| "Is it just me, or is it a little hot in here? Somebody open a window..." |
 Two influential former congressional leaders were named Wednesday to lead a new Washington group to study the UN's effectiveness and reform efforts. Newt Gingrich, the Republican former speaker of the House of Representatives, and George Mitchell, former Democrat Senate leader, will lead the task force on UN reform created by the US Institute of Peace, a government organization dedicated to studying international conflict. The task force will also include a number of business executives, retired diplomats and former military leaders, including General Wesley Clark, the former NATO commander who ran for the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2004. The task force is mandated to monitor "the extent to which the United Nations is fullfilling the goals of its Charter and offer recommendations for US action" to the US Congress, according to a USIP statement. |