Those infatuated with multilateral institutions — which are lauded as occupying the high moral ground (as opposed to all those grubby democracies) — are continually embarrassed (well, they should be embarrassed) when these bodies prove to be entirely corrupt and dysfunctional. This report explains:

The outgoing chief of a U.N. office charged with combating corruption at the United Nations has issued a stinging rebuke of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, charging him with undermining her efforts and leading the global institution into an era of decline, according to a confidential end-of-assignment report. …

“Your actions are not only deplorable, but seriously reprehensible. … Your action is without precedent and in my opinion seriously embarrassing for yourself,” Ahlenius wrote in the 50-page memo to Ban, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. “I regret to say that the secretariat now is in a process of decay.”

Well, it seems the UN has improved not at all from the oil-for-food scandal days.

It remains a mystery why Obama has bestowed upon the UN new respect and importance in his foreign policy schemes. What exactly is it about this body — corrupt, filled with haters of Israel and the West, incapable of enforcing its endless resolutions against rogue states — that captures Obama’s fancy? In grasping for consensus and turning a blind eye to the UN’s bad behavior, Obama has diminished his and our moral authority.

It seems that now is precisely the time to diminish the UN’s importance and make clear the limits of our patience with a body that does far more harm than good.