Kofi Annan Makes His Case to the Wall Street Journal
It would appear that Mr. Annan, Secretariat of the United Nations and generally a miserable failure, is feeling the heat. What with several ongoing congressional investigations and some dedicated members of the press on his heels, Kofi felt the need to pen an editorial for the Wall Street Journal’s OpinionJournal.com .
He defends himself and his corrupt organization and I hate to take on such an easy target but way I figger, Kofi asked for it.
Annan offers several defenses of his organization and the problems it’s had. All of them are like fragile china to be smashed quite easily.
When the appalling disaster of the tsunami struck in the Indian Ocean, killing at least 150,000 people and destroying the livelihood of millions, President Bush acted quickly to form a core group of nations with available military forces in the region. That was the right thing to do. It got the relief efforts off to a flying start, which was essential.
But a week later, when all involved came together in Jakarta to plan and coordinate the multinational effort, everyone, including the U.S., agreed that the U.N. should take the lead.
Ah. First, Mr. Annan, why wasn’t the UN on the scene of the disaster immediately? Oh, I see. The UN doesn’t have the ability to mobilize quickly in such events. Although unexpected events do tend to happen unexpectedly and it would be prudent for a world body to have an appropriate reaction time. I would think after eight years on the job one who cared about making life on the planet better would have organized such a quick reaction force. Instead, the United States had to go in and save the day. Something, Mr. Annan, Americans are weary of doing for your worthless organization, no matter how many editorials you write.
Second, even when the UN did show up on the job, the first reaction by the personnel was as follows:
Tomorrow, we will have to set up a camp for relief workers – 90 of them – which is fully self-contained, with kitchen, food, lodging, everything, because they have nowhere to stay and we don't want them to be an additional burden on the people there.
Thus, the immediate concern was comfort for the UN that they have a self-contained kitchen, lodging, that sort of thing. When all around people were dying, lost and in despair. Certainly they had no self-contained kitchens and fancy digs to rest up at night.
Then Annan “explains” the Iraqi situation. He begins by stating he understands American disillusionment over the UN’s failure to enforce its own resolutions as regards Iraq. Is that an understatement or what, Kofi? Americans are not disillusioned over the cowardice of the UN, not to mention the hypocrisy. Americans plain out and out despise how the UN handled the situation in Iraq, turning its back on the Iraqi people and churning out yet another resolution. Americans are not cowards and more often than not tend to follow through on ultimatums. You’ll not change the American nature with pretty words that will never cover UN’s failure to act. We saw what happened and we’re not stupid here in the United States.
Both Iraqis and Americans also turned to the U.N. for help in organizing last month's elections. The U.N. helped to draft the electoral law and the law on political parties, to choose and train the members of the independent electoral commission and hundreds of election organizers (who in turn trained thousands of others), and to draw up the voters' lists.
Above, Annan takes credit for helping out with the Iraqi election and hey, maybe it did. I’ve yet to see one newspaper, major media or left-wing Blogger congratulate the UN for a successful Iraqi election. Plaudits go to the United States of America and our military which made it possible. Just because the UN did some paperwork, NOT EVEN IN IRAQ I MIGHT ADD, don’t try to take any credit. The UN doesn’t deserve it. That kind of talk only makes Americans madder.
Of course the U.N. is far from perfect--even if some of the recent allegations made about it have been overblown. The interim report of Paul Volcker's independent inquiry has helped put the Oil For Food program in perspective. Some of the more hyperbolic assertions about it have been proven untrue.
Kofi does mention the worst UN blunder/criminal act of them all. That is the total lack of oversight for the UN Oil For Food program. Which turned out to be Oil For Palaces that Saddam Hussein can continue to feed his citizens into shredders while collecting bribes from, well guess who? All the member states of the United Nations and guess who else? Kofi’s son himself, Kojo Annan! Annan conveniently doesn’t mention his son when he touches ever so lightly on the UN Oil For Food scandal.
And name me a single “hyperbolic” assertion that’s been proven untrue? Because every single day the information coming out of our senate and house committees investigating this UN scandal gets WORSE. Anyone can say an allegation has been proven untrue but that doesn’t make it the truth.
Even more shocking are widespread cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of minors by peacekeepers and U.N. officials in the Congo and other African countries. Both the U.N. Secretariat and the member states have been too slow to realize the extent of this problem, take effective measures to end it, and punish the culprits. But we are now doing so, and I am determined to see it through.
Above we have Kofi touching on the tender subject of sexual abuse by minors by UN “peacekeepers”/child rapists. How can anyone on this planet justify such a thing? Or try to make it right? Oh, you’re finally getting around to punishing the culprits although the culprits have been there for several years now, having a ball and raping young girls they were charged with protecting.
It could be, Mr. Annan, and I’ll just throw it out there, that the pattern of unpunished sexual abuse across the planet might have been patterned by your organization’s own internal handling of sexual abuse right in the vaunted UN offices. Claudia Rosett, one dedicated and true journalist who is chasing the UN with a passion, writes about the problem of UN Commissioner Ruud Lubbers, a fellow who takes the position that every woman’s breasts and buttocks are his to fondle at will. In reading her narrative, Kofi, we discover that last June your own internal auditors found Mr. Lubbers guilty of heinous behavior. Yet you kept him on, not dismissing him until the publicity became too bad.
The Wise I would assert it’s entirely possible you overlooked those peacekeeper/rapists charges and now, what with all the publicity, intend to look into it. Basing my assertion on your history of overlooking stuff. How many young girls suffered rape and God knows what else while you, Mr. Annan, “overlooked” it all?
Commissioner Ruud Lubbers resigned Monday over allegations that he had sexually harassed a woman who worked for him. The allegations were not new. The U.N.'s internal auditors concluded last June, in a secret report, that Mr. Lubbers had engaged in "misconduct and abuse of authority" by way of "unwanted physical contact with the complainant." This report was submitted months ago to Mr. Annan, who ignored the findings, and kept Mr. Lubbers on, until the press last week got hold of the document. In the ensuing flap, Mr. Lubbers resigned.
Claudia Rosett's Column
Annan continues on, after wooing us with his insincere words of contrition, to vow to clean up his act and promotes a coming summit in September of this year as the meeting that will change everything.
How about, just for starters Kofi, your organization stops undermining the efforts of the United States of America? First one of your deputies makes some grand statement about the stingy US when Bush announced our contribution to tsunami victims within a day of the event.
Not that anyone knew the extent of the damage or anything and not that, check out the above, the UN had ships and relief chugging on the way to the tsunami victims when your buddy made his most unkind assertion.
And if yon reader thinks the UN has stopped its constant undermining of the United States, consider the following:
Afghanistan remains one of the world's poorest places three years after the ousting of the Taliban and could fall back into chaos if people's grievances are not addressed, the United Nations has warned in its first ever development survey of the war-ravaged country.
There had been "remarkable" progress since US-led forces toppled the Islamic regime, but without help the country that once sheltered Osama bin Laden could again pose a international threat, the report that ranked Afghanistan 173 out of 178 countries says.
From ABC.net
The above assessment by the UN was released just shortly before your pathetic op-ed, Kofi. It is nothing more than another swipe at the United States. Afghanistan was a desolate wasteland where women were murdered on soccer fields by the Taliban. Not that the UN did anything about this sad state of affairs either. American soldiers and American money is being used to rebuild that county and most normal people know such things take time. Yet the UN continues to throw crap at any American effort.
And we’re supposed to believe you, Mr. Annan? Americans are supposed to believe that you are a good man and run an organization that needs just a little tweaking here and there?
Americans know better, Annan. Given time all of these UN examples of horrific malfeasance will hit the American mainstream. Our Liberal Old Media loves the UN and as such it will take a bit more time as modest Bloggers like myself across the Internet and on group forums get the truth out there.
My former soccer Mom self fell for that UN Oil For Food scam, thinking, at that time in my life, that it sounded like a fine deal to me.
Fool me once, Kofi, shame on you. Food me twice, SHAME ON ME.
Tara Plays Liberal Boo-Hoo On Sony’s Dime
Tara is a pretty African American womea, part of the “street smart” gang, Net Worth.
She did the liberal this past week and tried to make a social statement on what effectively was an advertisement for Sony Play Station Game “Gran Turisimo 4 ”.
The idea was that the two teams would be in charge of placing a large graffiti ad on a blank wall in Harlem, New York.
Tara was team leader for NetWorth this past episode and her background seemed to propel her to a natural leadership role for this endeavor.
Until now NetWorth had been bashing Magna but in the last episode Magna won handily.
The Wise I is no expert on Play Station Games much less Harlem. I do have some notion of the consumer demographic expected to use Gran Turisimo 4. One only has to watch one rapper video to glean this.
A vibrant African American male between the ages of 18 and 32 AND owner of a Play Station AND connoisseur of happening video games would hone in on colorful ads emphasizing manhood, winning, skill, talent and exultations. Magna, the “head smart” guys figured this out. Their wall was a work of art. They picked up the essence of the market for that graffiti ad in terms of where it was placed in this episode of The Apprentice. For Gran Turisimo 4’s market would not be exclusively African American males in that age group. Surely Caucasian males in that same age group would be part of that market. But the ad at the time of the show was specifically in HARLEM. An ad generated to appeal to Caucasians of the same demographic would be essentially the same I would suspect. THIS realization was the key to Magna’s success this past episode. They paid less attention to the market’s color and locale as its age and sex.
Tara, well I just don’t know what she was thinking. Her emphasis was mostly on the locale of the ad and as such , well the Sony folks didn’t like it. She wanted to create some social message kind of thing that would reveal the promise of Harlem to come. Some of the focus group questioned about the ad also pooh-poohed it, dismissing it as yet another example of trying to “change” Harlem and the wonders due.
I certainly can understand this sentiment. Players of Gran Turisimo 4 are hip and happening, smart, cool and intelligent. Hey, they can afford a Sony Play Station and know how to maneuver that joystick. Those consumers didn’t want to see a social sob story painted all over that building. Tara, I don’t know, perhaps she wanted to impress the world with her kind heart and social soul.
Tara was fired in this episode.
TV This Coming Week
And yet another Scott Peterson book. Amber Frey’s by the way is enjoying a ride atop the NY Times bestseller list. God Bless America.
THIS book is by Scott’s sister. With whom, it is alleged, Scott stayed after Lacy’s body was discovered. She would be privy to more behavioral observations than most with this scenario.
In the publication release hype, it’s not surprising that on Weds, 3/2, @ 8pm, NBC Scott’s sister will be interviewed on Dateline. Hint: She thinks he did it. Duh.
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It’s an old movie but on Friday, 3/4, @ 9pm, Lifetime will be featuring The Life of Martha Stewart. In view of Martha’s imminent release from jail, which is probably the same reason this movie is being offered, it might be worth a view.
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On Sunday, 3/6, @ 9 pm, The Learning Channel is featuring a show about the homes and lifestyles of lottery winners. Could be an opportunity to see how yon reader would live given a win of lotsa lottery money.
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Finally, a show About Pies!
Given husband’s love of the dessert and my recent cooking missive on the subject
So on the same night, Sunday, 3/6, at 10 pm, flip over to The Food Network and watch their special The National Pie Championship.
Unlike myself, I bet they don’t use frozen pie crusts.
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