U.N.? No Thanks.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Iraq: As the endgame draws near, world leaders have joined to call for more involvement and control by the United Nations. What a mistake that would be.

The maneuvering by the U.N. and its most vocal supporters has grown intense. Not only do they want the global organization to name Iraq's interim government. They also want it to command U.S. troops.

This would be a recipe for disaster -- both politically and militarily.

History has shown the U.N. to be ill-equipped and inept when it comes to military operations. And recent events show that humanitarian and other programs are prone to corruption and scandal.

Last week, for instance, U.N. peacekeeping troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo were accused of forcing starving teenage refugees to exchange sex for food. Few doubt the charges are true. In American jurisprudence, we have a word for that: Rape.

Meanwhile, the U.N.'s top official in Kosovo was forced to quit after a series of riots that left 19 people dead and hundreds injured.

Let's see: The U.N. has controlled Kosovo since 1999, and it still hasn't established security or handed over authority to local Kosovars. Yet it now demands the U.S. to do so in Iraq, right away.