U.S. Will Pay Increased UN Dues -- Despite All (Ari Fleischer confirms there is no rollback)

humaneventsonline ^ | 4/7/2003 | John Gizzi

[TLBSHOW]

U.S. Will Pay Increased UN Dues -- Despite All By John Gizzi

Despite the refusal of the United Nations Security Council to enforce its own resolutions calling for disarmament of Iraq, the administration is standing by the budget request it made in January to pay for a $90 million increase in the annual U.S. dues to the United Nations.

The budget proposal submitted to Congress by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests an appropriation of $322 million for UN dues in Fiscal Year ’04. That’s up from the $232 million in ’03, according to the OMB. (The U.S. is assessed dues amounting to 22% of the overall UN budget each year.)

Asked on April 2, whether the administration had any plan to rollback the increase in UN dues, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, said, “Nothing that anyone’s brought to my attention.”

Some conservative lawmakers indicated they are also ready to pay the increased UN dues. A spokesman for Rep. Joseph Knollenberg (R.-Mich.), a member of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee (which has oversight over UN funding), said, “Mr. Knollenberg was certainly disappointed in the UN recently, but he is not willing to turn his back on it.” The spokesman said Knollenberg in all likelihood would support the increase.

Similarly, Rep. George Radanovich (R.-Calif.) told me, “The UN has shown how ineffective it is after passing 17 resolutions that were ignored by Iraq.

They’re [sic] League of Nations-like.” But he also signaled he would probably go along with the administration on this issue. “The President has to deal with the world community and the UN will have to have some kind of role in order to bring the rest of the world around [on a postwar Iraq],” he said.

Two other members voiced reservations about the UN’s role in post-war Iraq. “There are plenty of alternatives to the UN and we shouldn’t automatically assume the UN will be the end-all in Iraq after the war,” said House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.).

“The UN should need to prove it has a role,” echoed Rep. Jack Kingston (R.-Ga.), a Member of the House Appropriations Committee. “It was totally irrelevant leading up to the war, and contributed to the war in that respect. It ignored 17 of its own resolutions about Saddam Hussein and in twelve years never got serious about weapons inspections. It’s very much like them to come around to the battlefield when the soldiers are dead and then to claim victory. You won’t find leadership from the UN any more than you will find fairness or pro-American statements.”

[Fraulein]

The 600,000-dollar kitchen or why the UN is still relevant to the US

[newgeezer]

(The U.S. is assessed dues amounting to 22% of the overall UN budget each year.)

So, is there any chance the US gets 22% of the budgetary authority in return for all that responsibility?

[k2blader]

Disgusting, but not surprising...

[Republic of Texas]

Just more proof the we are THE STUPIDEST COUNTRY ON EARTH.

[rrrod]

I SAY AGAIN...UN FRECH OR GERMANY BACK IN IRAQ MEANS WE LOST AND OUR MEN AND WOMEN DIED FOR NOTHING

[TLBSHOW]

Mr. Fleischer said Friday, that the United Nations and the Iraqi people will have key roles to play once the war is over. But the spokesman cautions it is premature to speak more definitively of the post-conflict situation, adding the task at hand is winning the war.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=F9C0BAC8-64A1-4F30-B7831EF6A6FDFD7A

[RippleFire]

bump

[Truth29]

It is worse than wasted. We are funding our enemies dedicated to the subjgation of the US. We need to force the complete overhall of the UN or its replacement with a new organization reflecting democratic values and relative influence in the world. The UN, as presently organized is permanently opposed to the US and is best symbolied by such actions as making Libya the head of the human rights commission, the formerly planned appointment of Iraq as the co=chair of the disarmament commission, and the endless moral equivalence statements of Kofi Annan.

Even worse, it is used for the active conspiratorial planning of such countries as France, Russia, China and Germany to stop the US plans and is a nest of spies on US soil.

[sinkspur]

Wimp II is leading the charge back to 1933.

No. That's Buchanan. HE'S the one who admires Hitler.

France Germany and russia will get the largest contracts for rebuilding Iraq.

Actually, American companies will. Bank on it.

[dts32041]

Can't bank on anything with this crew, cfr, DOE increase, death tax still present, no roll back on illegal gun laws, etc.

[biblewonk]

So, is there any chance the US gets 22% of the budgetary authority in return for all that responsibility?

No, we're like the parents supporting rebellious kids.

[Fraulein]

You forgot all those millions appropriated to fight AIDS in Africa.

[duk]

CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING TO COME FROM$$

[aShepard]

The only way that $90 Mega would be worth it is if we were supplying the U-Haul boxes for their pack up and move.

Those babies are expensive!

[dts32041]

Correct, I think a Move to Khartoum should be paid for by the US, after all they might actually be able to stop the slave trade then.

[Fraulein]

if we were supplying the U-Haul boxes for their pack up and move

Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. Instead our government is spending $600,000 for a US ambassador to the UN to get a new kitchen in his apartment at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel. See post #21. They ain't going nowhere, folks.

[Fraulein]

BTTT

[Fraulein]

ping

[ImpotentRage]

My sentiments exactly!! The UN is of no use and we should have gotten out of there a long time ago. While I support President Bush on the war, I have EXTREME difficulty agreeing with some of his other positions. I am so sick of this!!