Whatever their stance on a war in Iraq, policymakers and pundits seem to agree on one thing: The present crisis puts the relevance and credibility of the United Nations on the line. Voicing concern about the future of the 58-year-old body has become a central part of the administration's daily campaign to marshal support for its Iraq policy. President Bush made the case again in a speech on Wednesday: "If the [Security] Council responds to Iraq's defiance with more excuses and delays, if all its authority proves to be empty, the United Nations will be severely weakened as a source of stability and order. If the members rise to this moment, then the council will fulfill its founding purpose." To an international lawyer -- or simply a longtime observer of foreign policy -- what is most striking is just how relevant the United Nations has become. The Security Council sat on the sidelines for so many years during the Cold War that the watching public forgot to take the U.N. Charter......
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