UN Back to Its Old Tricks

Well, we didn't expect it to last. The United Nations Security Council may have surprised the world a few weeks back when it not only condemned the latest Hezbollah attacks, but also refrained from reprimanding Israel for its military response. Two startling firsts from this august body.

But the Council has quickly turned back to its old ways, as the Voice of America reports:

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton issued a statement Tuesday unequivocally condemning the bomb attack in the Israeli town of Netanya that killed at least five people. The unusual action came after a U.S. attempt to have the statement issued by the Security Council was rejected.

Diplomats attending the meeting say several Council members raised concerns about language in the U.S.-drafted document. Ambassador Bolton, however, blamed Algeria for quashing the measure by objecting to a passage urging Syria to close offices of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which claims responsibility for the attack.

The U.S. envoy later read the text of the statement to reporters, and lashed out at the Council for what he called "failing to speak the truth".

He said "you have to speak up in response to these terrorist attacks. It's a great shame that the Security Council couldn't speak to this terrorist attack in Netanya, but if the Council won't speak, the United States will."

Hat-tip: Cox & Forkum, one of my favorite political cartoonists (and in the running for Best Humor/Comics Blog in the 2005 Weblog Awards.