Iraq's foreign minister accused the United Nations on Tuesday of failing his country by leaving Saddam Hussein in power for decades and appealed to the world body to assume a leading role in Baghdad immediately. In an address to the U.N. Security Council, Hoshyar Zebari, foreign minister of Iraq's Governing Council, noted that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was opening offices in Nicosia, Cyprus, and Amman, Jordan, for international staff, who would commute to Baghdad. "Your help and expertise cannot be effectively delivered from Cyprus or Amman," Zebari said. Annan pulled out foreign staff after the Aug. 19 bombing of U.N. offices in Baghdad that cost 22 lives.
| But the hotels are so much better in Nicosia and Amman! |
But Annan said he needed a clearer picture of U.N. tasks and an indication that security had improved before reopening an office in Baghdad. "I need to weigh the degree of risk that the United Nations is being asked to accept against the substance of the role we are being asked to fulfill," Annan said. "I therefore need to know how responsibilities will be allocated and who will be taking what decisions."
| "Sure, sure. We ain't gonna gain anything, but we're not gonna venture anything, either. That way there's no chance we'll lose anything, right?" |
Zebari said the United Nations had failed to help rescue Iraq from "a murderous tyranny" that lasted more than 35 years and "today we are unearthing thousands of victims in horrifying testament to that failure."
| Statistics. Mere statistics. The UN will include the numbers in a yearbook of some sort and then file it. |
"The United Nations must not fail the Iraqi people again," Zebari said. Zebari called the United Nations "the key forum of collective international action to help us achieve our goals of restructuring and democratizing our country." He said Iraqis were "ready and willing to help provide whatever security is required." And he accused the 15-member Security Council of being divided "between those who wanted to appease Saddam Hussein and those who wanted to hold him accountable" and said they should overcome the deep divisions over the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Appealing for unity, Zebari said, "Settling scores with the United States should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people." |