New U.N. Chief: Wants Good Relationship With U.S. But Not At Expense Of All Others

I really like what Kofi Annan's replacement as United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, had to say this week re: the Bush empire and the U.N.'s role with all other players. From Reuters:

New U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Tuesday for a strong partnership with Washington but said this must not be at the expense of others, regardless of the size or wealth of a member state.

In his first meeting with President Bush since becoming head of the world body, Ban said he hoped the United States would provide strong financial and political support to the world body.
But he said in a speech to a Washington think-tank that a "constructive partnership" with the United States could not exclude other U.N. member nations.

"Every one of our member states has the right to be heard, whatever the size of its population or its pocketbook," he told the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Nor can our partnership flourish in a climate of fear and mistrust," he added, a reference to tensions in recent years between the Bush administration and the world body, particularly following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Before Bush, many of the wildly right wingers like Jesse Helms made it clear they considered the U.N. America's bitch. Since Bush, there has been a major effort to transform the U.N., if it won't just play Charlie McCarthy to Cheney's Edgar Bergen, into a non-entity.

I think the U.N. has more value than the U.S. gives it credit for and that it is a serious mistake to try to invalidate it here and in the rest of the world.