BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: GUEST,Bunky:
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 01:35 AM

Glenn Reynolds links to a Democratic Leadership Council article calling for Kofi Annan's resignation. It has to be done they argue, for the good of the United Nations.

Unfortunately, the United Nations' credibility has been steadily eroded by its own misdeeds, with a burgeoning scandal over its incompetent and sometimes corrupt management of the Iraq oil-for-food program being the most damaging example. .... But mismanagement, corruption, and manipulation of the program by Saddam Hussein allowed his regime to amass at least $21 billion outside of the United Nations' control, with the great bulk of that sum -- $17.3 billion -- pilfered between 1997 and 2003 on the secretary general's watch. In effect, the United Nations colluded in Saddam's successful evasion of U.N. sanctions. The most damning charge so far -- that a former chief of the oil-for-food program, Benon Sevan, accepted bribes from Saddam's regime -- was made in October by former U.N. weapons inspector Charles A. Duelfer, who led a Senate investigation into the scandal.

This recital of Oil-for-Food sleaze, which is old news to many in the blogosphere, lays the premise for the following conclusion: Kofi must go so the UN can stay.

As we argued last week, one of America's most urgent foreign policy needs is to retool international organizations and traditional alliances to provide collective security against the global threat of jihadist terrorism. The United Nations can and should be a central part of this new collective security system, but only if the organization is systematically reformed to serve that purpose.

This is a non-sequitur if ever there was one. Kofi Annan's accession to the post was greeted with relief by those who felt he would be an improvement on Boutros Boutros Ghali. In the beginning Boutros Ghali had to leave and Kofi Annan had to be admitted so that the United Nations could be saved. PBS recalls:

In November 1996, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's bid for reappointment was vetoed by the United States. Clinton officials said that the secretary-general was not as focused on reform as they deemed necessary. They said it would be hard to persuade a Republican-led Congress to pay off America's $1.45 billion in unpaid U.N. dues as long as Boutros-Ghali was at the helm. Because it is an informal tradition that a region of the world gets two terms as secretary-general, the Organization of African Unity had a short time to suggest candidate. After weeks of rancorous debate among the Security Council members, the U.N. General Assembly agreed upon Kofi Annan as Boutros-Ghali's replacement.

Annan was the the product and not the originator of a dysfunctional organization. This account of Annan's contest against his rival Amara Essy, described on a University of Connecticut website exudes something of the flavor of Byzantium.

In office, Boutros-Ghali proved to be an assertive, sometimes acerbic secretary-general who often rankled some members, especially the United States. President Clinton branded the secretary-general as ineffective and claimed that if he remained, it would be impossible to persuade Congress to appropriate funds for the UN. For these and other reasons, Washington, in effect, vetoed a second tern for Boutros-Ghali.

Since most recent secretaries-general have served two terms, the African countries felt that it was still their "turn," and the names of potential African candidates began to circulate. The process in the Security Council involved a search for consensus that Italy's representative likened to selecting a pope. The only difference, said the ambassador, was that in the UN "if you stare at the ceiling, there are no frescoes by Michelangelo to inspire you." In a series of straw votes, two names emerged: Kofi Annan, a career UN diplomat from Ghana, and Amara Essy, the foreign minister of the Ivory Coast. Annan was favored by the United States. He had a reputation as a capable and moderate diplomat and administrator, and his personal history (a B.A. degree in economics from Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a master's degree in management from MIT) helped assuage Washington's concern that a secretary-general from black Africa might prove too radical. Annan is married to Nane Lagergren, a Swedish lawyer, who is a niece of Raoul Wallenberg, the heroic Swedish diplomat noted for trying to save Jewish lives during World War II.

France was the primary supporter of Essy, based on the fact that he spoke fluent French (but only halting English), had earned his law degree from Poitiers University in France, and came from a former French colony. The French threatened initially to veto Annan, but the American and British indicated they would veto Essy. In the end, with Annan clearly ahead in the straw votes, and given that he speaks at least some French, France gave way.

Annan was not a rogue UN bureaucrat, as Benon Sevan proves. He is perfectly representative of the system. It may be argued that certain Great Powers on the Security Council were the true ringleaders of the secret rearmament of Saddam; it may even be conceded that the United States was a willing participant in the wheeling and dealing that constructed the labyrinthine palace on the East River. But it cannot be maintained, as the Democratic Leadership Council does that "America's most urgent foreign policy needs is to retool international organizations and traditional alliances to provide collective security against the global threat of jihadist terrorism. The United Nations can and should be a central part of this new collective security system". Corruption at the United Nations was only tolerable for so long as it did nothing of consequence. But making it the central plank of international security would be tantamount to swallowing a box of razor blades and washing it down with sulfuric acid. The UN: into playschool or into the East River.

The Worm Orobouros
The indispensable Glenn Reynolds links to breaking aspects of the UN story. The first of course, is the DLC's reduction of their initial demand that Kofi Annan resign to merely stepping aside -- recusing himself in effect, from any participation in the Oil-for-Food investigation -- which should be a given anyway. But the stress gauge continued to creep up when Human Rights Watch announced the obvious, that the UN Human Rights Committee is dominated by a choice cast of villains; that the fox is charge of the henhouse.

Groups such as Human Rights Watch have been complaining about the U.N. commission's membership problem for years. The focus of the abusive governments on the commission, Human Rights Watch warns, is on "minimizing the exposure of their own human rights record rather than on stigmatizing the worst human rights violations in the world and devising methods to bring about effective responses to these abuses." ... No one would suggest seating Jean-Claude Duvalier and Gen. Augusto Pinochet on the International Criminal Court, so why put the countries that are their equivalents on the U.N.'s main human rights body?

Why? Because it's the UN, a place where the normal laws of gravity are inverted, everyone is immune from everything, where nothing works yet everything is beyond reproach. That's why. Having grasped that one essential fact it is necessary to accept the corollary. Neither the departure of Kofi Annan nor his replacement will alter the strange physics of the place which arises from the first-class funding of third-rate causes of the worst possible sort. If that is the definition of Oil-for-Food it is also the definition of the United Nations.

One of the shadow costs of an obsession with the United Nations is the preemptive dismissal of diplomatic structures which have historically worked. The recent crisis in the Ukraine was resolved without the United Nations. Someone may eventually remember that the diplomatic structures which defeated Hitler predated the UN. When one considers the diplomatic record of the 20th century the really striking thing is how little of consequence took place under the Baby Blue flag. Of the 50 odd wars that took place after 1945, including such humdingers as the Iraq-Iran War, the Chinese-Indian confrontations, the invasion of Tibet, etc. only two -- Korea 1950 and Kuwait 1991 -- were successfully met by collective UN action. To a large extent the UN's case for its own existence is its own existence. It's a circular argument and the strongest one it has.

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: GUEST,Molotov
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 01:42 AM

CC: You haven't presented an argument to win or loose yet. Just a bunch of "if this is that then why is that this" drivel. When are you going to present some facts?

Do you like Kofi Annan or not and if so why?

M

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: dianavan
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 01:59 AM

It seems the Ghazi al-Yawer says whatever is advantageous for him to say at the time.

"We blame the United States 100% for the security in Iraq [...] They occupied the country, disbanded the security agencies and for 10 months left Iraq's borders open for anyone to come in without a visa or even a passport." - said whilst President of the Governing Council.

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: GUEST,Molotov
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 02:16 AM

In the same article Iraq Council Delays Choosing New Leader Monday, May 31, 2004 ( Before Al-Yawer was President )


"Al-Yawer, who 45, also has denounced violence against American and other coalition forces.

On the other hand, Pachachi, who favors Western attire, has said foreign troops must remain in Iraq until the violence is quelled and the army and police are fully prepared to protect the nation."

M

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: CarolC
Date: 14 Dec 04 - 11:21 AM

I don't have an opinion about Kofi Annan at this time, Molotov. I'm not anywhere near as gullible as you.

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Jan 05 - 01:36 PM

Yes I agree. He is not just a an asshole but he is a theif and a Bastard.

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: Peace
Date: 11 Jan 05 - 01:39 PM

It's so refreshing to get a considered opinion every now and then.

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: GUEST,Molotov
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 08:40 AM

What the fuck is the UN doing about it's own findings?

Kofi Annan is a miserable failure:

UNICEF (the UN Children's Fund) estimates that 200,000 children from West and Central Africa are sold into slavery each year.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/slavery1.html

"Slave Trading on Africa's West Coast

The slave trade in Africa was officially banned in the early 1880s, but forced labor continues to be practiced in West and Central Africa today. UNICEF estimates that 200,000 children from this region are sold into slavery each year. Many of these children are from Benin and Togo, and are sold into the domestic, agricultural, and sex industries of wealthier, neighboring countries such as Nigeria and Gabon.
        
The most recent incident involved the MV Etireno, which was refused from ports in Gabon and Cameroon. When the ship reached Cotonou, Benin, in April, 2001, police began an investigation of the captain and crew. More adults than children were believed to be aboard.
Chattel slavery in Sudan

The enslavement of the Dinkas in southern Sudan may be the most horrific and well-known example of contemporary slavery. According to 1993 U.S. State Department estimates, up to 90,000 blacks are owned by North African Arabs, and often sold as property in a thriving slave trade for as little as $15 per human being.
"There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims."        

Animist tribes in southern Sudan are frequently invaded by Arab militias from the North, who kill the men and enslave the women and children. The Arabs consider it a traditional right to enslave southerners, and to own chattel slaves (slaves owned as personal property).

Physical mutilation is practiced upon these slaves not only to prevent escape, but to enforce the owners' ideologies. According to an ASI report: "Kon, a thirteen-year-old Dinka boy, was abducted by Arab nomads and taken to a merchant's house. There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims. Threatened with the same treatment the boy converted."

In a detailed article by Charles Jacobs for the American Anti-Slavery Group (ASI), Jacobs recounts how a 10-year-old child was taken in a raid on her village in southern Sudan, and branded by her master with a hot iron pot."

Molotov

Subject: RE: BS: Kofi Annan is an arrogant asshole
From: dianavan
Date: 19 Apr 05 - 01:15 AM

Kofi Annan is responsible for ending slavery? Thats a pretty big responsibility for just one guy. Maybe the U.S. could withdraw from Iraq and do something worthwhile like take some action on their own findings about international slavery. Or maybe they could ask the U.N. to help them take action to end slavery.

Oops - Thats right - They're too busy blocking access to hospitals, markets and transportation routes to do anything more than contribute to the misery of the people in Iraq.

and by the way - Did you hear the latest? The U.S. knew about kickbacks for Iraqi oil and did nothing to stop it and then had the audacity to claim that oil for food was not working. But heh - that guy from Texas made a pretty penny. So did the Brit.