EDITORIAL – What now, United Nations?

No matter how evil you think Sad-dam Hussein may be, you can’t help agreeing with his ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Aldouri, who observed: "This is the first time in… history (that) the president of a state ordered the president of another state to leave his own country." Aldouri was referring to the 48-hour ultimatum issued by US President George W. Bush for Saddam to go into exile. "It is a mess," Aldouri said. "We reject totally this madness."

The world has become a mess since Bush issued that ultimatum. The 48-hour deadline ends at a little past 9 this morning. US officials have clarified that the end of the 48 hours would not necessarily mean the start of war in Iraq. The moment of attack would be decided by Bush, commander-in-chief of the world’s lone superpower. And there lies the problem that has brought the world into this mess. The United States has unilaterally decided to attack a sovereign nation in an unprecedented preemptive strike against terror.

In issuing the ultimatum and preparing for war, Bush not only ignored protests even in his own country but also harrumphed and told the United Nations to get out of the Americans’ way. Until yesterday UN members were still scratching their heads, wondering what had hit them, too dazed to react. Several permanent members of the UN Security Council, which had pushed for more time for UN weapons inspectors to finish their job in Iraq, grumbled about American arrogance. But until yesterday there was no indication that anyone would stop the "coalition of the willing" from using force to disarm Iraq and kick out Saddam.

When this armed conflict is over, it’s very likely that the Americans and their staunchest allies the British would renew their commitment to multilateralism and the ideals of the UN. The world, however, will always remember that when America wants to do something and the UN says no, America will just shrug and do it any-way. The community of nations now faces the prospect of the UN slipping into irrelevance and breaking up.