Demagogue

Apparently, the new report on Iraq's "Oil for Food" program does not make the UN look very good and the head of the program, Benon Sevan, comes out looking rather corrupt.

Of course, Republicans see this as just another example of the inherent worthlessness of the UN

Illinois Republican Rep. Henry J. Hyde, who heads the House International Relations Committee, said, "I am reluctant to conclude that the U.N. is damaged beyond repair, but these revelations certainly point in this direction."

Since the day Bush took office, Republicans have disparaged the UN as an incompetent and feckless organization dedicated to little more than undermining the United States.

That may or may not be true, but I found this interesting

U.N. officials indicated last night that Mr. Sevan, who retired in November after 40 years with the United Nations, would be stripped of his diplomatic immunity as early as next week and vowed that he and others would not be shielded from national prosecutions.

Obviously it remains to be seen whether Sevan will be held accountable for his actions, but can you imagine the Bush administration ever taking a step like this in a similar situation?

No high ranking officials have been held accountable for the pre-9/11 intelligence failures. No high ranking officials have been held accountable for the massive intelligence failures before the war in Iraq. No high ranking officials have been held accountable for the abuse of prisoners in Iraq. Nobody in this administration has been held accountable for anything. And the probability that Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Tenet, Rice, Cheney or any of the others will ever be held accountable for their failures and/or corruption is next to zero.

Perhaps once the GOP starts holding its own administration accountable for its incompetence, then they will have the moral standing to criticize the UN. But until then, it is just meaningless hackery.