Letter to NPR re: piece on Kofi Annan
This short piece is in response to NPR's conversation on Morning Edition on 12/11/2006, where some of the diplomatic fury at the UN over the Iraq war was blamed on Kofi Annan's strong-willed nature. You can find the piece at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6607693
Thank you for the excellent conversation (12/11/06) between James Traub and Steve Inskeep about Kofi Annan’s tenure at the United Nations. It provided a detailed look into the geopolitics of the UN that is sadly often lacking in the news media. However, your focus on the strong-willed personality of Mr. Annan may have given your listeners the mistaken impression that it was his pure stubbornness that caused his second term, in the run-up to the Iraq war, to be so difficult. The Anglo-American invasion of Iraq was a clear violation of the UN Charter, and in that situation any Secretary-General, even one as polite as Ban Ki-Moon, will protest mightily.
