It's those secret plotters again

Lee Jakeman

Give Hari a break. By his standards, this was a scoop.

Chris M

The UN has become a shibboleth - it has outlasted its usefulness by at least three decades - it is also a toss up as to which is more corrupt and gravy train like - the UN or the EU - both should be helped to die.

David Boothroyd

McCain has very openly talked about his idea of a league of democracies, which would obviously undercut the United Nations as it exists at present.

It's unfortunate that nothing seems to get news coverage unless it can be implied that someone wanted it kept secret. Sometimes when something important is announced very publicly, all the press looks straight through it because there's no "cover-up" line to justify reporting it.

James

Johann Smarmy turns Sherlock Holmes and discovers what the rest of the townsfolk have known for aeons.

Nicholas

The key with any league of democracies is to avoid the fatal delusion that socialists, whether red or blue, can represent democracies. What we need is a league of right wing democracies, eschewing the national socialist rabble and their centre-left, centre-right pretexts who have infested and screwed up organisations like the EU and UN.

Verity

Pathetic. I have been saying for years that the UN should be dynamited and left as a brown field site for around five years until most of the third world and EUSSR toxins of greed and corruption had leached out; then put up a couple of huge, swanky condos for incredibly rich people who would enjoy a view of the East River. With a helipad and a large helicopter garage on the roof for their convenience. Paid for by them. Not taxpayers.

(This satisfying explosion could be echoed say three days later, once the celebrations had died down and the formal ceremonial towing of African diplomats' illegally parked limousines had been completed, by a tribute bombing of Broadcasting House in Britain.

(With the two of them gone, that should clear the air, and without any help from Al Gore.)

It warms the cockles of my heart just to think about it.

However, I take issue with the notion of a "League of Democracies" (sounds like a communist construct, anyway) or any other leagues. We don't need any more international bodies. We need fewer. In fact, we need none, except NATO, and that's ours and we should keep it exclusive. That means, no new members. Ever.

I would like to see a slightly more formal approach to the Anglosphere, though. I would like to hear a spokesman occasionally be quoted as saying, for example, "The Anglosphere is opposed to such a move on the part of [whomever]". I would like to see a formal acknowledgement, but not too formal with a headquarters or anything, of the existence of almost 2bn people who speak English, who have English Common Law as the backbone of their legal system, and have governance based on the Westminster model.

We all have something genuine in common and I would like to see a vague acknowledgement of its existence come into common international understanding.

Verity

PS to my comments above on the Anglosphere - although I don't want to see a formal, regulation-bound entity, I think we would need to have a formal agreement among all the members on one thing: There would be no role for Tony Blair.

Verity

Plus, Johan Hari, if Senator McCain intended to kick the UN out of America and withdraw all funding - and, indeed, destroy it, why would he be keeping his plans a secret from the American public?

Trust me; if this were really his intention, he wouldn't need any other policy proposals to sail into the Presidency on a tidal wave of votes - millions of Dems as well as 100% of the Reps.

Anglica

Utterly agree with everyone up to 6:19 p.m.

To help develop an invisibility cloak/transparent agenda: may I suggest early eradication of that chunnel thing?
Also, Home Rule for the former BAA would be a nice priority; especially as we need to demolish all the euSSR bunting and let people know this is Britain.

Ben-Tsiyon (ha rishon)

Liquidate the UN - AND the BBC ?
Definitely. Go for it !