La République des Bananes

Kofi Annan tries to explain away France and Russia's Oil for Food wrongdoing.

Claudia Rosett has been doing stand up work on the Oil for Palaces scandal at the UN. Here she brings us another article which looks at the way in which the tendency of the UN to house banana republics which are rife with corruption lends itself to exactly this kind of problem. When the rule of law is absent, as it is in so many countries around the world, how can we expect them to abide by agreements which civilized countries require? The simple fact of the matter is that some countries, like some individuals, are more honest than others. And honesty is one of the most important criteria one uses when deciding how much responsibility another can be allowed to wield. The UN has proved that responsibility and honesty are things which it does not have.