TIME FOR THE U.N. TO PUT UP OR SHUT UP:

Bush to Warn U.N.: Act on Iraq or U.S. Will (DAVID E. SANGER and JULIA PRESTON, September 12, 2002, NY Times)

President Bush plans to challenge the United Nations today to enforce resolutions it has passed since 1991 requiring Iraq to "unconditionally accept" the destruction of its chemical and biological weapons and nuclear research facilities, according to administration officials. He will warn that if the United Nations fails to act, the United States will step in to force Iraqi compliance. [...]

According to the text of his remarks, Mr. Annan, using carefully general terms, shares the misgivings of the Germans and others about the United States' acting on its own on Iraq.

Even for a major power, "choosing to follow or reject the multilateral path must not be a simple matter of political convenience," he says.

He adds that "when states decide to use force to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations." The "primary criterion for putting an issue on the Council's agenda" should be "the existence of a grave threat to world peace," he says.

At one point Mr. Annan presents the issue in personal terms.

"I stand before you today as a multilateralist," he says early in his comments, "by precedent, by principle, by charter and by duty."

"Unique legitimacy"? What legitimacy can an organization claim which allows Communist China a Securitry Council seat while refusing admittance to the democratic state of Taiwan? Posted by Orrin Judd at September 12, 2002 9:22 AM