Then there is the World Heath Organization, a United Nations “special agency.” WHO's Director General has just awarded its prize for “best anti-smoking and nutrition” programs to al Manar – the television station owned and operated by Hezbollah, among the world's most lethal terrorist organizations.

In fact, Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization other than al Qaeda. Al Manar routinely broadcasts programs to millions in the Middle East inciting suicide bombings against Americans in Iraq and against Israelis wherever they may be found.

The U.S. government has placed al Manar itself on the “Terrorism Exclusion List” and even France has banned the TV station for violating that country's hate laws. (Examples: in November, al Manar ran programs accusing Jews of spreading AIDS in the Middle East; earlier, it ran dramatizations depicting Jews using the blood of Christian children to bake holiday pastries.)

But in the view of the World Health Organization, al Manar is doing important work by warning viewers that smoking is bad for the health – and, incidentally, instructing them that massacring infidels in good for the soul. A catchy slogan for both campaigns might be: “Blow up! But don't light up!”

The U.N. was not supposed to be such a burlesque. Between aggressors and victims, the U.N. was not meant to be neutral.

¶ 1:07 PM