Remark by Secretary Powel, December 8, 2004

Remark by Secretary Powel, December 8, 2004:

Question: "Do you yourself see an alternative to a UN, which logically is dysfunctional and little more than a international public works program?"

SECRETARY POWELL: "You put in the tail end of your comment, question, positions in my mind. I do not believe it is nothing more than a debating organization and a public works organization for bureaucrats. I think the UN does very, very important work. I worked with the UN in conflict resolution issues over many years. Whether it was in Central America or South America, whether it was in Cambodia or East Timor, the UN has done valuable work. The end of the Iraq-Iran war was negotiated, in 1988, by the UN. And so the UN does very, very important work but it is a body of a 191 or 192 nations and the General Assembly and 15 in the Security Council and so many other agencies that do work: UNICEF, UNESCO, so many others. I think it is a valuable organization and if somebody were to disband it tomorrow, we would recreate it a week later. Because it is needed."