Nearly never won the race

Dear Madam,

Although John O'Shea was correct in saying that "since its foundation, the UN has been powerless to prevent the deaths of millions of innocent people who perished in what he calls "state-sponsored murder"" he is obviously not given enough space to express this opinion, other than to say "millions of women and children are pleading for protection in northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Darfur."

This however is wholly inadequate and doesn't reach the root of why the UN doesn't function as it should. The obviousness of this answer cannot be expressed enough, the UN does not work, because those who wield it's power do not want it to.

Mr. O'Shea is also correct in saying "State-sponsored murder remains the greatest tragedy being enacted on our planet today. And sadly the world does not have an entity capable of preventing it," and it is commendable that the times has allowed this to be made public, albeit on the letters page. This reality should be evident in all relevant Times reports, unfortunately it is absent on many an occasion. The deficiencies of David Adams article evidences not just the inadequacies of the UN, but that of the mainstream press in reporting them.

If you can spare the time, I would appreciate a reply.

Yours sincerely,

N.B. "And sadly the world does not have an entity capable of preventing it"

Needless to say there is an entity capable of preventing 'it', 'the people' have shown their ability to control power throughout history, it simply requires people to realise their own power.


STATE-SPONSORED MURDER AND UN

Madam, - David Adams's superbly crafted column, "Woeful record of the UN" (Opinion, June 10th) should be compulsive reading for all who still believe the United Nations has a meaningful role to play in world affairs.

Mr Adams quite rightly points out that, since its foundation, the UN has been powerless to prevent the deaths of millions of innocent people who perished in what he calls "state-sponsored murder".

Today millions of women and children are pleading for protection in northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Darfur, but the UN, as so often in the past, is more concerned about the sovereignty of national borders than with the sovereignty of the human being.

State-sponsored murder remains the greatest tragedy being enacted on our planet today. And sadly the world does not have an entity capable of preventing it. - Yours, etc,

JOHN O'SHEA, GOAL, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

Letters: The Irish Times