Annan Warns Iraq and Scolds France, Russia, and China

Commentary | September 13, 2002 | Roger F. Gay

[RogerFGay]

Annan Warns Iraq and Scolds France, Russia, and China

September 13, 2002
By Roger F. Gay

"If Iraq's defiance continues, the Security Council must face its responsibilities," Annan said in a speech to delivered Thursday to the 57th U.N. General Assembly.

The secretary-general encouraged nations to work together rather than leaving one nation to face a difficult fight alone saying, "no U.N. member nation large or small should act alone on major global issues as a simple matter of political convenience."

This is an especially sensitive issue for France, Russia, and China that have economic ties with Iraq and face political inconvenience in selling an attack domestically.

"It has consequences far beyond the immediate context," he said. "When states decide to use force to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations."

Annan stated that the United Nations is pressed into action when there is a threat to world peace and listed Iraq's continuing defiance of United Nations resolutions as one of four current threats. In an apparent last ditch effort to avoid war, he appealed "to all who have influence with Iraq's leaders to impress on them the vital importance of accepting the weapons inspections. This is the indispensable first step towards assuring the world that all Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have indeed been eliminated."

He added quite diplomatically that Iraq's chances of having sanctions lifted without completely and unconditionally complying with United Nations resolutions are about the same as a snowball's chance in hell.

"And let me stress towards the suspension and eventual ending of the sanctions that are causing so many hardships for the Iraqi people. I urge Iraq to comply with its obligations for the sake of its own people and for the sake of world order."

President Bush followed up with great consistency, reminding the members of the original purpose of the United Nations before laying out the details of the case against Iraq.

"The United Nations was born in the hope that survived a world war, the hope of a world moving toward justice, escaping old patterns of conflict and fear. The founding members resolved that the peace of the world must never again be destroyed by the will and wickedness of any man.

We created a United Nations Security Council so that, unlike the League of Nations, our deliberations would be more than talk, our resolutions would be more than wishes. After generations of deceitful dictators and broken treaties and squandered lives, we've dedicated ourselves to standards of human dignity shared by all and to a system of security defended by all."

After laying out the details, President Bush brought home the case for Security Council cooperation with an eloquence equal to Winston Churchill.

"The history, the logic and the facts lead to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein regime is a grave and gathering danger. To suggest otherwise is to hope against the evidence. To assume this regime's good faith is to bet the lives of millions and the peace of the world in a reckless gamble, and this is a risk we must not take.

Delegates to the General Assembly, we have been more than patient. We've tried sanctions. We've tried the carrot of oil for food and the stick of coalition military strikes. But Saddam Hussein has defied all these efforts and continues to develop weapons of mass destruction. The first time we may be completely certain he has nuclear weapons is when, God forbid, he uses one. We owe it to all our citizens to do everything in our power to prevent that day from coming.

The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of U.N. demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding or will it be irrelevant?"

[Magnum44]

Annan Warns Iraq and Scolds France, Russia, and China

Annan's worried about his paycheck, isn't he?

[RogerFGay]

Annan's worried about his paycheck, isn't he?

I've never disliked Kofi Annan. The left-wing press spins things to make it look like the US against the UN, especially now as a way to make it look like Bush against the world. But that's left wing spin. I've never seen Kofi Annan as supporting terrorism and despotism, as an anti-Western, or anti-American character.

[Teacher317]

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