The UN features the first two letters of unko

[Greji]

I was putting together a presentation for a project and needed some background UN material and while doing the searches I got side tracked by Kofhi's Israel speech and other topics. So I started looking back at various things that had been referred to the UN and tried to find something that they had actually accomplished. I mean actual accomplishments in the terms of peace, successful programs, something that did not turn out wrong or bad and you know what, there ain't much.

Since I am a Vietnam vet, one thing that caught my eye as listed in "The Australian", is what the UN had not got around to doing in Cambodia. Khmer Rouge leader Ta Mok has died before the UN backed war crimes tribunal could get around to prosecuting him for a couple of deaths. A couple of million to be precise. Two Million Deaths!!!

Some excerpts from this articleare as follows:

"....Justice denied as Khmer Rouge butcher dies
July 22, 2006
PHNOM PENH: Former Khmer Rouge leader Ta Mok, known as "The Butcher", has died before his expected trial for the genocide of up to two million Cambodians under the brutal regime. He was believed to be 80 years old.
Ta Mok, a military commander notorious for his brutality, became the communist Khmer Rouge's last leader before the movement disintegrated in 1998 after years of infighting and bloody purges. The only rebel who refused to surrender or strike a deal with the Government, Ta Mok was arrested a year later along the Thai border...."

"....He was expected to be the first person indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity in a Khmer Rouge tribunal that opened earlier this month and could have been a key witness against other former regime leaders.

"We have learned ... that a key resource of information has passed away," tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath yesterday...."

This man was one of a couple of leaders that killed over two million of their own countrymen and all the UN rep can say is that a key resource as passed away! As the UN continues to work its prompt and meaningful magic on such an "insignificant" case like this case, one can only suppose where they might lead us in the future? I mean it has only been thirty years since the Khmer Rouge were toppled. I suppose we should not expect the UN to rush into these important matters. I mean according to GJ they are the solution to all our worldly problems. How long to get Saddam to act? How long to get Hezbollah out of Lebanon?

[Mulboyne]

The main reason that the tribunals have taken so long is that the US wasn't on diplomatic terms with Vietnam and, by extension, the Vietnam-backed Cambodian regime. That changed with the 1991 Paris peace deal. The UN wasn't asked to get involved until 1999 and it looks like they've got a pretty thankless task.

[Greji]

The UN wasn't asked to get involved until 1999 and it looks like they've got a pretty thankless task.

Not really, they just wait a bit longer and all their work will be as dead as Pol Pot, Ta Mok et al.

[Socratesabroad]

This man was one of a couple of leaders that killed over two million of their own countrymen and all the UN rep can say is that a key resource as passed away! As the UN continues to work its prompt and meaningful magic on such an "insignificant" case like this case, one can only suppose where they might lead us in the future?

While I understand your frustration (and heartily support Israel in their decline of an offer of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon- 'the terrorists'll just hide behind 'em'), I also understand the difficulty of attempting to put the Khmer Rouge (and specifically its top staff) on trial and find them legally responsible, at least at a level that would likely be held up in a Western court.

Reason being, some of the top wankers are feigning ignorance of atrocities (what killing fields?!?) or, in cases like the one below, claiming subordinates ran amok all by their lonesome

Pol Pot's No. 2 says he didn't order killings
07/19/2006

PAILIN, Cambodia--The man once dreaded as Pol Pot's Brother No. 2 said recently that he did not order any of the atrocities that led to the annihilation of almost a quarter of his countrymen.

He also maintained the ultra-Maoist revolutionaries had good ideas, but they were sabotaged by traitors.

Nuon Chea, the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge, is likely to stand trial for crimes against humanity in the first internationally recognized tribunal of Khmer Rouge leaders, planned for next year.

He has spoken repeatedly to interviewers in recent years, and consistently maintained he did not order any atrocities.
[snip]

Nuon Chea acknowledged that as a leader he was responsible--to some degree.

"If the people faced hardship as a result (of our regime's policies), I feel responsibility as one of the leaders of the regime. I'm sorry for that," he said.

Yet, he said, "Legal responsibility is a different problem."

When the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975, they emptied the cities of people, abolished commerce, executed thousands of class "enemies," and began a program of collectivized agriculture loosely modeled on Mao Tsetung's calamitous Great Leap Forward.

"Our ideals were independence of our country, unity of the people and social justice," Nuon Chea said. "In order to realize those ideals, it was necessary to combine the power of farmers and that of intellectuals."

Concerning forced labor and starvation, he said, "They took place against the will of our regime. We had enough food for our people. Overwork was unnecessary. But some evil-minded people destroyed our plans by depriving the people of their food. Our regime's policies were basically correct."

As the paranoid regime began collapsing in on itself, untold thousands of people accused of being traitors were tortured and then clubbed to death at the "killing fields" that are scattered around the country.

Asked about his involvement in the killings, Nuon Chea said, "I was not involved in them. I did not know at all about what took place among low-ranking people. If I had known about that, I would have punished them."

[Kuang_Grade]

I believe the UN has been relatively successful in Namibia, although it wasn't massively war torn when South Africa gave up their position there, so it not like they were starting from scratch...but that doesn't necessarily balance out massive UN failures in places like Srebrenica 11 years ago, when Dutch UN troops rolled over to Serb troops looking to ethnically cleanse the town...or East Timor more recently

The UN does better on softer things like health care issues such as immunization programs.