Legends of the Fall

When I first heard that Kofi Annan had fired Joseph Stephanides I knew something was wrong. Now it appears my gut was right.

Just look at the situation. If you were at the top of the UN, and the top of the Oil-for-Food scandal, and the commission sent to investigate you is now suspect (at best), what should you do?

Why, incriminate those not capable of defending themselves. You see, Volker's commission looks to me like political hogwash, and I think those who have read it and the memos around it will agree. Any trust I had for Paul Volker (not much) is definitely gone.

So, since that's falling apart, and the world again is saying it's all Annan's fault (being the highest ranking person with knowledge of the crime), why not fire and incriminate those people who could possibly give testimony to incriminate you? This puts their later words and actions suspect, and you get two years or so of freedom to put you house in order, finish your term as U.N. Secretary General, and move off to some island in the Carribbean.

Everyday I feel more and more that the U.N. is a waste of our time.