CNN just ran a clip of Kofi Annan speaking from the UN today. He stated his firm belief that if the UN had just had a little more time, that all of this could have been ended peacefully and everyone would have been able to go home and live in peace. Or if Iraq would not have cooperated (which they did not, Mr. Secretary General…) then the world would have rallied with the Americans. (Well, other than the nearly 40 allies who already have.)
It all just goes to show that the UN doesn’t live in the same universe as everyone else. Saddam Hussein did not want to be disarmed, and he would not doing anything that would lead to that end. Nor would countries such as France or Russia, who have extensive economic ties to Iraq, ever support the removal of the Hussein regime. It was clear weeks ago that the diplomatic divide was essentially intractable.
Kofi Annan seems to be a modern Pangloss, insisting that we live in the best of all possible worlds. In the real world, dictators cannot be talked into behaving like model members of the world community, and states act in their own self interest. Statements such as that illustrate why the UN is not and cannot be an effective body – if you cannot bring yourself to acknowledge the presence of evil, how can you be expected to combat it?
I think that Annan is a sharper character than you give him credit for, as is the good Doctor Blix. Both of these men have managed to draw vast amounts of media coverage even when the total value of their efforts is a gigantic goose egg. The UN is the world’s stage, it is a venue in which countries that would otherwise remain internationally irrelavent can shout and posture to their hearts content and know that if they are bold enough the entire world will see their performance. These actors, these stooges have done a tremendous job in convincing the world of their importance and for that I applaud them.
I think, that Mr. Annan has miserably failed to meet the needs of the international comunity. The UN now just seems to be a futile entity, rather when will it really start being credible. The international Community must not allow a individual country to police other nations, whether it is a super power or not. how can the coutries and the UN merely be a spectator of all these and still say that he hopes that the future of Iraq should be safe. Mr. Annan and the UN are nuts