Is Koffi Annan Nuts?

Is Kofi Annan Nuts? You be the Judge.

Here are some recent snippets of his press conferences in the Middle East with my comments:

Beirut, Lebanon, 28 August 2006 - Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Press Conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora:

I am urging my Israeli interlocutors to lift immediately the blockade on Lebanon and I am working with them and other international partners to ensure this is done.

How about first speak to the International Partners to arrange another force in South Lebanon and then ask the Israeli’s to remove the blockade?

And we must also address the issue of all other prisoners (Meaning, the terrorists).

Are there not enough terrorists who are free? Do we need to free more?

I must say I have been impressed by the respect that Lebanon has shown the Blue Line since the cessation of hostilities and the discipline that has been shown all round.

I guess according to the Secretary General, terrorists can be impressive from time to time.

Down the line as we have indicated there will have to be disarmament but that is something that the Lebanese government and the people are going to resolve. There has to be a national consensus and a political agreement. If they come across weapons which are being used in a threatening way they may need to intervene. But other than that they are not going to go house to house searching for weapons; this is not their responsibility.

Well, MR. Annan, who is supposed to find the weapons?

I think we need to look at history and situations around the world. Many armed groups around the world have been disarmed. Many have been disarmed through political agreements and understanding, more through that route than through forcible disarmament. Most Lebanese would want to see a situation where the only authority in the land and the only gun in the land is under the control of the Government. So let's not kid ourselves and pretend that the only way to disarm groups of militia is through force. Look around you, look into history, I can give you lots of examples. And, some of the armed groups that you have unarmed are now in respectable governments. The IRA is one example.

With all due respect, what works with one terrorist group will not work for another. Try comparing apples to oranges – it’s more fun! Also, the IRA did not one the complete decimation of a country.

What happened here during the past six weeks should wake up the world and wake us up. What we need is to focus on the future and the longer term peace for the region. We need to tackle the root causes; we need to show that we do reenergize the Middle East peace process to ensure that what happened the past month in the past six weeks does not happen six months from now, six years from now.

Yeah, wake up yourself and let’s start the peace process again! Just don’t make the same mistake twice of trusting terrorists! Although, I would say it is quite hard to make a peace process without trusting a terrorist. We definitely got quite a problem.

Damascus Airport, Syria, 1 September 2006 - Prior to departure from Syria

To further assist in the implementation of resolution 1701 and this particular paragraph on arms embargo, the President informed me that Syria would undertake as soon as possible the following measures:
To establish, where possible, joint border patrols and control points with the Lebanese authorities.

To the Syrians: When you are joint patrolling, please don’t give weapons to the Hezbollah.


Tehran, 2 September 2006 - With Mr. Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran

SG: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I have just had a very good and constructive discussion with Mr. Larijani. As you can imagine, we discussed the nuclear issue as well as the many regional issues of concern to Iran and to the United Nations. I found the discussions helpful and it will come in handy as I move ahead with my work. And I need all the help I can because your region is keeping me and the United Nations very, very busy. Thank you very much, Mr. Larijani.
Sorry Mr. Annan, “I personally don’t find the Iranians helpful. They’re actually a pain in the ass.”