- The latest reports indicate that the United States is
trying to buy a U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq by bribing members
of the council, including Russia and France, and cutting them in on oil
deals with a new Iraqi regime. On Meet the Press on September 15th, however,
host Tim Russert suggested a different kind of deal - paying the United
Nations $250 million to get favorable action from the world body. Interviewing
Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russert said, "Would it help us in
the United Nations in terms of negotiations if the U.S. paid the $250 million
we still owe the U.N.?" Powell replied that the U.S. "fully intends
to meet all of its outstanding obligations."
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- Powell is a long-time U.N. booster who believes in the
concept of a so-called U.S. financial "debt" to the U.N. Russert
believes that as well, and his question may have been prompted by ads appearing
in such publications as The Weekly Standard urging the U.S. to fulfill
a "promise" to the world body and pay "overdue U.N. bills."
The Congress passed legislation to pay the money if the U.N. accepted certain
reforms of its operations, such as dropping efforts to promote global taxes
and create a standing U.N. world army.
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- The U.N. hasn't discontinued those efforts, which is
itself a story ignored by the media. But the other part of the debate not
covered by Tim Russert is the substantial number of members of Congress
who didn't believe we had a debt to the U.N. to begin with. Nearly 200
members once voted for Congressman Roscoe Bartlett's "U.N. Erroneous
Debt Act," which asserted that the world body had a financial debt
to the U.S. because of extra U.S. financial contributions to U.N. peacekeeping
operations.
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- Evidence from a report of the General Accounting Office
reveals that, during fiscal years 1996 to 2001, the U.S. directly contributed
an estimated $3.5 billion to support U.N. military operations. Indirect
U.S. contributions that benefitted U.N. peacekeeping were estimated at
$24 billion during this period. Most of that support was taken out of the
Pentagon budget. That's money never credited to the U.S. account at the
U.N. by a world body that accused America of being a "deadbeat"
nation in paying our so-called "dues." The GAO said the largest
U.S. contribution was to the U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission to deter
Iraqi aggression. This cost DoD an estimated $6 billion from 1996 through
2001.
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- Russert apparently forgot that we still have 37,000 troops
in South Korea. They are there under U.N. Security Council Resolutions
dating back to 1950, by which the United States leads the United Nations
Command.
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- South Korean financial support for U.S. troops has reached
more than $700 million annually. But it is estimated that the U.S. also
spends between $13 billion and $20 billion annually to defend South Korea
[on behalf of the U.N.] The U.N. doesn't pick up a dime. Next time, Tim
Russert should take note of all of the facts before claiming the U.S. is
stiffing the U.N. financially.
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- Reed Irvine can be reached at ri@aim.org
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