70 Nobel Winners Back U.N. Chief Annan

AP ^ | 01/27/05 | NICK WADHAMS

[Pikamax]

70 Nobel Winners Back U.N. Chief Annan

NICK WADHAMS

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS - Seventy Nobel laureates have signed a letter backing U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has weathered calls for his resignation amid a spate of scandals in recent months.

The letter, supported by Peace Prize winners Jimmy Carter and Elie Wiesel, among others, was made public Thursday. It expresses the laureates' "deepest respect and support for Kofi Annan and the values he has embraced in his lifetime of work for peace and security."

The idea for the letter was spearheaded by the Better World Campaign, a nonprofit group that seeks to improve appreciation for the United Nations. The group is a sister organization to the United Nations Foundation, created in 1998 toward fulfilling CNN founder Ted Turner's $1 billion pledge to support U.N. programs.

U.N. Foundation press secretary Christina LoNigro said the push for the letter began in earnest in December when Annan, himself a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was under the most intense fire.

Annan was sharply criticized for a string of U.N. scandals including allegations of corruption surrounding the oil-for-food program; claims that U.N. staff were guilty of sexual harassment; and investigations into sexual wrongdoing and other alleged crimes by U.N. peacekeepers.

He has also been criticized for his son Kojo Annan's employment at a Swiss company that had an oil-for-food contract. Kojo Annan, who denies any involvement in wrongdoing, received payments from the Swiss firm for more than four years after his job ended.

[iso]

So funny .

[Ichneumon]

... further proof that lotsa the world's 'smart' folks are on the take in this scandal and protect their own....

Not necessarily. As the old saying goes, never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity. In this case, it's mostly "further proof" of the well-known observation that ability or genius in one field doesn't necessarily mean that you know jack s**t in another area.

[nightdriver]

"Ted promised them $1 billion in stock...."

So he never actually gave them $1 billion, did he?

Seems like his phony-balony wife (Fonda) welched out on some deal similar to that too.

[digger48]

Are some of these the "experts" that also said Clinton did nothing wrong?

[Polybius]

So he never actually gave them $1 billion, did he?

TED'S EXCELLENT DONATION:............1. BY SETTING UP THE TED TURNER FOUNDATION 2. WITH TIME WARNER STOCK IN WHICH HE HAS $15 per share CAPITAL GAINS a. He will save $170,000,000 on capital gains tax b. He will get $396 million back on his income tax, and c. He will save $550 million in estate tax (this is money that his heirs would have to pay the government) BUT HERE IS THE FUN PART! He will liquidate the stock gradually in order to make the gifts. If the stock price doubles in ten years HE CAN GIVE A BILLION DOLLARS TO THE U.N. AND STILL HAVE A BILLION DOLLARS IN HIS FOUNDATION. ...........................................................................................................................................................................Turner has pledged $1 billion in Time-Warner stock at today's value. If the stock price falls, the donation will drop by the same amount, he said; but if the stock price rises, the United Nations won't get more than $100 million a year.