The Speech That Closed the United Nations

I had a dream last night that I heard this speech from an American president. Not the current one, but the next incumbent.

The Speech that Closed the U.N.

by Frank Hilliard

Mr. Vice President, Members of the Supreme Court, Members of Congress, ladies and gentlemen.

We have arrived at a turning point in history, both the history of these United States and that of the World. A noble experiment which began in San Francisco in 1945 will today come to an end in Washington in 2013. Between these two dates and these two cities lies the wreckage of a dream of world peace through dialogue, of the community of nations, indeed of the ability of countries to put global interests above self-interests.

What we have done in a little over half a century is to prove that wishful thinking leads to death and destruction, that good intentions are no substitute for realistic action, that equality of opportunity does not create equality of outcomes.

I have a number of announcements to make that I know you've been waiting to hear, so I will make them now and then give you the reasons. It is a lamentable tale of death, waste, blood and tears, but I promise you it will give you hope for the future.

So here they are . . . The United States will today withdraw from the United Nations as a member of the Security Council, as a member state, and as a member of its boards and commissions. The United States is revoking the diplomatic status of delegates to the United Nations and ordering them to leave the country within 48 hours. The United States is withdrawing permission for the United Nations to hold meetings or conduct business in the United States and to occupy its current building in New York.

The United States is withdrawing all funding from the United Nations and is seeking to block or freeze funds already issued in an effort to recapture them. The United States is declaring the Secretary General of the United Nations persona non grata and is deporting him from this country as I speak.

And finally, something I know Mayor Bloomberg will appreciate, the United States is revoking diplomatic licence plates issued to United Nations personnel and thus their ability to thumb their noses at New York parking restrictions. (applause)

Why has my administration taken these steps?

The simple answer is because we had to. We had to act to end the malignant influence of a body that has been ineffectual in the face of genocide, a body that has been incapable of policing itself much less its members, a body that has failed to stop the proliferation of atomic weapons and finally a body that has actively worsened the most long standing of the world's many problems.

Let me take these issues in reverse order, that of the refugees from the Arab-Israeli war of 1947.  Much of the responsibility for these unfortunates lies with the Arab countries that attacked Israel after it declared its independence. While Israel took in Jewish refugees from the neighbouring states, they refused to accept Arab refugees from Israel. That was serious enough, but the U.N. worsened the situation by declaring that all the children of these refugees were also refugees; a unique decision not implemented anywhere else on the planet. This decision, and the billions on dollars since spent on the Palestinians, has perpetuated and exacerbated the problem to the present day.

Well, enough of that; enough of paying the enemies of our friends to afford the weapons used to attack them. Enough of paying lip service to peace while actively funding a war.

The United States today calls on Egypt to accept the population of Gaza as Egyptian citizens and Jordan to accept residents of the West Bank as Jordanian citizens. It further calls on Israel and Jordan to establish a border between themselves that provides the new Jordanian residents with sufficient land to develop and Israel with sufficient land to establish a defensible border.

We believe that by withdrawing funding from the Palestinian Authority and from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency we will create the necessary conditions for those involved to seek and find economic, political and practical solutions for themselves. Since our money has helped prolong the problem, perhaps the lack of our money will help solve it.

On the second issue, that of proliferation of atomic weapons, the United States hereby gives notice to the Islamic Republic of Iran that it can either stop processing nuclear materials and developing nuclear weapons, or we will destroy them ourselves. Iran has 48 hours to provide access to all its nuclear facilities, to televise the equipment in a stopped condition and to issue an undertaking to destroy them.

The same message is currently being conveyed to the rulers of North Korea.

Let me be clear; those that 'take the sword' shall die by the sword if that is their wish and intent. The United States, unlike the United Nations, is not prepared to stand idly by while rogue regimes arm themselves with weapons of mass destruction. (prolonged applause)

On the third point, self-policing. We found out, to our cost the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq was a  colossal scam in which United Nations officials profited personally along with the dictator the program was designed to censure. While the most egregious example, there have been numerous other cases of the organization failing to police itself, including the cases of U.N. peacekeepers accused of rape in Sierra Leone and of causing cholera in Haiti.

Enough is enough; the waste at the top, the incompetence at the bottom, it is all of it stamped with the bright red imprint of failure.

And finally, genocide. If ever there was one shining hope for the world body it was that it would end genocide. Instead we saw genocides in Cambodia, in Bosnia and in Rwanda. In Rwanda, in particular, the United Nations, which had troops in the national capital, failed to give orders to arrest the perpetrators when it still had time to do so. Once the real blood-letting began, it sat passively while 800,000 innocent people perished.

The truth is, when it came to its main mandate, the U.N. failed. It failed its founders, it failed its members and it, most of all, failed the people who relied on it around the world. Failure should have consequences, and today, here, before you, I am providing them. (applause)

So where do we go from here?

I think the first thing we need to do is to go back to first principles, in this case the principle of mutual interests. For indeed, among the major powers, there are mutual interests. We, none of us, want war, want social and political dislocation across the world, or want to re-order international boundaries. We have shared interests in economic development, world trade, in peaceful relations.

This is why the United States has been in touch with the Government of Switzerland and asked it to be the permanent host of the Group of Twenty. We have offered to offset some of the costs of annual meetings in Geneva and Switzerland is considering our proposal. Our intention is to transfer our international obligations from the U.N. to the secretariat of the Group of Twenty as soon as this is practicable.

Before I conclude, I have a word of warning to leaders of countries in the Muslim world. There may be demonstrations and attacks on foreign nationals as a result of these decisions I have announced today. I want you to know that the United States will hold responsible the leaders of any country in which American or Western citizens are hurt or killed in the days ahead.

I am not speaking theoretically. I mean you personally will be held responsible for any deaths in your country.

You, and the world, will see in the next 48 hours what the United States means by the phrase 'will be held responsible'.

Finally, to you all, and to all Americans, I pledge to you that the dark days of the past are over. You will never again be asked to pay for your own destruction or the destruction of your country. From here forward, the United States will be the city on the hill, the beacon for mankind, it was always meant to be.

Be of good cheer and have a brave heart; this in the new beginning you voted for. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.

(prolonged applause)