Boston Herald

$12 billion in funding to U.N. a waste of taxpayer money

- By Betsy McCaughey Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York

The United Nations is useless. The United States is pouring more than $12 billion a year of our tax money down the U.N. rathole and squanderin­g a better opportunit­y.

The dream behind the U.N.’s founding, to provide an internatio­nal forum for peaceful cooperatio­n and the prevention of war, doesn’t have to be discarded.

America should lead the democratic nations to establish a new forum and junk the U.N.

The U.N. lends legitimacy to ruthless, despotic regimes and even a terrorist organizati­on, Hamas.

The current crisis in Gaza shows the U.N.’s true colors. For years, the U.N. refused to label Hamas what it is — a terrorist organizati­on like ISIS or Al Qaeda. In 2018, then-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley sounded the alarm about Hamas’ plans to attack Israeli communitie­s, even alleging evidence of maps and raid plans. Haley urged the terrorist designatio­n, but the U.N. refused to act.

Last week, U.N. SecretaryG­eneral Antonio Guterres condemned Hamas’ terror attack. But Guterres has also aggressive­ly criticized Israel’s impending invasion of Gaza to rout out Hamas.

That’s no surprise. The U.N. has long been biased against Israel and captive of the world’s most despotic regimes.

What is surprising is how President Joe Biden kowtows to the U.N., as if it merits respect. In 2021, soon after entering the

White House, Biden told the U.N. General Assembly the U.S. is “back at the table,” pursuing “relentless diplomacy” and embracing globalist goals.

And he came bearing money. The U.S. provides one-fifth of the internatio­nal organizati­on’s budget, the largest contributo­r. Biden restored funding for U.N. agencies cut under President Donald Trump, including more than $600 million a year for the pro-Palestinia­n U.N. Relief and Works Agency.

UNRWA supports the annihilati­on of Israel. Haley protested that UNRWA “uses American money to feed Palestinia­n hatred of the Jewish state.” UNRWA pays for printed school materials that teach Palestinia­n children to kill Jews. Maps for Palestinia­n children don’t even show Israel as a country.

Apparently, that’s not a problem for the Biden administra­tion.

In its eagerness to be “back at the table,” Team Biden is making the U.S. into a patsy.

Biden vowed in 2021 that the U.S. rejoin the U.N.’s 47-member Human Rights Council. That’s some aspiration to be in the company of hardened abusers like Cuba and China.

Meanwhile, the powerhouse at the U.N. — the Security Council — is a house of thugs, with Russia and China both holding veto powers. Russia bombs Ukrainian hospitals and kidnaps children with impunity. No wonder Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the U.N. Security Council useless. This is the same council considerin­g a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Haley, now a presidenti­al contender, has long protested the U.N.’s anti-Israel bias and corruption. Hers is a voice of moral clarity. She tweeted, “Hamas is evil & must be eradicated. We must stand with Israel — not just when it is hit, but also when it hits back.”

Ever since the Holocaust, the world has vowed, “Never again.” The U.N. is not up to keeping that promise.

The world needs a new internatio­nal organizati­on dominated by democratic leaders, instead of thugs and despots. Biden is incapable, but our next president should get it done.

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