xrtoronto,
Thanks, I respect your opinion as well. It's wouldn't be a free country without dissention. However, dissention for it's own sake is not necessarily a good thing. Just as the "nothing is worth war" crowd would quickly find their freedoms taken away.
Before you start spouting the "Greatness" of the UN, you need to examine its record and get the ground truth from the people it's attempted to help.
The UN is great in concept but falls extremely short in action. Just ask the survivors of Bosnia about the effectiveness of the UN?
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/icons/survivors.html Only when the United States began pushing and pushing the hand wringing European Powers did the bombs start falling on those responsible.
Or talk to the Survivors of Sierra Leone about the greatness of the UN effort.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/...eone/html/1.stm Talk to the Italians, who compromised their friends for their own personal safety in Somalia. Yes after the Pakistani's were ambushed the Commander of the Italian Army contingent cut a deal with Mohammed Farid Adid. In exchange for a guarantee of safety for Italian troops he reported to Adid every move TF Ranger made.
I could go on and on....
What you fail to understand is that the UN pays around 750 US dollars to each soldier on a UN mission every month. The United State turns this money back to the UN but most nations keep it. It does not go to the soldier but rather falls into the Host Nation Government coffers in most cases. Most of these countries have little real interest in these UN missions and their soldiers certainly do not see the point in dying for them. It's a chance to increase your budget for the year and to posture on the Worlds Stage that your country is actually contributing something. Big Political gains which end up meaning nothing or making things worse for those the UN was supposed to help.
The UN is great in theory but for the most part Bankrupt in practice. Unfortunately it's the best thing the world has going for it IF we ever truly do hope to become a world community. Don't be surprised if the United States acts as a sovereign nation when tough decisions the UN is incapable of making or effecting come along. Maybe one day the UN will not be so bankrupt. We are doing everything to see that happens. Maybe Iraq will be the catalyst that wakes the UN up to reform.
Crumpp