Good Riddance Kofi

The Opinion Journal takes a look at Kofi Annan's departure from the UN. Comparing his farewell speech against his track record as Secretary General of the UN, it is hard to believe that at one time Annan was thought to be capable of reforming the institution. Instead, his decade long failure did much more harm than good.

America, Mr. Annan said, "has historically been at the vanguard of the global human rights movements. . . . When it appears to abandon its own ideals and objects, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused." That was a slap at the Bush Administration, which must be wondering what it got from Mr. Annan after coming to his political rescue last year amid Paul Volcker's Oil for Food revelations. But leaving aside this foray into U.S. politics, how have Mr. Annan and the U.N. met their own "ideals and objects"?

When Mr. Annan was named Secretary General 10 years ago, he did so as the U.S.-backed candidate of reform. Jesse Helms, then-chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Mr. Annan that "if you choose to be an agent of real and deep-seated change, you will find many supporters–and even allies–here in the U.S. Congress."

Senator Helms's expectations were not met. Seven years later–thanks to U.S. military action that Mr. Annan did everything in his power to prevent–we learned that he had presided over the greatest bribery scheme in history, known as Oil for Food. We learned that Benon Sevan, Mr. Annan's trusted confidant in charge of administering the program, had himself been a beneficiary of Iraqi kickbacks to the tune of $160,000. We learned that Mr. Annan's chief of staff, Iqbal Riza, had ordered potentially incriminating documents to be destroyed. We learned that Mr. Annan and his deputy, Louise Frechette, were both aware of the kickback scheme but failed to report it to the Security Council, as their fiduciary duties required. However, we haven't yet learned whether the senior Annan illegally helped his son Kojo obtain a discounted Mercedes, an issue on which the Secretary General has stonewalled reporters.

This corrupt man was given a pass by the left, even when his appalling behavior was revealed. By the end of his tenure, the UN is in much worse shape than it was ten years ago. Which may be actually the most positive thing to come out of his years in office. For it is much, much harder for the internationalists to hold that mess up as a role model. Hopefully, this is the last post I will ever do on the man, except maybe to remind folks when some try to retroactively beatify him later.