting with a high level American official in five years. It seems to have helped move things along. Six days later June 28, an IAEA assessment team traveled to the Yongbyon facility to hammer out a technical agreement that would allow the IAEA to oversee its shutdown. This, I should note, was the first time that an IAEA team set foot in North Korea since 2002. Now, by the end of the week, an IAEA North Korean mission will be on hand to verify the closure of Yongbyon. This is progress.

The United Nations Population Fund has chosen "Men as Partners in Maternal Health" as the theme of World Population Day.

UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid says, "Men are equal partners in making the new life that the women will deliver." She added, "Experience shows that male involvement can make a substantial difference when it comes to preserving the health and lives of women and children."

To promote their campaign, the UNFPA is supporting programs worldwide that foster partnership with men in battling maternal health problems and mortality, as well as programs that encourage men to take greater responsibility in the education and well-being of their daughters.

Find out more about the campaign here, and watch a video here.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has called on nations to ensure that strategies to achieve anti-poverty goals be grounded in internationally recognized human rights.

She cited sobering statistics on child mortality, saying it remains "deeply troubling" in parts of Africa, while the number of people dying of HIV and AIDS worldwide increased to 2.9 million in 2006. In addition, sub-Saharan Africa is presently not on track to achieve any of the global anti-poverty targets, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), she noted.

"The disturbing midpoint snapshot must serve as a call to action on behalf of us all...Despite progress in some areas and in some parts of the world, it appears that governments are not honouring the commitments they have made."

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Last summer, UN Dispatch learned that the heavy metal band Megadeth was recording an album titled "United Abominations," which featured cover art depicting a 9-11 style attack on the UN building in New York. Naturally, we thought it distasteful in the least. But without hearing the album, we reserved final judgment. Until now.

The album was released in late May. But not being much of a Megadeth fan, I forgot to pencil the release date into my calender. Still, we at UN Dispatch refuse to let Megadeth's witless screed go unchallenged. Below the jump is a verse-by-verse response to the album's title track. We listened so you don't have to.

The track begins with a rambling, Limbaugh-esque monologue. The rant hits all the favorite themes of the fanatical right, and is accompanied by a crescendo of heavy guitar riffs that all but drowns out the last few sentences.

Less than five miles from Ground Zero sits an International hotbed, the United "Abominations" as it were. Created to prevent wars and promote peace, it failed to address the most dangerous threats facing the world.

In a mire of hypocrisy, bribes, kickbacks, and corruption, the UN enables terrorism, and ignores sex crimes by its peacekeepers. The UN is where our so-called allies undermine us, and we pay 22% of their tab to host our enemies here at home. Ambassadors from dirt-poor countries enjoy luxurious, tax-free Manhattan lifestyles, turning children into sex-slaves and enjoy Diplomatic immunity. It's a complete and utter disgrace, a blot on the face of humanity, and they get away with it.

Blaming the UN for 9-11 is a new trope, even for conspiracy mongers--and rightly so. It goes without saying that nowhere in the authoritative 9-11 Commission Report is the United Nations cited for enabling the terrorist attacks. Frankly, because of aviation treaties negotiated under UN auspices, procedures to ground all international flights to the United States on September 11 were undoubtedly made easier. Further, the 9-11 Report stresses the need for greater cooperation at the United Nations to strengthen security standards for travel documents. And, as Eric Rosand clearly states in the last UNF Insights, the UN, as the world's platform for international cooperation, is critical to global counterterrorism efforts.

The narrator then accuses the UN of ignoring sex crimes by peacekeepers. You can read the UN's zero tolerance policy on sex crimes here. Essentially, the UN responds by sending peacekeepers home to face prosecution in domestic courts. The United Nations, I should stress, does not have the ability to conduct criminal prosecutions against peacekeepers, but depends on member states to do so.

Finally, the narrator is correct to point out that the United States pays 22% of the operating expenses of the United Nations General Secretariat. He is incorrect, however, in asserting that this funds 'hosting our enemies at home.' Each of the 192 member states pays for its own diplomatic mission to the United Nations. What the United States pays in dues to the United Nations helps funds things like translation services, utility bills, the building's security, and other mundane day-to-day operating expenses necessary to sustain the UN missions around the globe

The heavy guitar riff softens. The song finally begins:

Poverty in their kitchens
Held hostage by oil-for-food
Yet their own plates are full off the fat of their lands
There's no blood on their hands, right Kojo?
They promised to tell the truth
Without leaving a fingerprint, but
They will lose the UN one way or another
The victim, I fear will be us, sisters and brothers

Assuming the antecedent to the pronoun "they" refers to the UN Secretariat, lead singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine (whose voice we now hear) seems to be implying that UN staffers are enriching themselves while the poor in their country suffer. His evidence is the alleged corruption in the Oil-for-Food program, which allowed Saddam Hussein's government to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian items. The rarely stated truth about the Oil-for-Food program is that it did what is was intended to do -- prevent a humanitarian crisis in Iraq while exerting economic pressure on Saddam Hussein and keeping weapons of mass destruction out of his hands.

An investigation of alleged corruption in the Oil-for-Food program, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, found that only one UN staffer, the Cypriot Benan Sevan, had solicited kickbacks from the Iraqi government. He was summarily fired and is now under indictment by a United States federal court. Kofi Annan's son, Kojo, was dragged into the Oil-for-Food witch hunt following accusations that he used personal connections to steer a UN contract to a company that employed him as a consultant. The Volcker investigation cleared Kofi Annan of any wrong doing, and Kojo has never been accused of committing any crimes. In fact, he won a libel lawsuit against a British tabloid which accused him of smuggling Iraqi oil.

The oft-quoted "$13 billion" of corruption actually refers almost entirely to illegal oil smuggling by the Hussein regime. This was supposed to be regulated by members of Security Council (including the United States, which has a veto), not the UN administrators of the Oil-for-Food program.

Here comes the first part of the chorus. Brace yourself.

The UN is right; you can't be any more "un"
Than you are right now, the UN is undone
Another mushroom cloud, another smoking gun

Nice turn of phrase: the 'UN' to 'un' to 'undone.' It gets better. Mustaine invokes two phrases inherently linked to selling the Iraq war to the American people: 'mushroom cloud' and 'smoking gun.' Those lines were the brainchild of Michael Gerson, the president's former speechwriter who is now a columnist for the Washington Post. By warning of 'another mushroom cloud, another smoking gun,' Mustain seems to be implying that the nuclear threat from Iraq was real, or at least as real as the threat from the United Nations.

Actually, he doesn't imply it -- he says it in the very next line:

The threat is real, the Locust King has come
Don't tell me the truth; I don't like what they've done
It's payback time for the United Abominations

This is where things get weird. 'The Locust King' is drawn from the Book of Revelation, Chapter 9. Mustain's decision to use apocalyptic literature found in Revelation is quite, uh, revealing. He seems to be sympathetic to a fundamentalist doctrine known as pre-millenialism, in which an anti-Christ is said to rule the world during a period of tribulation before the messiah (Christ) returns. Some modern day pre-millenialist sects believe that the United Nations (or the Secretary General), is either literally the anti-Christ, or is setting the geopolitical conditions in which the anti-Christ will rise. Mustaine seems to believe this lunacy as well.

Next verse:

A grave and gathering danger
The decision to attack
Based on secret intelligence it'll take years
I fear to undo the failings in Iraq
You may bury the bodies
But you can't bury the crimes only
Fools stand up and really lay down their arms
No, not me, not when Death lasts forever

Again, Mustaine seems to be ascribing pre-Iraq war intelligence failures to the UN. In fact, United Nations weapons inspectors cautioned against American claims that Saddam Hussein had an active weapons program. Hans Blix, the Chief UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq during the pre-war period, even warned that American officials were misquoting his report on the state of the Iraqi WMD programs. The International Atomic Energy Agency also said that Iraq's nuclear weapons capabilities were virtually nil.

Back to the Chorus:

The UN is right; you can't be any more "un"
Than you are right now, the UN is undone
Another mushroom cloud, another smoking gun
The threat is real, the Locust King has come
Don't tell me the truth; I don't like what they've done
It's payback time for the United Abominations

At this point, you can hear French spoken in the background. The only thing I could decifer was, "Nous besoin d'ordre mondial," meaning, "We need global order." This apparently upsets Mustaine, because he launches into a monster guitar solo! Then, Mustaine returns for three repetitions of the chorus. Following that, a radio-style voice over reminiscent of the opening monologue begins, each line punctuated with "there was no UN."

NATO invaded Yugoslavia to end ethnic cleansing, there was no UN

While it is true that the United Nations Security Council never sanctioned the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, it strains credulity to assert there was no UN presence there. The day the bombing campaign was suspended -- when NATO "invaded" -- the Security Council authorized the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Today, the United Nations is responsible for rebuilding the entire region, prosecuting war criminals, and deciding the future status of the tiny province.

The US invaded Afghanistan after 9/11, there was no UN

In fact, the UN has a robust presence in Afghanistan. It convened the so-called Bonn Process that established the Hamid Kharzai government. The UN also organized Afghanistan's historic 2004 elections and continues to provide humanitarian relief, promote good governance, and improve the rights of women.

Saddam Hussein violated 17 UN resolutions; The UN was asked to join the war in Iraq. The US invaded, there was no UN.

I think history speaks for itself. For the record, the "purple finger" elections were organized by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq.

Libya bombed a discotheque in Berlin killing Americans, there was no UN

In 1986, Libyan agents bombed a nightclub in Berlin, killing two US servicemen. President Regan retaliated by bombing two sites in Libya. It is hard to see how this episode is somehow an indictment against the United Nations.

Iran funds Hamas, and attacked the US in the seventies, there was no stinking UN

I think Mustaine may be confusing Hamas for Hezbollah, the Iranian backed militant group in Lebanon. Agents of Hezbollah bombed US marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, when the United States and other international forces were part of a UN sanctioned mission to end the bloody Lebanese civil war. Mustaine may also be referring to the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979. In this case, obituaries of the recently deceased UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim noted that securing the release of 14 Iranian-held American hostages in 1981 was one of the most significant achievements of his otherwise unremarkable tenure.

Facing War without end, looking into the future, there (grunt) was
(grunt) no (grunt) more (grunt) UNNNNNNNN!

Only in Mustaine's dystopian fantasies.

by Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Ten years ago, I stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate to introduce a bill, which eventually became known as the "Helms-Biden law", to authorize the payment of nearly $1 billion in back dues to the United Nations. Securing its passage was a hard-fought, but worthwhile, initiative.

Unfortunately, we are again in arrears to the UN. For over a year, we have not been paying our full contribution for its peacekeeping operations -- missions in places like Lebanon, Sudan, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kosovo -- that advance our national interests while sharing the human, political and financial costs of peacekeeping with other nations.

The Peacekeeping arrears -- $117 million to date -- are due to an outdated cap which prohibits the U.S. from paying more than 25 per cent of the United Nations' peacekeeping budget. However, the UN is billing us at just under 27 percent (a reduction from 31 percent, negotiated by U.S. Ambassador Holbrooke in 2000, under the terms of my legislation). If we continue to let the arrears stand, these critical missions could suffer, the nations who have been contributing their troops as peacekeepers might begin to balk at future requests, and our standing to press for further UN reform will be diminished. This is why I introduced a bill to correct the cap problem and pay our arrears, S. 392, which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved on June 27.

Ironically, while our arrears are rising, the importance of UN peacekeeping is rising too. If the UN didn't conduct these missions, we might have to -- at a much higher financial cost and burden on our over-stretched military. Our yearly dues to UN peacekeeping, which support missions in 18 conflict zones, are just over $1 billion -- less than the cost of a week in Iraq, and less than 0.5 percent of our entire Defense budget.

The UN 'blue helmets' are literally on the front lines in conflicts that are the worst of the worst: protecting civilians, monitoring cease-fires, clearing mine fields, and disarming combatants. We vote time and again in the UN Security Council, and rightfully so, to support these critical missions -- and our financial support should be in harmony with our policy. We can not, in good conscience, continue to shortchange these operations.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has urged the United States and others to assist Syria and Jordan, the two countries caring for the biggest proportion of Iraqi refugees.

"It is unconscionable that generous host countries be left on their own to deal with such a huge crisis," UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond said. "We strongly urge governments to step forward now to support them in dealing with this situation and renew our call for international solidarity and burden sharing."

Syria and Jordan have estimated 2 million Iraqi refugees between them.

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Business leaders attending the second UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva adopted a declaration complying with labor, human rights, environmental and anti-corruption standards.

Some 4,000 organizations from 116 countries - among them trade unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and some 3,100 businesses - have so far subscribed to the Global Compact, pledging to observe ten universal principles related to human rights, labour rights, the environment and the struggle against corruption.

The Declaration says, "Poverty, income inequality, protectionism and the absence of decent work opportunities pose serious threats to world peace and markets."

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Writing in the Washington Post, Column Lynch exposes the conundrum raised by Abdul Hakim Monib, an Afghan provincial governor who is at once a key American ally and on a UN list of suspected international terrorists. Monib, you see, was a former Taliban leader who broke ranks in 2002 and joined the government of Hamid Kharzai. But the sanctions list hasn't been updated to reflect Monib's reconciliation with Kharzai, so dealing with him can be somewhat legally troubling.

"This is a perfect case where time has passed, things have changed, but the committee hasn't and the list hasn't," [Eric Rosand of the Center on Global Counter-Terrorism Cooperation said.] "The list is so poorly managed that no one has confidence in it anymore, and nobody puts forward names."

The committee to which Rosand refers is the U.N. Security Council's Al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctions panel, which was formed in 1999. In last month's installment of UNF Insights, Rosand explains why, exactly, the Al Qaeda sanctions list is stale, and what can be done to enhance the UN's counter-terrorism work.

Every year for the past fourteen years Taiwan has applied for membership to the United Nations. Each time the application is denied by China. But now, those seeking to block Taiwain's national aspirations will have rocker Ozzy Osbourne to contend with. The Taiwanese government has teamed with an Ozzy-backed band, ChthoniC, to promote Taiwan joining the 192 other countries in the United Nations General Assembly. In an 80 city, four country tour the Taiwanese goth band will literally sing the virtues of UN membership.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged action on climate change and other concerns in an address to the Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva.

"This Summit is an important opportunity to take our partnership forward - in learning as well as action," Ban said. "Over these two days, we must make an honest appraisal of what the Global Compact has achieved, renew our commitments, and chart a courageous course for the next three years."

The Secretary-General stressed the importance of joint actions to address climate change and announced the planned launch of a Business Leadership Platform on "Caring for Climate" - a joint project with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

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A report leaked to the Associated Press suggests that the IAEA and North Korea have formally reached an agreement on the containment and surveillance of North Korean nuclear facilities. From the AP:

The confidential four-page report said North Korea has agreed to provide International Atomic Energy Agency experts with needed technical information, access and other help needed to shut down North Korea's plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear facility.

The report will be discussed by the agency's 35-nation board and is expected to be approved as early as Monday, paving the way for the beginning of the IAEA mission overseeing the shutdown and eventual dismantling of the Yongbyon facility.

This report from Vienna, plus news stemming from a meeting between Kim Jong Ill and China's foreign minister, seems to confirm a newfound willingness among the North Korean government to cooperate with the international community on nuclear disarmament. Obviously, it is too early to declare victory. But we do seem to be closer to North Korean disarmament than anytime time since 2002, when DPRK withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty and booted IAEA inspectors from North Korea.

It may be opportune, therefore, to recall comments made by detractors of the diplomacy that has led us to this moment. AEI Senior Fellow John Bolton, for example, took to the airwaves last February to excoriate his old bosses for agreeing to a package of incentives to coax North Korea away from its nuclear ambitions. This, said Bolton, was "a very bad deal" that rewarded the reclusive regime. Bolton also took to the Wall Street Journal op-ed page to criticize the release of $25 million of DPRK frozen assets held in a Macau bank.

If we followed Bolton's advice and continued to refuse to engage directly with North Korea, it is almost certain that we would not have reached this important moment. (In fact, we tried that strategy from 2002 to February 2007. And in that time period, the North withdrew from the NPT, kicked weapons inspectors out of the country and successfully detonated a nuclear weapon.)

The great progress we have seen since the February breakthrough seems to prove that constructive engagement with Pyonyang is not only possible, but in fact, is a wise way to reduce the North's nuclear arsenal.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that the world's goals for fighting poverty remain achievable in most countries, but only if urgent and concerted action is taken.

Addressing the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Geneva, Mr. Ban said the mid-point progress report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - which was released today - contained encouraging messages.

"Countries in Africa and elsewhere are demonstrating that rapid and large-scale progress on the MDGs is possible," Mr. Ban said, referring to the set of eight development objectives which world leaders have agreed to work towards by the target date of 2015.

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In a new edition of Blogging Heads TV, Matthew Lee and I discuss a week's worth of news at the United Nations. We have it all covered, from UN peacekeeping funding, to the tragic UNIFIL fatalities, to Somalia. Matthew offers an interesting perspective -- he's someone "on the ground," blogging from the fourth floor of the UN Secretariat every day. While we certainly don't see eye-to-eye on everything, he is an excellent sparring partner. Particularly enlightening to me was our discussion on equipment shortages at UN peacekeeping. Apparently, says Matthew, the truck carrying the Spanish peacekeepers in Lebanon was not equiped with a so-called "frequency inhibitor" which can prevent roadside bombs from detonating. As Matthew says, this is considered a "national issue" and Spain, not the UN, is responsible for providing their soldiers' equipment. Watch the entire dicussion.

According to a new report on the Millennium Development Goals, Asian countries have experienced a significant drop in extreme poverty.

Rapid economic growth has spurred progress in the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger in Asia, where the proportion of people living on a dollar a day has been cut by half, but inequality is also growing in parts of the region, says a United Nations report released today in Bangkok.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report 2007 comes at the midpoint of a 15-year effort to reach those key development objectives that world leaders set at a 2000 UN summit.

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