UN veto power must go

It appears that the U.S. is seeking to gain support from a number of key countries in its financial standoff with the UN.

Bill Richardson, the U.S. representative in the UN, has recently proposed expanding the Security Council by adding five permanent members -- Japan, Germany and one each from Third World countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

But to increase the number of veto-wielding countries will definitely render the world body to be more lethargic than it already is today.

New members will understandably want the veto as well -- both Japan and Germany have argued that given the weight of their financial contribution, they should have the privilege.

We believe that the veto power, rather than given to more countries, should be done away with altogether. Over the past half century, a few countries have used the veto to dictate and shape global affairs. Such a situation has allowed a handful of rogue nations to emasculate the world body.

It is conventional wisdom that the UN was thwarted from discharging its hallowed responsibilities by persistent Soviet vetoes and Third World demagogy. The U.S., so we were told, stood alone against the rest of the world in defending the rule of law.

The U.S. has vetoed some 60 Security Council resolutions. And the Soviets did not figure in second place. That honor goes to Britain which notched up 26 vetoes. France bagged 11 vetoes.

The other two permanent members of the Security Council -- often accused as naysayers -- use their veto rights only sparingly, the Soviet Union with eight vetos and China with one.

The Americans were right on one score. They did stand alone against the international community. In the 1980s, the U.S. vetoed Security Council resolutions over the U.S. invasion of Panama, apartheid in South Africa and Israeli abuses in the occupied territories. More recently, a U.S. veto effectively killed off the declaration that the seizure of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem by Israel was illegal.

The U.S. has often taken upon itself to export democracy around the world. Perhaps it should.

-- The Nation, Bangkok