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| International |
| Kofi admits damage to UN over Iraq crisis |
| 2003-03-27 |
| UN Secretary General Kofi Annan admitted that the world was bitter at the United Nations' handling of the Iraqi crisis and said the member states regret the UN efforts to achieve a peaceful solution did not succeed. Opening the United Nations Security Council session held on Wednesday at the request of the Arab League and the Non-Aligned Movement, Annan said, the peoples of the world had shown how much they expected from the United Nations and the 15-member Security Council. "Many of them have been bitterly disappointed," Annan said. "All of us must regret that our intense efforts to achieve a peaceful solution through this council did not succeed," he said. "We're disappointed that the whole episode demonstrated just how ineffectual and venal the UN really is. We were hoping no one noticed..." "We are living through a moment of deep divisions, which, if not healed, can have grave consequences for the international system and relations between states." "I'm really worried about whether I'm gonna have a job this time next year..." He said faith in the United Nations could only be restored if the council worked on specific goals for Iraq, including tapping into billions of dollars in Iraqi oil revenue to finance the emergency aid under the UN oil-for-food program, which is still stalled in the council. "Money is power. It doesn't even have to be your own money, as long as it's your own power..." Annan criticized both Iraq for neglecting arms inspectors and the United States for acting unilaterally. "Many people around the world are seriously questioning whether it was legitimate for some member states to proceed to such a fateful action now, an action that has far-reaching consequences well beyond the immediate military dimensions without first reaching a collective decision of this Council," Annan told the council. The Security Council did reach a collective decision. It decided to dither. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #10 "an action that has far-reaching consequences" For you maybe. The other 90% of the world that isn't in Europe or North America or Australasia (?) could only be slightly worse-off. |
| Posted by: RW 2003-03-27 22:47:51 |
| #9 "Many people around the world are seriously questioning whether it was legitimate for some member states to proceed to such a fateful action now, an action that has far-reaching consequences well beyond the immediate military dimensions without first reaching a collective decision of this Council," Annan told the council. Yeah, and many people wonder why the removal of a brutal dictator would require even a vote, much less a drawn-out debate (and a failed one at that!). Good luck in your next position selling used cars. |
| Posted by: Flaming Sword 2003-03-27 17:33:56 |
| #8 I think he used the word "faith" and the United Nations in the same sentence. The only person that would have faith in the U.N. is someone who has a sack of walnuts for brains. |
| Posted by: Jonesy 2003-03-27 17:14:25 |
| #7 KF never could remember that he was our creature, not to mention that this proves the UN is not an alternate to great power politics. |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2003-03-27 16:27:38 |
| #6 He said faith in the United Nations could only be restored if the council worked on specific goals for Iraq, including tapping into billions of dollars in Iraqi oil revenue to finance the emergency aid under the UN oil-for-food program, which is still stalled in the council. Let there be no more money funneled to the U.N. for anything from Iraq, and let there be no more American money sent in the form of dues. The old oil-for-food program should be declared dead, and humanitarian efforts given to some other responsible organization. Phuque the U.N. "All of us must regret that our intense efforts to achieve a peaceful solution through this council did not succeed," he said. Not only did the UNSC not achieve a peaceful solution, it also failed to respond to Iraqi intransigence in a forceful and determined way. That means it failed on not one but TWO fronts. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-03-27 15:46:42 |
| #5 Dealing with Kofi is like sending radio signals to a distant galexy: it takes days or weeks to get a signal back. The age of accountability is coming, Kofi, and it will not be business as usual for the UN anymore. There is $40bn or so of the Iraqi people's money in a weasel bank somewhere for the Oil-for-Food Programe and it certainly does not exist as a skimming fund for UN skimocrats. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-03-27 15:15:22 |
| #4 Using the term 'unilateral' seems to imply the speaker has no clue. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-27 14:51:38 |
| #3 Doesn't the oil for food game end when Saddam is removed. I think the UN just wants the oil money going through its greedy little hands. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-03-27 14:43:45 |
| #2 Light dawns on Marblehead. What a f**king idiot! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-27 14:23:44 |
| #1 Doesn't the oil for food game end when Saddam is removed. I think the UN just wants the oil money going through its greedy little hands. |
| Posted by: Yank 3/27/2003 2:43:45 PM |