Will the real friends of the United States, if any, please stand up?

There's room for wondering just how many reliable allies America really has in view of the way those who profess to be our staunch supporters keep abandoning this nation at the United Nations.The extent of the problem can be seen from the annual report the State Department issued this week on voting in the U.N. General Assembly during 1988. The report's main points:

- The U.S. delegation received less support from other countries in the General Assembly last year than in any other year since the State Department started keeping track.

- The average U.N. member backed the position of the American delegation on only 15 percent of the contested votes while supporting the Soviet Union - brace yourselves for this one - on 95 percent.

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- The average member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization voted with the Soviets 63 percent of the time last year.

- Among the top backers of the Soviets, besides the expected support from other Iron Curtain countries, were: Mexico, which sided with Moscow 99 percent of the time; Costa Rica, 97 percent; and Greece, 89 percent.

This situation does not add up to a persuasive case for the United States getting out of the United Nations, as some Americans would like Washington to do. Indeed, the more the U.N. turns against us, the more the United States needs to stay in the U.N. to try to reverse the tide and to protect ourselves by casting a veto in the Security Council.

But this situation most certainly does warrant Washington's taking a new look at the basis on which Washington doles out foreign aid. It seems that the top 50 recipients of American aid sided with the Soviets last year on 97 percent of the votes. Maybe such funds are buying some economic and political stability abroad. Maybe. But those dollars certainly aren't buying the United States much friendship.

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