That said, let me interject just a little balance. The UN is not a government. (Thank goodness for that, and beware the idiots who want to make it one.) Governments have things like armies with engineers, trucks, bulldozers, and army doctors. Rich governments with sophisticated militaries have naval and air capabilities and rapidly deployable assets. These are the things that are needed in the aftermath of disaster. The UN doesn't have them. I am very glad it doesn't.
The UN makes itself look silly by trying to act in a first responder role. It simply can't do that. It doesn't have the wherewithal. If the UN had capable leadership -- I know, I know -- it would not confuse its role. It would send a very small team to the affected area to begin preliminary assessments, and it would preface every statement by recognizing the essential role of the Indonesian military (which I would guess is doing 90% of the emergency work on the ground) and the U.S., Australian and other foreign support. In other words, the UN should stop trying to take credit for others' work.
Then the UN could focus its efforts on what it can do, which is act as a donor organization to fund long term reconstruction efforts once the crisis is past. Since Indonesia has a functioning government that will reestablish civil authority, the UN has no long term role to play on the ground. It is a potential donor agency, nothing more, rather like the United Way after a Florida hurricane.
From a U.S. perspective, I'd channel long term efforts through USAID, not the UN, and make sure the U.S. takes full credit. But to the extent that the UN can channel support from smaller countries that don't have an equivalent to USAID, I've no objection. That could be useful, and probably will be in the long run, provided donors start demanding rigorous audits and cracking down on the grafters.
Of course, this wouldn't let Kofi look very important, so it's not the way the UN operates. Too bad.
On another note, I heard one of the airports which aid was arriving at had to be shut down to the transport planes due to the many VIPs' planes arriving to take a "first hand look".