babble home
rabble.ca - news for the rest of us
today's active topics


Post New Topic  Post A Reply
FAQ | Forum Home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» babble   » current events   » international news and politics   » Kofi Annan

Email this thread to someone!    
Author Topic: Kofi Annan
Vanessa S
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 12813

posted 13 December 2006 02:09 PM      Profile for Vanessa S     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Kofi is retiring at the end of the year. He was a great S-G and of course he bore the wrath of attacks from Zionists and American neocons because he wasn't afraid to criticize US and Israeli aggression.
From: Toronto | Registered: Jun 2006  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 13 December 2006 05:27 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Another view:
quote:
Kofi Annan is a model puppet because he is not crudely subservient, but instead combines verbal proclamations of benevolent and progressive aims and policy with virtually complete accommodation to the demands of the United States and its close allies. He will sometimes object in measured language to U.S. violations of law and inhumane and outrageous actions, but he won’t resign over them, however egregious and contrary to fundamental principles, and he quickly adjusts to power realities. This gives him the image of decency and allows the UN to appear independent and moral even as it literally participates in illegal and immoral actions.

Annan took office in January 1997, in the aftermath of his support of U.S. policy demands in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He had been one of Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s subordinates and in his boss’s absence Annan took it upon himself to approve Operation Deliberate Force, the U.S. bombing of Bosnian-Serb targets in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of August 1995. In To End A War, Richard Holbrooke’s memoir of the time he spent representing the Clinton administration as its chief negotiator with the warring parties in the former Yugoslavia, Holbrooke asserts that this action assured Kofi Annan’s future as a UN leader: “When [Operation Deliberate Force] was all over and we could assess who had been most helpful, my Washington colleagues usually singled out Kofi Annan at the United Nations, and Willy Claes and General Joulwan at NATO. Annan’s gutsy performance in those 24 hours was to play a central role in Washington’s strong support for him a year later as the successor to Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Secretary-General of the United Nations. Indeed, in a sense Annan won the job that day.”



From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Lord Palmerston
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4901

posted 13 December 2006 06:01 PM      Profile for Lord Palmerston     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Kofi wasn't all that anti-US or anti-imperialist. The reason neocons hate him is because being 92% pro-US isn't acceptable - it's got be 100%. Some Zionists have falsely accused Kofi and the UN of being some kind of anti-Semitic conspiracy but that doesn't even rise to the level of a joke.
From: Toronto | Registered: Jan 2004  |  IP: Logged
Wolf
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 13159

posted 15 December 2006 09:46 AM      Profile for Wolf     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Kofi was the worst S-G ever. He did nothing about the anti-Israel bias at the UN.

http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-31.htm


From: Thornhill | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
nister
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7709

posted 15 December 2006 10:17 AM      Profile for nister     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
That was just "peechy", Wolf.
From: Barrie, On | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Kronstadt
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 13665

posted 15 December 2006 12:24 PM      Profile for Kronstadt     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Given the numerous scandals that developed under his watch I am not inclined to praise him.
From: A Future Utopia | Registered: Dec 2006  |  IP: Logged
LonesomeLenny
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 13666

posted 15 December 2006 12:41 PM      Profile for LonesomeLenny     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
He was a very effective SG, and stood up to the Neocons and Zionists.
From: Wisconsin, USA | Registered: Dec 2006  |  IP: Logged
John K
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3407

posted 15 December 2006 06:40 PM      Profile for John K        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
If there's a tougher and more thankless job in the world than being United Nations Secretary-General, I'm not sure what it is.

Kofi Annan was one of the best ever S-G's. Under his watch, considerable progress was made in strengthening international institutions like the International Criminal Court and reforming the UN.

He did a lot more than most of us think to try to stop the war against Iraq. At the end of the day how do you stop a mad man who happens to lead the most powerful county on earth?


From: Edmonton | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
modlib
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 13565

posted 15 December 2006 08:30 PM      Profile for modlib     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Annan will be remembered for what happened under his watch:

Oil for food corruption:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4222170.stm

U.N. Peacekeepers sexually abuse children in exchange for food:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1413501,00.html

Oversaw U.N. Peacekeeping during Rwandan Genocide
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3573229.stm

Slow-motion genocide in Darfur as we speak...

The inaction over Rwanda and Darfur are probably more a function of the general inaction of the U.N. than Annan's actions himself. What do you expect when you put 192 countries together ranging from liberal democracies to dictatorships? Will they agree on anything?

However, given the U.N. needs serious reforms and clearly Annan wasn't the man for the job.

Hopefully Mr. Ban can shake things up.


From: toronto | Registered: Nov 2006  |  IP: Logged

All times are Pacific Time  

Post New Topic  Post A Reply Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
Hop To:

Contact Us | rabble.ca | Policy Statement

Copyright 2001-2008 rabble.ca