Proposal for Darfur reflects attitude on U.N.

Mercenaries may be an answer in Darfur, as suggested by Max Boot (Opinion, May 31). But the real problems with U.N. efforts to stem violence in the world is the United States’ stubborn refusal to consider the United Nations as anything other than a corrupt bureaucracy that caters to liberal causes and is ineffective in everything.

The U.N. has not traditionally had the money, expertise or military wherewithal to effectively deal with the world’s problems as it should. But the U.S. does. Until the U.S. accepts its responsibility as a rich country with a huge military willing to put its troops under U.N. command -- and allows the U.N. to act as a responsible world body -- then hire mercenaries, bad reputation and all, as Boot suggests.

RALPH MITCHELL

Monterey Park

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Boot doesn’t care about Darfur. What he does care about is eliminating the U.N., and he’ll use any tragedy, including genocide, to argue for its demise. The U.N. often stands in the way of the Republicans’ solution to problems: war. And their solution to end war is ... more war. Whether it’s our troops or a hired army, killing more to stop killing isn’t working in Iraq, and it’s not going to work in Darfur. The planet needs the U.N. to save us from the Max Boots of this world.

KEVIN MCDERMOTT

Los Angeles