NEW YORK/ Conservative Monitor -- The United Nations revealed its anti-US bias in recent weeks by first throwing the United States off the International Narcotics Control Board and then the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

The dynamics behind the politically charged elections to determine who sits on various commissions are complicated. Henry Kissinger, one time U.S. Secretary of State in the Nixon Administration, speculated that "A lot of these votes come from countries that aren't friendly to us, a lot of it comes because the Europeans now vote as a group for themselves".

Behind the scenes, 43 countries had pledged to support the United States re-election bid to the Human Rights Commission. The United States received only 29 votes. Elliott Abrams, lamented the duplicitous actions of some states, noting, "We should try to find out who they are." Even so, secretary of State Colin Powell has determined that he does not want to violate the secret ballot used in the U.N. votes.

Human Rights chief under the Clinton Administration, Harold Koh, in a Washington Post editorial quailed that should Congress act to sanction the United Nations it could cause a retaliatory mood in the U.N. that might hurt U.S. initiatives in the World body. He posed the question "Do we still have the courage and vision to provide (leadership on human rights)?" Ignoring the question of whether we have the courage to stand up to the United Nations.

Kissinger's comments and U.N. petty politics underline the fact that U.S. policy and U.S. needs often run counter to World opinion. For years the United States has withheld dues to the United Nations because of U.N. actions and the disproportionate burden layed upon the U.S. for maintenance of the international body.

Congress is indeed up in arms over U.N. votes to turn out United States representation from important U.N. committees. There are several proposals floating through the House of Representatives that are meant to sanction the U.N. An amendment to withhold 244 million in U.N. funding has the support of Republican leadership and some Democrats.

Anger over loss of the seat on the Human Rights Commission has been exacerbated by the election of Sudan to the very same commission. Sudan is on the State Department's list of terrorist nations. As President Bush noted in a recent speech, "Sudan is a disaster area for all human rights." Sudan is currently fighting a civil war and incidents of school and church bombings and other atrocities have been documented.

Other members of the commission include China which is noted for civil rights abuses including slave labor camps and its persecution of religious organizations.

With the exception of a few minor incidents - including Waco, Ruby Ridge and Elian Gonzalez the United States has an excellent record in defending individual freedom. As Dick Armey, House Majority Leader noted, "It reduces the United Nations to a farce when they expel the champion of human rights."