It amazes me how the UN Council can so easily draft a resolution to sanction Iran for its nuclear ambitions, while at the same time taking such a great deal of time to have Israel make some concessions to the world body over the war in Lebanon.

I used to think that the United Nations was a body made up of diplomats who sought to bring about justice and peace in our world. But I am beginning to think that it is nothing more than a group of over-paid bureaucrats who do nothing but get fed by powerful people and interest groups.

Lebanon has been brought to its knees, and the nation has lost its right to protect and oversee its territory; not because of Hezbollah, as we are so often told by the American press, but because a neighbouring nation has decided of its own accord to remove people who do not agree with its worldview!

The UN stood, and still remains, idle while the nation, Lebanon, is being thrashed, over and over, with bombs and bullets. Lebanon’s airspace is now its neighbour’s airspace; its neighbour is free to fly spy planes, bombers, jets, missiles and any other object that it wishes over the territory that was once thought to be sovereign.

When will the UN put some muscle in its diplomacy and not let the powerful take full advantage of the ones that are so much weaker?

I believe that it is time to take a hard look at this world body. Why is its office situated where it is? Would it not be much fairer and productive to have the UN office located in some other country, one which is much more neutral? Should not the voice of the UN be the voice of all nations and not just of one or two who are powerful enough to sway its other members?

Let us hope that after the resolution of the Middle East crisis, the UN begins to look internally at some of the problems which it is facing. Let the UN be, once more, a proud body, representing all of humankind!

Carm Caruana

Toronto, Ontario

Canada