I wonder if Kofi Annan thinks he is as corrupt as we do? Perhaps he really does see the United States as dangerously imperialistic and Yassir Arafat as a symbol of national aspiration. But I don’t think so. I think there are some people so used to living with corruption they think it the way of the world. To be disturbed by it is somehow “unsophisticated.” They “bow down” in homage to the kleptocrat who exploited his own people beyond comprehension.
Of course it is not surprising to see the French President do something as inherently racist as that. In any case, Chirac’s days are as numbered as his bank account. But Annan is another matter. He works for the world. Or claims to. Time to give this UN kleptocrat the boot too.
Roger,
In some manner over the past few years, Annan has changed the role of the Secretary General, from servant of the Security Council into Chief Executive of some nebulous world government which exists in the mind of the Secretary General.
Annan has become one of the two or three most powerful individuals in the world. By sheer force of his will and playing into a political schism in the “world body” he has made himself unaccountable to anyone.
The battle over his successor will be interesting to watch. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an effort made to change the rules and allow him to stay on beyond his term.
Comments?
Politicains from dirt poor Third World countries are given the keys to the mint and we naively believe that they will behave like pillars of rectitude.Are we mad?
This http://www.meforum.org/pf.php?id=645 gives some idea of the business accounting methods deemed appropriate by such outstanding world statesmen.
I agree with TedH,who voted for little Kofi?
Peter,
My comments are within the bounds of discussion on this blog. How do you think they would fare on the BBC or in the British press?
How much scepticism is there in Britain about the UN?
When is Kofi’s term up?
I heard Clinton might be interested in the job. God knows he has the ego for it.
I think Kofi decided that you had to go along to get along and so he looked the other way.
However, the Senate is getting involved in the ongoing investigation concerning the food for oil scandal and even Democrats like Levin are beginning to lean on Kofi.
The truth is if they put the issue to a referendum in the US I am not so sure the UN would not be booted out of the country.
That is the downside of Kofi getting too big for his britches, the taxpayer pays about 24% of the total costs of the UN plus we give it a home. More and more people are wondering why.
Annan should have kept a low profile, by going after Bush every chance he got while trying to hide this ever growing scandal concerning the food for oil program he had mades himself too well known to Americans in an ever more negative way.
From what I understand, the post of Secretary-General of the UN goes to a diplomat from a certain region on a rotating basis. Asia is supposed to be next and we all know the US is going to veto giving Mr. Annan another term.
In addition, there has never been a SecGen from North America or Oceania. Gee I wonder why….
I think there may be a bit of an unofficial gentleman’s agreement that SecGen’s come usually from the Third World.
Re: Macker
One more thing. There will never be a
Secretary-General from the country that has permanent seat in the Security Council. It’s been that way since the beganing of UN. As much as Clinton wants to become the President of the World, that option isn’t available to him.
TedM,
Don Kofi’s second (and final) term will end on 12/31/06. Permanent members of the SC have the right to veto anyone nominated for the SG position.
Coleman and Levin have an opportunity to reveal the depth of corruption both within the UN and in the governments of two (France and Russia) permanent members of the SC. Should they elect to do so they can lay the groundwork for a badly needed restructuring of the SC. At the very least they could insist that the UN be subject to GAO standards wrt to the use of US funds.
It will be very interesting to see how long Levin stays on board. He’s not noted for bi-partisanship.
Whatever the UN was in the beginning, it has now become a mechanism for the ruling elites of its members to cement their power over the people they rule. Whatever vast changes they might advocate aren’t really designed to change the internal structures of the member countries; the purpose is to lock the status quo into an iron grip and maintain it forever.
TedM,
Not very far with the daisy sniffing tranational utopians but the man in the street thinks we have awarded the Third worlders far too much unearned status.The BBC needs to be privatised have its Charter revoked.
I find it incredible that people can denigrate their democratically elected leaders but would joyfully hand over rule to an unelected body of gangsters,despots,crooks,murderers,mountbanks and nonentities.There is something alarmingly submissive in the souls of the left.
One of the main reason that the second and third world countries remain locked into that status is corruption aided by a lack of a transparent and rule based civil justice system.
Mexico is a good example. Why is it that when I cross the border at Nogales, I go from normal small town America to a poverty-strick mess where you can’t trust the cops? Why was it that a cop in Mexico city tried to shake me down until I stuck a US Embassy badge in his face? Why were my daughter and friends robbed by cops in Tijuana?
I was once involved in business with one of the largest banks in Mexico. We had an American-Mexican (US citizen of Mexican blood who grew up in Mexico) as a “fixer.” At one point, he was getting involved in a real estate investment. As he discussed the deal, the bribes to government figures were, to him, just a natural part of things.
Since the UN is primarily a place for the third world to beat up on, and extort from the first world, corruption should be expected. Think of all those “diplomats” who are having a great time in New York instead of some rathole of a capital in their home country.
I suspect that corruption is the enemy of Russian prosperity. I don’t know if France has a lot of corruption, but given their values, and their creation of unique social class to run their government, I would expect it.
Iíve got good news: John Kerry was defeated on November 2nd, 2004. That was the last chance the United Nations had in continuing its con game. Kerry constantly praised this disgraced organization and would have continued doing so had he won the White House. President Bush is very well aware of the UNís failings, and thereís little question but that he will discretely marginalize Kofi Annan and the rest of his clowns.
A huge number of Americans no longer respect the UN. This means that the UN is now doomed to die a slow death. We will simply find other ways of accomplishing our international goals.
I suspect though,that the UN is useful for all kinds of manouvering and will survive.Someone will show Kofi the pictures and tell him that the negatives will remain in a safe place as long as he co-operates.
In many if not most places in the world corruption is not an abuse of the system. It is the system. And I think that the prevailing mores of the UN reflect that reality.
I think Annan’s increasignly strident anti-American rants are intended as leverage against Congress’ investigation into the Oil for Food scandal. If it goes forward, he’s in big trouble!
I just came across this post by Transatlantic Intelligence:
http://trans-int.blogspot.com/2004/11/kosovo-rising.html
The post is about the UN and EU mess that is Kosovo and my mind boggles at the blatant hypocrisy of both in their criticism of the US and Bush.
He writes:
“There is even evidence suggesting that Secretary-General Kofi Annan has tacitly accorded the EU a kind of advice and consent function in the matter. Were this so, it would arguably constitute a violation of Article 100 of the UN Charter…”
And goes on
“Thus, for example, it claims to ÔøΩmentorÔøΩ through EU-appointed ÔøΩPrincipal International OfficersÔøΩ four of the eleven government offices in KosovoÔøΩs provisional government ÔøΩ including the Office of the Prime Minister. Finally, it is worth mentioning in this connection that Kosovo’s so-called “provisional institutions of self-government” are strictly subordinated in all essential matters to the dictates of the “Special Representative”. It is thus the latter who is sovereign in Kosovo,…”
Imagine if Bush tried this in Iraq? What would Kofi say apart from eulogising Arafat?
Obviously the MSM is not interested in disclosing to the “hated Americans” the character of the haters.
An earlier comment wondered about the possibility of corruption in the French political caste. The frogs invented the practice, or at least perfected it. One of the reasons Chirac is clinging to power is he supposedly will be prosecuted for corruption once he leaves office. It is an incentive for hanging on, even though wink and a slap on the wrist is the worst he can expect from his fellow Gallic cynics.
After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendour.
With a mighty voice he shouted:
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries
Revelation, 18:1-3
(…and Kofi Annan, ibid.)