Within the memory of even young men, Tammany Hall has been the synonym of all political trickery in the vocabulary of popular criticism. Tammany Hall was held up as the worst example of boss rule, political corruption, brute force, that it was possible to find in the world. Its very name became a stigma in the decades before the First World War. But even the most unobservant newspaper reader must have observed the gradual fading out of Tammany Hall from public comment, the cessation of the bitter criticism, the entire absence of headlines bristling with ugly charges, and the calling of the hosts of good citizenship to do battle against the grim bossism that maintained its headquarters in New York.
President Bush is committed to fundamental reform of the U.N. system and has pledged that the organization will wield no veto over U.S. foreign policy. A second Bush presidency is also likely to strongly support congressional investigations into Oil-for-Food, a scandal with the potential to bring down Annan and other senior U.N. officials.
So it’s hardly surprising that Annan has been highly critical of Bush’s foreign policy and has sought to undermine the legitimacy of the U.S.-led war against Iraq. Still, this undignified meddling in the U.S. political debate reflects poorly on an international institution that once took pride in its neutrality on the world stage.
The strong possibility that El Baradei and the IAEA deliberately sought to influence the electoral debate in the United States should be thoroughly investigated. In the face of growing scandal and declining credibility, accountability and transparency – not politically motivated leaks – must be the watchwords that govern the U.N.
According to evidence confirmed in the most recent elections, however, American Jewish voters maintain the potential to be the decisive factor in national election results...........
