Last Monday on a BBC radio broadcast Hina Jilani, a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and former UN Special Representative on Human Rights criticized the United States for not allowing proper legal protection for suspected terrorists. She can criticize anyone she wishes, but it appears that she might have more pressing problems in her homeland.

The government of Pakistan is now bowing to Taliban militants (led by tribal militia leader Baitullah Mehsud, the prime suspect in the plot to kill former prime minister Benazir Bhutto), allowing him to impose Islamic law in Pakistan’s Northwest territory. The Pakistan government is made up of a bunch of stupid appeasers, who will eventually reap what they sew. Mehsud’s thugs extort protection money from rural villages and enforce Sharia law, which includes the destruction of schools and prohibits music and video.

Maybe Ms. Jilani should shut her mouth, stop hob-knobbing in New York, take a flight to Islamabad, jump in a land rover, ride over up to the city of Wana, and check-in to the hotel Waziristan. While she’s there she should get in Mehsud’s face and demand that his Taliban bullies stop burning schools for girls. One thing is for sure; if the Taliban has its way, there won’t be any young girls from Waziristan who grow up to be lawyers for the Pakistani Supreme Court.

The United Nations is full of pompous people from hellish countries throughout the world who enjoy the freedom, security, and prosperity of New York City. They come to a place that is so free that they can literally convulse in their criticism of the United States of America. Many of them would risk getting a bullet in the head if they were to go back to their homeland and criticize their own leaders in the same way they revile against America. The UN is so hypocritical that Mark Steyn, in his book America Alone says: “In recent years I can find only one example of a senior UN figure having the guts to call a member state a “totalitarian regime.” It was the former secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 2004, and he was talking about America.”

Another ditty from a BBC reporter came while I was listening on Tuesday evening. A BBC reporter was talking to Indonesians on the street about the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to that country. One of the respondents, an Indonesian student, indicated that many Indonesians “hate the United States.” After that comment the reporter asked, “What can Hillary Clinton do on this trip to give Indonesia the respect it deserves from America?”

WHAT???? What kind of a question is this? If Indonesian residents want to hate the United States, so be it, but why do we have to cower to them and ask them what we’ve done to deserve their wrath?  When have we disrespected Indonesia?   Why do we have to earn the respect of Indonesia? Doesn’t “hate” sound a bit like disrespect?   Could it be that the Indonesians might need to respect the United States more?

Let me conclude with three points. First, I put absolutely no stock in the criticism of foreign “experts” (Pakistani lawyers, UN Secretary-Generals or whomever) who don’t have the guts to take care of their own human rights problems. Second, I’m upset with the British, who have grossly understated the importance of their gift to the world of culture, common law, and civilized reason. At least the British are willing to provide combat troops to assist the United States in world conflicts. However, when the French, Dutch, Germans, and other continental European leaders have meetings, you can actually see a shiver running around the chairs looking for a spine to crawl up.

Third, it bothers me when I hear Americans engaging in self-deprecation of the United States. We’re not perfect, but the United States has borne the burdens of world leadership since1941. Europeans and people from other parts of the world have greatly benefited because the United States has demonstrated both the will and the means to stop tyranny and despotism, while they have largely remained silent and were spared the costs (in treasure and lives) of doing the dirty work.

For the critics of the United States, let me propose a question. If not the United States, which country do you prefer should lead the world? When your homeland is threatened with invasion, genocide, or despotism, what country are you going to call to assist you? How about Pakistan? How about Iran? How about China? Do you want to try Somalia, the Sudan, or the French on for size? I didn’t think so.