So says Stephen Schwartz. He says that fellow-Muslim Kosovars may have some words of warning for newly-liberated Iraqis.

KOSOVARS can offer a valuable insight into the situation we expect to face in Iraq. The U.N., they point out, never supported the NATO bombing of Serbia in the first place, so why should U.N. functionaries care how they carry out a mandate given them for reconstruction? Americans were naive, say Kosovars, to believe that the U.N. would effectively fulfill the tasks ceded to it in Kosovo, after the international organization had opposed the intervention.

Many people seem to misunderstand what the U.N. is. They hear about potential United Nations involvement in Iraq, and believe that the peoples of the world will unite, through their U.N. ambassadors, to make Iraq whole after the war. But this perception is mistaken. The U.N. is not the nations of the world united. It is an enterprise located in a building in New York, with satellite operations around the world, employing a certain cadre of people of many nationalities, most of whom are time-servers and ideologues.

In my six years' experience in postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, I never met a U.N. representative who failed to conform to a certain professional profile. They call themselves "internationals," and are generally young and inexperienced, although the heads of their missions tend to be old and uninterested. They have a strong prejudice against privatization, and too many of those chosen for economic responsibilities hail from Sweden and other countries where statist socialism remains the political religion.

Here's the conclusion:

The United States must not permit the U.N., with its terrible record in the Balkans, among the Palestinians, in Africa, in Cambodia, and elsewhere, to inflict its incompetence and neuroses on the people of Iraq. Iraq is fighting for its freedom, after the long brutalization it has endured. America the liberator must prove that we meant what we said about the freedom and prosperity of the Iraqi people--while the U.N., the E.U., and their associates preferred the status quo. Iraq deserves better--and so do we, for the sacrifices we shall have borne. The first step is to recognize what not to do in postwar Iraq. And the name of that tragedy is Kosovo.

To quote someone else, read the whole thing.

For some time I've been torturing myself with the irrationality of the viewpoints expressed on this site, but I'd like to ask once for all what is so bad about socialism and communism? I really don't understand why you want a system where your at the total mercy of greedy bosses who may abuse you as they see fit and live in a society that is willing to throw away those who are willing to work but are deemed unfit for employment and thus must have starvation and homelessness thrust upon them. This immoral war on Iraq will liberate no one but the robber barons. The Iraqis will suffer the same way under capitalism that most Americans do. So to sum things up, I'm very happy that the U.N. is composed mostly of those who follow the socialist "religion".

Marx4Ever?

I suggest you ask the people in Eastern Europe.

Marxism has been an utter failure everywhere it's been attempted, for sound reasons of human nature.

Who let that guy out of his cave?

Marx4Ever: How do you explain the fact that in north korea the people can consider themselves lucky if they have enough food, while in south korea they have so many high tech gadgets that they have a professional computer gaming league?

Or what about eastern and western germany? In east germany people had to wait 10 years for a plastic car, while west germany produced some of the best cars in the world?

If you want a social system where people in need are helped, that is perfectly possible within the bounds of a market economy. Just work in a non-profit organisation and encourage other people to do the same. That will do a hell of a lot more for the poor people of the world than dreaming up government systems that can not possibly work.

Your complaints are very interesting first you talk about how Americans are "at the total mercy of a greedy boss". Then you talk about how people in this country who are unable to work have "starvation and homelessness thrust upon them". These are the two biggest problems with most comunist countries. I don't expect you to believe me. But I invite you to go grocery shopping in North Korea or Cuba. While your at it you can ask the locals how they like their jobs.

After near-universal rejection of Marxism by every people who had misfortune to live under it, anyone who defends it with such conviction is either:

a) a troll trying to get a rise out of you, or

b) beyond psychiatric help

Either way, proper response to Marx4ever is to completely ignore him.

Ah... Good old "Stephen Schwartz" again...

Or is it "Suleyman Ahmad"? Or "Comrade Sandalio"?

I wonder what he will be calling himself next year...