Will the UN step up in Lebanon?

If the United Nations is to prove that it is good for something…anything, now is the time to prove it in Lebanon. Rather than list the multitude of U.N. failures (which is not difficult – see Sudan, Iraq, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, East Timor, Angola, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel, Columbia), I would simply like to see the U.N. take some immediate action to ensure that the resignation of the puppet Syrian government in Lebanon does not leave a political vacuum. Instead, the U.N. should make supportive statements about Lebanon’s sovereignty and right to free elections and begin to make preparations for democratic elections.

The U.N. now has an opportunity to promote democracy at a critical location in the Middle East. Let’s see how well it peforms. Fortunately, the Bush administration will be pulling the democratic strings if the U.N. does not step up.