January 18, 2007 | By Nathaniel Ward

United Nations attacks Heritage report

Most of the time, the United Nations tries to portray itself as a defender of freedom around the world. But when challenged, the organization’s true nature shines through. Far from defending freedom, it supports some of the most oppressive governments on the planet and maintains an institutional bias in favor of intrusive government. 

The release on Tuesday of Heritage’s Index of Economic Freedom posed just such a challenge to the U.N.’s erroneous notions about how the world works. The organization’s reaction was revealing.

Jonathan Pincus, an economist with the United Nations Development Program in Vietnam, told the Thanh Nien Daily that “Vietnam should not be concerned too much about the [I]ndex.” Why? Because the Index encourages countries to adopt policies that free their people from government regulation to allow individual freedom and permit economic growth. And the U.N. just won’t stand for that.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.