America should not support the United Nations because it is unproductive

The United States is the largest member donor to the United Nations, contributing up to 25 percent of its entire worldwide operating budget (27 percent for U.N. peacekeeping activities) to the tune of billions of dollars each year. In addition, the United States hosts the U.N. headquarters in New York, including the thousands of diplomats and agency employees. Given the level of American investment and the impact of the United Nations on world opinion and events, we must make sure taxpayer money is not subsidizing activities which hurt American security, values and interests. The evidence is not good. A slew of indictments involving fraud and abuse of U.N. funds (again, a quarter of which comes from the United States) indicates the United Nations is incapable of protecting American taxpayer investment. What's more, the organization and its member states appear unwilling to adopt any meaningful reforms to better protect against these abuses in the future. U.N. procurement tainted by fraud - According to internal United Nations auditors, 43 percent of U.N. procurement investigated is tainted by fraud. Out of $1.4 billion in U.N. contracts internally investigated, $610 million was tainted by 10 "significant fraud and corruption schemes." Since 43 percent of the procurement contracts are tainted and the United States contributes up to 25 percent of all U.N. funding, it is safe to say that an amount equal to well above entire U.S. contribution in this case has been lost to corruption and waste. U.N. props up dictators and state sponsors of terror - According to leaked reports, U.N. whistleblowers, and U.S. investigators, U.N. operations in places like North Korea, Burma, Syria, Iran, Cuba, and Zimbabwe have been transferring cash and resources to these unaccountable regimes and state sponsors of terror in the name of humanitarian assistance and "capacity building." For example, according to leaked reports, U.S. investigators found cash transfers between the U.N. Development Program and bank accounts used by the North Korean regime to purchase missiles. U.N. rewards dictators and human rights abusers with leadership posts – The United Nations regularly permits countries subject to U.N. sanctions, human rights abusers and state sponsors of terror to hold leadership posts in critical U.N. programs and committees. Here are a few examples: U.N. Security Council: Libya International Atomic Energy Agency General Committee: Syria, Vice-President U.N. Disarmament Commission: Iran, Vice-Chairman; Syria, Rapporteur Committee on Information: China, Kazakhstan Commission for Social Development: North Korea Commission on Sustainable Development: Sudan Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: Libya, Russia U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF): Burma, Vice-President; China, Board General Assembly's First Committee on Disarmament and International Security: Syria, Vice-Chairman U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Executive Committee: Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan World Food Programme Executive Board: Zimbabwe, Sudan U.N. glorifying terrorism - According to the U.N. charter, the purpose of the United Nations is to "maintain international peace and security." Terrorism is the primary threat to international peace and security, yet the United Nations has failed to establish a legitimate working definition of terrorism, it has appointed states directly supporting terrorism to leadership posts, has accredited organizations that openly support and glorify terrorism, and provided direct funding and other in-kind resources to terrorist regimes. U.N. Peacekeeping operations plagued by rape and sexual exploitation of refugees – In 1994, a draft U.N. report was leaked detailing how peacekeepers in Morocco, Pakistan, Uruguay, Tunis, South Africa and Nepal were involved in 68 cases of rape, prostitution and pedophilia. The report also stated that the investigation into these cases is being undermined by bribery and witness intimidation by U.N. personnel. In 2006, it was reported that peacekeepers in Haiti and Liberia were involved in sexual exploitation of refugees. This year, leaked reports indicate the United Nations has caught 200 peacekeepers for sex offenses in the past three years ranging from rape to assault on minors. In all of these cases, there is no known evidence of an offending U.N. peacekeeper being prosecuted. U.N. Human Rights Council hijacked by Anti-Semitism - In 2006, the U.N. Human Rights Council replaced the discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission, due to growing criticism over the human rights abusers permitted to sit on the Commission, the use of the Commission to promote bigotry and anti-Semitism, and the failure of the Commission to hold human rights violators accountable. Unfortunately, the new U.N. Human Rights Council is simply a letterhead change, and continues to give abusers seats on the Council while devoting almost its entire agenda to prejudiced attacks on the only democratic country in the Middle East, Israel. U.N. scam permitted illegal entry into the U.S. – A U.N. employee from Russia was arrested in August of this year for operating an illegal visa scam lasting at least two years. The official assisted non-U.S. citizens to enter the United States with fraudulent U.N. documents — including the use of U.N. letterhead — in order to obtain visas to attend U.N. conferences that either did not exist or they did not attend. U.N. smuggling diamonds in Zimbabwe – It is reported that a U.N. official in Zimbabwe is also the chairman of a mining company co-owned by the vice president of Zimbabwe, a former member of parliament, and an ambassador of Zimbabwe. The mining company is accused of asset stripping worth $116 million and using the U.N. Development Program to facilitate diamond smuggling. U.N. graft and cover-up at the Khmer Rogue Tribunal in Cambodia – It is reported that, unlike previous U.N. tribunals set up to prosecute war criminals in Sierra Leone and East Timor, the U.N. permitted the Cambodian government to infiltrate and dominate the Khmer Rogue tribunal with a majority of government-appointed judges, lawyers, and staff. The United Nations also granted Cambodia's demand that every case be decided by a judge single, government-appointed judge, rather than an independently appointed jury, as is the standard. International observers claim Cambodia's judicial system is notoriously corrupt, inefficient and poorly administered. Making matters worse, the U.N. Development Program handed over millions of dollars to the Cambodian government to operate the tribunal. Reports indicate this money was used in a bribery and kick-back scheme where employees would be forced to give a portion of their salaries to Cambodian officials in order to maintain their jobs or receive appointments to higher positions. U.N. Development Program-Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) corruption – The U.N. Development Program operates the Global Environment Facility which is involved in multiple scandals, including alleged procurement fraud in Africa worth $8 million. When a U.N. official blew the whistle, the United Nations retaliated against the whistleblower. In another example, reports indicate the UNDP-GEF in the Philippines is operated by an official who also helps runs a local, non-government organization (NGO). This official allegedly awarded grants to her own NGO and then diverted funds from the NGO to enrich her family. When a U.N. employee blew the whistle, the United Nations covered it up. Although your last post was entertaining, it did not give concrete evidence of what things in particular you think the UN did that was good. So, I have provided you with your infamous 90-10 in my favor. Please provide information that refutes these claims and what things the UN has done that will outweigh these debacles, otherwise I am not convinced. The UN means well, however this evidence creates my stance on it.