"In any event I have a high degree of confidence that the UN will either not allow such a thing to happen or will work towards fixing it if it is happening."
I don't think you will believe unless you see it with your own eyes. This might not be practical to do, and usually it would only be circumstances that came about by accident - I'm not suggesting you go to Syria yourself!
But during the Balkans fiasco there were plenty of reports of the UN troops standing by whilst one side or the other carried out massacres, because they had no mandate (I read, were too scared) to intervene. Then a friend happened to be working in East Timor during the independence hand over. The UN did nothing to help the Timorese as the Indonesians extracted their last revenges. They stayed holed up in their well protected compounds, rarely venturing out in their 4WDs for a brief reccy. They are a disgraceful organisation.
