Secretary-General Kofi Annan

Its his goodbye speech. His final farewell so-to-speak. Where can Mr. Annan go from here? I don't think he has broader political agendas, so he is not going to hold anything back as he steps away.

He quoted Harry Truman to us as he was calling for action.

"As Harry Truman said, 'We all have to recognize, no matter how great our strength, that we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please.' States need to play by the rules toward each other as well as toward their own citizens."

Read that again.

The first half is Truman, the second Annan. We must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please. We need to play by the rules.

The US is enthusiastic of the next SG Ban Ki-Moon, I would guess because he is from South Korea. We were enthusiastic of Annan 10 years ago. Is the US the one missing the point of the UN? Are we not doing enough to help this multi-national body protect our world? Nations, people, and environment?

What about Darfur? What about Africa? What about Iraq?

What do you think about all this? I'm simply hurt and confused.

oops: forgot the link to the whole story.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/12/11/annan.speech/index.html

Tagged: Politics, Thoughts