US Questions Value of UN Mideast Meetings

I question the value of the entire UN. Reuters

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday questioned the value of monthly public meetings of the U.N. Security Council on the Middle East, saying the angry speeches delivered often made the problem worse.

"The polarization and divisions of the United Nations membership over the conflict all too often manifest themselves as heated political statements," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told this month's meeting of the 15-nation council.

These "do little to help advance the cause of peace or help the Palestinian people in any tangible way," he said.

....

"If these types of meetings do not contribute to that effort, or worse, if they fuel the tensions that impede constructive engagement, then we need to ask ourselves whether the public format of debates in New York truly helps create the environment necessary" for a solution, he said.

Khalilzad told reporters later that some countries used the meetings "for posturing, for finger-pointing, for further polarizing, for scoring points."

The United States is a strong supporter of Israel and Khalilzad's comments appeared mainly aimed at Arab speakers. He stopped short of calling for the meetings to be stopped, urging countries to use them instead to promote peace.

CRITICAL SITUATION

The U.S. envoy's remarks appeared to have little effect, as the meeting ended like many previous ones, with an exchange of accusations pitting Israel against Syria, Sudan, representing Arab countries, and Cuba, representing non-aligned states.