EFL
Adds flavor (some garlic, lots of salt, and several gallons of vinegar) to the previous post...
Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, accused the United Nations Security Council today of having failed to help rescue his country from Saddam Hussein, and he chided member states for bickering over his beleaguered country’s future.
And from the NYT, if you can believe it.
"Settling scores with the United States-led coalition should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people," Mr. Zebari said in language unusually scolding for an occupant of the guest seat at the end of the curving Security Council table. "Squabbling over political differences takes a back seat to the daily struggle for security, jobs, basic freedoms and all the rights the U.N. is chartered to uphold," he said.
| "You guys can sit here in the international bathroom exploring your sexuality. We've got things to do." |
Taking a harsh view of the inability of quarreling members of the Security Council to endorse military action in Iraq, Mr. Zebari said, "One year ago, the Security Council was divided between those who wanted to appease Saddam Hussein and those who wanted to hold him accountable. The United Nations as an organization failed to help rescue the Iraqi people from a murderous tyranny that lasted over 35 years, and today we are unearthing thousands of victims in horrifying testament to that failure." He declared, "The U.N. must not fail the Iraqi people again."
| Kind of an argument against any deep UN involvement in the political end of rebuilding, I'd say. |
It was not immediately clear how the accusatory tone of Mr. Zebari’s speech affected the closed-door discussion over the United Nations’ role in Iraq that followed, but Secretary General Kofi Annan, the first to emerge from the hall, appeared taken aback. "Now is not the time to pin blame and point fingers," he told reporters.
| Well, when is the time to point fingers, dammit? |
Saying that Mr. Zebari was "obviously entitled to his opinion," Mr. Annan said that the United Nations had done as much for Iraq as it could under the circumstances and was prepared to do more.
| "I mean, we ignored, we procrastinated, we obfuscated. What more did he want?" |
"Quite honestly," he said, "now is not the time to hurl accusations and counter-accusations."
| "That can be done... ummm... some other time." |
He also took on countries like France that have expressed doubts about the current governing group. "As Iraqis," he said, "we strongly disagree with those of you that question the legitimacy of the present Iraqi authorities." He continued: "I’d like to remind you that the governing council is the most representative and democratic governing body in the region. The members of the Security Council should be reaching out and encouraging this nascent democracy in a region well known for its authoritarian rule."
| Think about that. A government appointed by an army of occupation is the closest they can come to democracy in the entire region. |
Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere of France, a critic of the war, turned aside the criticism of the Security Council dissenters, saying, "I don’t want to comment on the past."
I love it, let those bastards have it with both barrels. Of course, the sniveling french can only whine about ’bygones’, nothing unexpected there. Hope kofi got an earful from the guy. I love how he goes after them for not considering the IGC ’legimate’, I hope he took the opportunity to remind the french how much they miss saddam. |