Hariri Murder Will Be a Test for the United Nations

Until now, I’ve usually been in the “overhaul dramatically” camp, as opposed to the “scrap now” camp, when it comes to the United Nations. But if Syria gets away with the murder of the former Prime Minister of Lebanon with facing serious international sanctions, I’ll be ready to declare the whole institution to be completely incompetent (as opposed to almost completely incompetent) as the arbiter of world affairs it seeks to become. As usual, John Bolton adds needed clarity (via the NY Times):

John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador, said the report required a “strong follow-up” from the Council’s members.

The Security Council is scheduled to take up the report, written by a German prosecutor, Detlev Mehlis, on Tuesday. In his report, Mr. Mehlis said the killing was carried out by “a group with an extensive organization and considerable resources and capabilities.” The report said that “there is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act.”

Syria’s ambassador, Fayssal Mekdad, dismissed the report on Friday as politically motivated and not credible. He said that Damascus had offered full cooperation. Mr. Bolton, who termed Mr. Mekdad’s denials “ridiculous,” accused Syria of failing to cooperate with the investigators, which, he said, was “diplospeak for obstruction of justice.”

The reaction to the Hariri report will be an opportunity–perhaps the last–for the United Nations to demonstrate its capacity to act against a serious international crime for which strong evidence of guilt exists. I’ve never been more dubious about the whole U.N. experiment than I am today. Do we really trust an institution this unaccountable, valueless, and corrupt to regulate the Internet and the movies we watch?