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Topic: Kofi Annan
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 13 December 2006 05:27 PM
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
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John K
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3407
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posted 15 December 2006 06:40 PM
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
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modlib
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 13565
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posted 15 December 2006 08:30 PM
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
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