Bush Shows Chutzpah in Dealings With the U.N.
The bombing of the United Nations’ headquarters in Iraq opens up a new chapter in the strained relationship between the United States and the U.N.
It began with the charge of the Bush administration that Saddam Hussein was violating a provision under a U.N. agreement that forbade his (Hussein’s) building weapons of mass destruction. The U.N. Security Council responded by calling for a stepped-up investigation by U.N. inspectors to determine whether the charge about weapons was valid.
President Bush brushed the requirement aside and went to war against Iraq on the theory that someday he would discover weapons of mass destruction — the equivalent of sentencing a man to death for committing a murder because the accuser knows that someday he will.
On May 1, our president proclaimed that the war was over, and that we would begin to reconstruct Iraq. The U.N., letting bygones be bygones, offered to help in the reconstruction. If Bush had accepted, some of the cost of reconstruction would be carried by the U.N. and its members — like France and Germany — and Bush could ultimately get out of the Iraqi morass by placing more and more of the responsibility for postwar reconstruction on the shoulders of the U.N. — an organization that has multiple agencies with decades of experience in dealing with human suffering in the fields of healthcare, housing, education, childcare, medicine, financial assistance, etc.
But, alas, Bush said “no thank you” to the U.N. — Uncle Sam would be in charge of Iraq’s future and no partners were welcome. Then came the attack on the U.N. headquarters in Iraq. The U.N. now had a compelling reason to take action in Iraq. Apparently, the American operation was unable to provide protection for the U.N. This was a moment for the U.N. to join with the United States and Britain to provide both military and humanitarian aid in Iraq.
Bush responded that he would welcome the U.N.’s cooperation. He proposed that the U.N. Security Council call upon its member nations to make troops available — troops that would operate under American command. But the U.N. per se would not be in the picture.
Imagine what this means. The U.N. would call upon its members to provide troops to serve under the command of the United States. On the U.N. Security Council issuing such a call would be France and Germany and Russia, among others. They opposed American entry into the war in Iraq. They believed the American action was a gross mistake and was a slap in the U.N.’s face. Can we expect these nations now to reverse their judgment and make their boys available to serve under American command?
What word, one wonders, is appropriate to describe Bush’s conduct? Some suggest words like “unilateralism,” “hubris” or “arrogance.” May we suggest a popular English word drawn from the Yiddish lexicon. It is “chutzpah,” a word easier to describe than define. For instance, as one story goes, a young man was found guilty of murdering his parents. The young man pleads for clemency. When the judge asks why, he replies: “Please remember, your honor, I am now an orphan.” That is chutzpah!
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
