Leadership crisis at UN
Danforth's resignation and calls for Annan to step down push personnel and leadership to the fore.
No sooner did the United Nations release what it called "the most
comprehensive blueprint for change in its six decades," then the focus shifted from reforming the global governing body perched along Manhattan's East River to emergency personnel matters at the highest levels.
Wednesday, US Senator Norm Coleman, republican chairman of the permanent subcommittee on investigations, publicly called for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resign because of his failure to stop fraud in the UN's oil-for-food program in Iraq.
And Thursday, in a move that apparently took the Bush administration by surprise, US ambassador to the United Nations John Danforth announced his resignation after just five months in the job.
Now rather than debating the reform recommendations produced by a blue-ribbon panel of former diplomats and world leaders the UN must deal with critical leadership issues.
Mr. Annan's
credibility has suffered after reports suggest that Saddam Hussein pocketed more than $21 billion by abusing the UN oil-for-food on the Secretary General's watch, reports
The Australian.
The Secretary General's office has
dismissed the call that Annan should resign over revelations that Mr. Hussein used the UN oil-for-food program to strengthen his position as Iraqi leader, and "buy favors from France and Russia," reports
The Telegraph.
Coleman's shot across Annan's bow won't be the last.
Nile Gardiner, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, thinks it "is the first of many
more to come."
'There is a general consensus building on Capitol Hill that Annan has been stonewalling the investigation,' says Gardiner.... 'It's really about his poor leadership, poor judgment, and his failure to act with regard to the biggest scandal in the history of the UN.' says Gardiner.
Asked to predict how the oil-for-food controversy would play out, he suggests Annan is likely to retire before his second five-year term as the world's top diplomat ends in 2006.
Although he is under fire, the Secretary-General still has strong standing among member states. "US lawmakers and the commentariat can call for Annan's head as much as they like but only he and the UN's 191 member states can determine his fate," reports the
Australian.
Meanwhile, Danforth's decision to step down by Jan. 20 marks the end of one of the shortest tenures for a UN ambassador and leaves a key vacancy in the administration's foreign policy team.
Observers expcect President Bush to pick a successor who will forcefully advance US policy, but who will also will need credibility with the world organization which largely views the US invasion of Iraq critically.
Danforth succeeded John Negroponte, who was appointed US ambassador to Iraq.
Danforth
expressed frustration at the difficulties of implementing policy at the United Nations, reports
The Washingont Post, often citing "Security Council reluctance to impose sanctions on Sudan for engaging in mass killings in Darfur."
'While the UN is an important part of multilateralism, which is essential to US foreign policy, it's very difficult to get strong resolutions passed,' Danforth said... 'It's built for compromise, and it's built for wordsmithing. It's difficult to create real policies because of the ornate structure of multilateralism, at least the UN's version of it.'
Also...
•
US senator asks Annan to resign (
Aljezeera)
•
Profile: Bernard Kerik (
The BBC)
•
Man on a mission (
Guardian)
•
Kofi Annan and the UN scandal (
Chicago Tribune)
• Feedback appreciated. E-mail
Jim Bencivenga
.
|
RSS feed