The Role of the United Nations

Article today by Bob Herbert at the New York Times talking about what role the UN should play. He disagrees with the administrations plan to use the Military to disburse aid, and their excessive control over relief organizations. Perhaps President Bush and his administration would like to ensure that the United States receives credit for their compassion on the Iraqi people, this program could have disastrous unintended consequences.

Herbert quotes Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children, as saying, "The single most important issue here is let the humanitarian side of the government and nongovernmental world handle the humanitarian response, and let the military handle the military response. If it's seen as one joined-at-the-hip operation, military and humanitarian, then humanitarian workers all over the world will be at risk of their lives because they'll be seen as partisan." Hopefully the administration will avoid this particular pitfall as the weeks unfold. It may require a thawing of relations between the United States and the United Nations, as the UN is the most logical group to administer the relief efforts.