Tools:

Earlier this week, the U.N. General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution to ban smoking in the New York halls of the U.N. -- with an optional extension to country branches. Vote yes, urged resolution sponsor Uruguay! Bravo, said the World Health Organization!... Apparently diplomats are a stubborn lot, clinging to their cigarettes and sovereignty. Kofi Annan, the previous secretary-general, tried to "discourage" smoking, to the obvious disregard of many. As Reuters reported Thursday, many in the U.N.'s lounges doubt this latest resolution will have any effect.

I'm a non-smoker, but still: anti-smoking campaigns are kind of suspicious to begin with. Plus anti-smoking hysteria has officially reached pathological levels in some of the world's more enlightened nanny states. But watching how the UN is unable to regulate smoking in its own building I find myself skeptical about their ability to enforce Iranian denuclearization.

A misguided UN campaign implemented incompetently and circumvented by lawless despots and tyrants who just ignore the rules - shocking, that.

References:
* The end of cigarette diplomacy? [FP Passport]
* Doug Henwood Interviews Slavoj Zizek
* Do we need anti-smoking snoopers to enforce the law? [Telegraph]

Previously:
* Iran To Protest Israeli "Military Threats" In UN
* The UN Springs Into Action, Rewards Palestinian Use of Human Shields
* Smug Condescending Sophisticates Admit They've Been Lying Through Their Teeth About Israeli Security I - UN Admits Hezbollah Is Rearming