Just when you thought the United Nations couldn’t drain any more legitimacy out of its organization — surprise! It is amazing the extent to which America can be portrayed as the “bad guy” while countries like Cuba, Iran, Libya and Iraq are seen as worthy leaders of the international community.

The United Nations was founded to address the security interests of the international community and the individual countries within it. In March, the body essentially failed to evoke its own resolution authorizing the use of force in removing weapons of mass destruction from a country refusing to fully comply with inspectors. In the future, American administrations will think twice before bringing an issue in front of the Security Council, as it may be cast aside without truly addressing the security of this country.

Before the war, our government was aware of French oil contracts with Saddam, and since the war we have discovered French weaponry that we suspected of being sold to Saddam. This week CNN and Fox News reported that troops discovered suspicious documents that appeared to be transcripts of U.S.-French intelligence meetings that were classified, but apparently forwarded to Iraqi intelligence.

After France led the assault on Security Council relevance, the institution as a whole seems to be pursuing total absurdity. The United Nations voted this week to renew Cuba’s membership to the Human Rights Commission, regardless of the fact that the commission recently voted to investigate Cuba.

In the past month, Fidel Castro has executed more than 80 people without proper trials or attention to human rights. Seventy-eight civilians were executed without trial, simply for speaking out against the regime. More people were executed for attempting to hijack transportation to escape the country. The U.S. diplomat to the U.N. Economic Social Council said, “They arrested three hijackers. After one week of incarceration, they shot them — no trial, no justice or nothing.”

The White House came out firmly against the vote, and a U.S. diplomat walked out of U.N. proceedings when it became clear that Cuba would be voted in again. “This is a setback for the cause of human rights. Cuba does not deserve a seat on the Human Rights Commission. Cuba deserves to be investigated by the Human Rights Commission,” said White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.

This isn’t the first ridiculous appointment by the United Nations. The Human Rights Commission that Cuba was re-appointed to is chaired by Libya. Libya is renowned for their oppression of women and intolerance of dissent.

Another panel that normally plays a significant role in international law has now been deemed worthless under ridiculous leadership. Iraq is scheduled to co-chair the Disarmament Forum with Iran. According to CNN, this panel is responsible for oversight and policy regarding the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Prohibition of Development, Production and Stockpiling of Biological and Toxin Weapons Agreement, as well as oversight of weapon destruction. Interesting to know that the United Nations scheduled the Hussein regime to head up this task. The only prominent country to oppose this appointment was the United States, who voiced significant concerns in January when the future chair appointments went public.

Outside of the “interesting” choices for nominations to these commissions, the United Nations has essentially refused to partake in negotiations of their own nuclear inspections. North Korea recently reneged on the agreements regarding nuclear weapons and dismantled U.N. monitoring equipment at a nuclear facility. They admitted several months ago that they have been working on nuclear arms and are in the production phase.

Who is now at the negotiating table with the North Korean regime? The United States is. It took months to convince other countries in the region to even sit down and participate in deliberations. Finally, China and South Korea are working with the United States to bring an end to a nuclear threat in the region. The United Nations, however, would just as soon see the United States make money and oil concessions to solve the situation, instead of doing its job by mediating talks.

There are plenty of big players in the world doing their best to focus negative attention on the United States. The next time you feel that America is again being targeted by members of the international community, remember what these countries have made of the once respectable United Nations. Don’t let foreign governments or American liberals convince you that America is the problem; America is always depended upon as the solution.