What good does the UN do? It provides legitimacy for the policies of the US and the UK sometimes. If it does no good, why do they keep sucking up to it? They need it, they's why.

Many Americans, and even more Brits, have jumped on to the "legitimacy" bandwagon, eager to proclaim the pure altruism inherent in any proclamation made by a sophisticated European, who understands the importance of "transnational cooperation" and "international law". That is one big reason why polticians who know better find it expedient to suck up and pay lip-service. They don't have to mean anything by it, but why incur neeedless wrath from weasels at home? The UN only confers "legitimacy" to the extent that people around the world believe in the fantasy. Currently, our best shot at discerning the *actual* legitimacy of a country is whether or not the US supports it consistently.

To make things even clearer. The UN is an unlected and unaccountable body that sponsors terrorism. There is no sense in which its opinions are any kind of determinant of what is morally right.