Although he is a man who heads an organization in meltdown -- and whose own performance in his most recent U.N. positions has verged on disastrous -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan remains something of a cult hero to hard-core U.N. devotees among the media and cultural elite. In 2001, he won the Nobel Prize for his peacemaking efforts. In 2002, he won the John. F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his work. In announcing the award, the Kennedy Library Foundation praised Mr. Annan's "courageous and skillful leadership," his work to "confront ... agressors" and "his tireless efforts to advance the...