The United Nations has become a Useless Notion occupying valuable real estate on the East River. Why do we put up with this consortium of petty dictators and corrupt oligarchies? The recent election of the new president of the General Assembly confirms my suspicion that to achieve success in the United Nations, one must hate the United States.

The fact that Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua is a Catholic priest shouldn’t dismiss his clearly anti-American statements of the past. An avowed advocate of the Marxist liberation theology, he had been reprimanded by Pope John Paul II for his involvement with the left-wing Nicaraguan Sandinistas. He served as foreign minister under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega. Mr. d’Escoto has called President Reagan a “butcher of my people” and claims he started the Contra War. He also calls President Bush a liar, which should endear him to the likes of Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, and the Hollywood elite.

At a press conference following his unopposed election as General Assembly president, Mr. d’Escoto tried to soften his previous rhetoric, but we shouldn’t forget who this man is. As a member of Los Doce, or “the 12,” Mr. d’Escoto helped mask the communist orientation of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and played a key role in the Marxists’ rise to power. Now, he says let’s let bygones be bygones.

As an adviser to Mr. Ortega, Mr. d’Escoto also endorsed Nicaragua’s ties to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and to Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This resulted in Iranian investment deals, mutual visits, and Ortega’s endorsement before the U.N. General Assembly of Iran’s demand to develop its nuclear capabilities.

Further proof that the United Nations is run by Marxist thugs and dictators was its recent rejection of a nongovernmental organization led by Armando Valladares, the Cuban who was kept in prison by Castro for 22 years.

The U.N. Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations rejected the application of the Human Rights Foundation, because the Cuban representative charged that Mr. Valladares was a convicted criminal and had participated in terrorist activities. The decision was voted against by Colombia, Israel, Peru, and, of course, the United States. Siding with Cuba, who held this man prisoner for more than two decades, were Sudan, Venezuela, Angola, China, Egypt, and Russia, among other countries whose own records on human rights remain suspect.

Mr. Valladares had been a prisoner of conscience in Cuba and is now recognized as a distinguished poet and writer who founded the Human Rights Foundation upon his release. Its mission is a deep commitment to individual liberty and an aim to raise awareness about both the nature of freedom and the vulnerability of freedom in the Americas. Well, no wonder the U.N. commission rejected that radical group.

According to the U.N. Charter, the organization’s purposes are “to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Now when has it done that? How long have Christians been killed and persecuted in the Sudan? But what a great job the United Nations did evacuating all the Europeans while nearly a million Rwandans slew each other. What about that sex scandal in 2005 when Secretary-General Annan had to admit that U.N. peacekeepers and staff have sexually abused or exploited war refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The worst of the 150 or so allegations of misconduct include pedophilia, rape, and prostitution.

One thing the United Nations does do on a regular basis is denounce Israel — a tiny nation surrounded by countries calling for its elimination — whenever it takes retaliatory action against attacks. Let’s not forget the Oil for Food scandal, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Burma, and the other festering hot spots around the world that the United Nations is incapable of monitoring.

Why do we tolerate such a presence in our city? I recommend that we evict the Useless Notion and export it to a country that appreciates effete diplomacy. France, which just convicted Brigitte Bardot of inciting Islamaphobia for writing a letter critical of Muslim immigrants, might be a possibility, although President Sarkozy may turn out to be our best ally. Canada’s another choice. The thought police on its Human Rights Commission put Mark Steyn on trial for the same offense because he quoted something that offended the Canadian Islamic community. A Canadian investigator for the commission, Dean Steacy, said: “Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don’t give it any value.”

Senator McCain will be in Toronto today. Maybe he can convince the Canadians to take the United Nations off our hands, demonstrating once and for all the benefit of the North American Free Trade Agreement from which Senator Obama is threatening to withdraw.

acolon@nysun.com