Kofi Annan’s Rendezvous with Tehran
The United Nations and the Arab League recently added a new layer of trouble to the agony and dangers of the Middle East by appointing as their joint special envoy to Syria none other than former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The charitable view: Annan’s appointment represented the triumph of amnesia over experience. During the heyday of Annan’s signature UN scandal — the Oil-for-Food program for Saddam Hussein’s Iraq — I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether Annan was corrupt or simply incompetent and indifferent to his own failures. Given the staggering dimensions of the graft-permeated, multi-billion dollar trainwreck of the Iraq relief program for which Annan was the chief administrator, there was really no third way, apart from perhaps some mix of crookedness and ineptitude. And given that the UN’s own “independent inquiry” into the program reported finding no evidence of corrupt dealings by Annan, we must consider him officially exonerated on that front; this leaves the conclusion that he was long ago promoted far beyond his real level of competence. Indeed, the UN’s own probe reached findings that he had done a lousy job: he had failed to provide “adequate oversight” of his handpicked staff; he had failed to ensure the basic aims of the sanctions on Iraq; and his performance “fell short of the standards that the United Nations Organization should strive to maintain.”
The less generous explanation of the current UN-Arab League choice of Annan as envoy is that no one really expected him to produce a decent resolution in Syria. One has to wonder if the aim was to be seen as doing something, while buying time for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to slam a lid back on the heaving dissent imperiling his regime.
Annan has a terrible record when it comes to dealing with crises. For some specifics, here’s a link to my recent article, co-authored with Jonathan Schanzer, for The New Republic: “It’s Time to Add Syria to Kofi Annan’s List of Failures.” In a neat summing up of Annan’s efforts to date, the Washington Post editorialized on Monday that “Mr. Annan and his backers have merely provided cover for Mr. Assad to go on slaughtering his own people.”
And, sorry to report, but for the next stage of his mission, having visited with Assad and called in at Beijing and Moscow, Annan is reportedly planning this Wednesday to drop in on Tehran. Watch out. Iran’s regime, along with its usual terrorist and illicit nuclear ventures, has been abetting Assad’s efforts to murder Syrians back into submission. And, hit by tightening U.S. and European sanctions, Iran’s regime is also looking for ways to buy time on its own account, for its bomb program and its evolving schemes for ducking sanctions.
So what will Annan do while in Tehran? What might he offer his hosts? He’s been coy. But there are a few things we do know. It’s clear that Iran’s rulers are looking forward to his visit. Iranian news services began announcing it while Annan himself was still denying plans to go there. Since Annan’s UN-loaned spokesman confirmed that he has an appointment with Tehran, Iranian media outlets have been enthusing about his impending visit — here’s Iran’s “independent” Fars News Agency account stressing “Iran’s support for Annan’s peace plan.” Here’s the Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, sounding a similar note.
Forget about Annan. He is just a pimple on the ass that is the United Nations. The selfsame orginization that is demanding an immediate investigation into the Traynor Martin incident. If Annan is a pimple, the UN Human Rights orginization is a pustule. The UN itself is a festering abcess in Manhattan. Better to have delegated North Koreas’ current clown in charge for the task. Why we continue to pay for this farce is beyond understanding. Instead of sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into refurbishing this embarrassment, it should be razed to the ground. Let Trump put up some nice condos. Even an empty lot would be more attractive than this refuge for the garbage of the world.
Kofi is a parody of a parody.
Quote: “What will Annan do in Tehran?”
That’s a spooky question Claudia. Warily predictable however.
Cease fire was never going to work. What did happen though is Russia and China signed off on it which will make their position difficult when more intervention is pushed for in the UN.
Kofi Annan is a remarkable man.
United Nations + Reverse racism/affirmative action + Peter Principle = Monumental failures leading to deaths of thousands across many places and many years.
“Why would Iran’s rulers be so pleased to welcome Kofi Annan?”
Because it’s a great way to stall and kill time. As long as the Iranians can use this idiot to give the impression that they are negotiating, they will use him. I’m sure the Iranians would want Annan to stay in Iran for a year or so, just until they put their finishing touches on their nuclear bomb. After that, all objections to them having the bomb will become moot. That is, of course, unless the Israelis decide that time is up and decide to attack.
Didn’t the Europeans negotiate and “talk” to the Iranians for literally years over their nuclear program and what did it get them? Nothing. A big fat zero. The Iranians are hell-bent on getting this bomb and, with Obama in office, there isn’t much that’s going to stop them.
America should simply stop paying its dues to the United Nations. Without our cash, like so many other things supported by American cash, it will simply wither and collapse….hopefully with no further loss of American life.
Israel and the United Nations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpXMe_R2BZk&feature=player_embedded
he is back to steal another 10 million dollars like last time?