The American Mind

New U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is sure to eventually tick off most American conservatives. It is the U.N., that bastion of bureaucratic, paper-shuffling, anti-Americanism that poses as a world diplomatic body. If his first day on the job is any indication Ban could be more interesting (in a good way) than Kofi Annan:

“Saddam Hussein was responsible for committing heinous crimes and unspeakable atrocities against the Iraqi people,” Ban said in his first news conference as secretary general. “The issue of capital punishment is for each and every member state to decide.”

Ban said that although he is “firmly against impunity” for the world’s despots, he would also urge states to “pay due regard” to international humanitarian law in meting out justice to a deposed leader. “The Iraqi people and government have taken steps to address their past, and I hope that the international community should also understand the stakes and try to build the rule of law nationally and internationally,” he said.

Ban’s nation-state’s rights must have been a shock to the system of U.N. bureaucrats who see their mission to mold the laws of each member nation to fit their Leftist, one-size-fits-all approach on a host of social and political issues. As Ed Morrisey puts it, “For too long, the UN bureaucracy and leadership have taken for granted the notion that the UN represents some sort of supergovernment rather than a diplomatic venue, and Annan was among the worst at using his position to meddle in sovereign affairs of member states.”

“New U.N. Chief Defends Death Penalty for Hussein”