the text of Koffi Anan's speech

[bearfartinthewoods]

please show me where, as DUers put it

"He said a little for, but a lot against Bush. It really was a rebuke against the US."

"The war was illegal...he didn't mince any words."

"He is eloquently ripping Bush apart"

"Very diplomatically ripping him apart"


please, someone explain to me why this isn't an acknowledgement of bush's allegation that the UN is becoming irrelevant.

"But it is not enough to denounce unilateralism, unless we also face up squarely to the concerns that make some States feel uniquely vulnerable, since it is those concerns that drive them to take unilateral action. We must show that those concerns can, and will, be addressed effectively through collective action.

Excellencies, we have come to a fork in the road. This may be a moment no less decisive than 1945 itself, when the United Nations was founded.

snip

Now we must decide whether it is possible to continue on the basis agreed then, or whether radical changes are needed.

And we must not shy away from questions about the adequacy, and effectiveness, of the rules and instruments at our disposal. "


as i said earlier, were we listening to the same speech??


http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/58/statements/sg2eng030923.htm

[Caution]

1. I have to agree with you

I think Annan was carefully criticizing Bush on the policy of pre-emption and trying to argue against that, and also arguing for an expanded security council (hopefully one where it takes 2 vetos to override) in order to decrease the power of the US. Beyond this Annan's speech certainly didnt have the forceful rebuke of US hegemony that I had hoped to see.

[bearfartinthewoods]

3. i'd prefer an end to the whole veto deal but the US will never go for that

[Julien Sorel]

2. He did as much as he could.

The last UN Secretary General who crossed the U.S. found himself out of a job. You have to keep in mind as well that this is the UN, where diplo-speak prevails. 'Gravest possible consequences' is code for war and so on. People don't say what they mean; instead, they employ a language of feints and stutters, where what isn't said is often more important than what is. For what it was, I thought Annan's speech was pretty bold, although nothing will happen as a result of it, of course.

[UTUSN]

4. It Was Brilliant and Eloquent

'course, Paula "Chuckie" ZAHN said of it, "He was trying to have it both ways."

And what Shrub sorta-read was empty and rambling, basically nothing more than "Me-good, everybody-else-bad." He doesn't have a clue as to what he's reading, just the PANIC behind the eyes, "Don't embarass ME, don't you DARE!" 'course EAGLEBERGER on CNN said that it was "a good speech. This gentleman, our pResident was not about to back down on anything including WMD and didn't. As for the hat-in-hand, that's up to POWELL." Haha, the shit belongs to POWELL.