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12/08/2004:

"McCain Disdains Annan’s G.O.P. Critics"

On Capitol Hill, the latest Republican fad is to get in front of a microphone or a TV camera and demand the resignation of Kofi Annan. According to certain members of Congress, the U.N. Secretary General must leave office immediately because of reported corruption in the oil-for-food program.

Leading this mob is Senator Norm Coleman, a Republican from Minnesota who is too impatient to await the results of pending investigations—including the probe that he himself has undertaken as chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and the official U.N. inquest directed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.

In an essay that appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Dec. 1, Mr. Coleman held Mr. Annan solely responsible for Saddam Hussein’s alleged looting of more than $21 billion from the oil-for-food program. He accused Mr. Annan of impeding his investigation. He noted with shock that Mr. Annan’s son Kojo had been hired by a U.N. contractor involved in the program.
"Mr. Annan was at the helm of the U.N. for all but a few days of the Oil-for-Food program, and he must, therefore, be held accountable for the U.N.’s utter failure to detect or stop Saddam’s abuses," the Senator claimed. Until the Secretary General departs, he wrote, "the world will never be able to learn the full extent of the bribes, kickbacks and under-the-table payments that took place under the U.N.’s collective nose."

Speaking on the Fox News Channel, Mr. Coleman expressed confidence that "many" of his colleagues would soon join his call for the Secretary General’s resignation. But not every Senator yearns for the McCarthyite method of convicting and sentencing Mr. Annan before the evidence is in.

Senator John McCain, for instance, sounds utterly unimpressed by Mr. Coleman’s grandstanding.

Asked whether he believes that Mr. Annan should step down, the Arizona Republican and outspoken hawk replied, "No. I think that we should have a full and complete investigation and then make decisions like that. Am I disturbed when I hear that his son was on payroll? Of course I’m disturbed about it, and apparently Kofi Annan was [disturbed] also." He added, "I think Coleman is kind of a symptom of some dissatisfaction within Congress about the U.N.—but no, I think we need a full and complete investigation, and there’s plenty of time to decide whether people should keep their jobs or not."
Full Article: observor.com

UN diplomats give Annan standing ovation
sgnews.yahoo.com