UN-sanctioned multinational force to be sent to Iraq: Annan

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A UN-sanctioned multinational security force will help maintain security in Iraq (news - web sites) after the US military hands limited sovereignty back to the country, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) revealed.


AFP/File Photo



"The (UN Security) Council will probably authorize a multinational force to remain in Iraq to help create a secure environment," Annan told NBC's "Meet the Press" news programme.


"I think it will be part of the new resolution that the Council will be discussing and approving that will cover the period after the 30th of June," Annan said Sunday.


"Obviously the new government would also be consulted, but there will be a resolution authorizing a multinational force and encouraging governments to come together in a genuine international effort to help stabilize Iraq," Annan said.

~snip~
more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1512&e=10&u=/afp/20040502/wl_afp/un_iraq_force_040502162035

There must be a big story behind this somewhere.

is probably asking the UN to remove the US presence as we no longer have any legitimacy.

Bush, deftly using the power of the bully pulpit, has boxed Kerry out by essentially adopting the more multilateral approach his rival has favored for two years. "It's a message the president has adopted slowly and in pieces," said Rand Beers, Kerry's national security adviser. "Bush is copying Kerry."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57792-2004Apr30.html

Had Kerry adopted an antiwar position as Kucinich has, he could still be beating Bush over the head with this. Unfortunately the entire Kerry position on Iraq is to "stay the course" and "de-Americanizing" the conflict.

Guess what? Here comes the UN to bail out Bush, and to pull the rug from under Kerry.

I would like to know how this 180 degree change in thinking came about.

fantasy that America stands for truth justice and the "american way" but actually wants to grab the spoils of the war in Iraq--take it and have it close to his heart and exploit those spoils and resources for his vision of
America

and I also have come to believe that those who did vote to give Bush the stupid the blank check, and that includes Hillary Clinton, did so to satisfy the Israeli lobby. I have come to believe that their claims that they were "lied to" is all political posturing. I do believe that those who voted to give an idiot a blank check KNEW that people would die because of their complicity .

I believe that to be the truth.

We are, however, stuck and forced into voting for someone who actually is complicit in this war and this slaughter.

and that is truly sad.

this is Rove and triangulation.

That said, what will the Freepers say

Parades for the home-coming heroes. Bu$h can show up at some of the big ones and get good pics for the campaign.

Rove will try to turn this into a win-win for Bu$h. That's why they were so quick to give Falluja back to the dreaded terrorists, Saddam's elite Republican Guard. Heck, if the UN thing doesn't work out, Bu$h will probably go ahead and release Saddam and let him have his country back. Especially, if it will get him a boast in the polls.

This int'l OJ-style headline grabber will be the prologue to the story of 'King George Slew the Dragon Without A Permission Slip' that the Republican Convention is based on.

Our Fallow Merkins applaud Bush* as a Dirty Harry cop like the well-meaning cops on NYPD Blue who bash and torture the suspects hiding behind legal technicalities until they bleed their confession and the lawyers watching from behind the two-way mirror share looks that say "I knew it."

The demeaning of 'permission slips' such as the US Constitution, Congress, Int'l Law, Treaties, the United Nations, allies, public opinion, etc. is the ultimate goal of the current fascist regime.

As long as US troop casualties go down on a pretty graph above the fold on the front page of USA Today, the Iraq debacle will reassure the TV-watching know nothings who can then drive their SUVs to the mall, confident that Superman Jesus is bashing perps in their name in Guantanamo Bay and Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

Hey, I here the Olympics are coming soon! And football!

Will hopefully let out some of the steam dangerously building up.

God, please help the Iraqi people and please may this create some stability and some hope.

O8)

but I'll believe it when I see it. Bush* has managed to screw up everything else he's touched, so I won't get too excited about this yet.

hee hee

I hope this works but if US is Keeping all these mil. bases around Iraq, I don't see tensions easing.

Are they going to authorize a "multinational force" BEFORE any governments agree to come together??? Because that just means a rubber stamp on the "multinational force" we've got in there now (or, US). This makes me very, very nervous. I hope Annan is stronger than that.

I have heard that Annan's son may be "involved".. Annan has been threatened..plain and simple.. No matter what the findings of the "investigation", Annan and his son would have been dragged through the mud.. "Rove-ed"..

Annan probably figured that the UN would end up there anyway, so why not just go along.. Look for the "heat" to die down soon about the oil for food scandal ..in regards to Annan , anyway :(

I hadn't heard that about his son. damn damn damn. We're so screwed if they rubberstamp Bush and make it look like they're implementing the plan Kerry called for when they really aren't. Damn.

Claudia Rosett on UN Oil-for-Food Program on National Review ...
In the growing scandal over the United Nations Oil-for-Food program, which from ... That's
fascinating, not least given the ties of Annan's own son, Kojo Annan ...
www.nationalreview.com/comment/rosett200403101819.asp - 31k - Apr 30, 2004 - Cached - Similar pages

Annan lashes at critics on Iraq oil, food scandal
... at critics on Iraq oil, food scandal (Agencies) Updated ... conflict-of-interest charges
involving his own son. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan makes a point during ...
www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/ 2004-04/29/content_327272.htm - 25k - May 1, 2004 - Cached - Similar pages

OpinionJournal - Featured Article
... was Cotecna, which employed Mr. Annan's son Kojo. ... into question the remainder of Mr.
Annan's tenure, the ... their response to the developing scandal, claiming for ...
www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/ feature.html?id=110004834 - 38k - May 1, 2004 - Cached - Similar pages

OpinionJournal - Featured Article
... United Nations chief Kofi Annan has finally conceded the need for an independent
probe, but keep in mind that the scandal implicates his son, his handpicked ...
www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/ feature.html?id=110004919 - 38k - May 1, 2004 - Cached - Similar pages
< More results from www.opinionjournal.com >

Scandal bubbles to surface - World - www.theage.com.au
... UN might not today be facing what is shaping up as the biggest scandal in its ... For
one thing, it was the former employer of Kofi Annan's son, Kojo, who was on ...
www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/ 03/27/1080330984252.html - 31k - Cached - Similar pages

New York Post Online Edition: postopinion
... But, given that Kofi Annan's son Kojo is linked to the scandal, it's
not hard to imagine how hard that effort will be pressed. And ...
nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/17982.htm - Similar pages

MSNBC - Scandal: Anti-UN Campaign
... At the heart of the scandal is a list of 270 names of alleged ... monitoring contract
involving a Swiss firm that employed Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son as a ...
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4767130/ - 32k - Cached - Similar pages

e.thePeople : Article : The UN Oil-for-food scandal -- who is ...
... in terms of the money stolen from the people of Iraq, this is the largest financial
scandal the world ... And included is the son of Kofi Annan, the Secretary ...
www.e-thepeople.org/article/30753/view?viewtype - 35k - Cached - Similar pages

CAA: Airport News, "Kofi Annan's Son Linked to 75m Harare Airport ...
... Kofi Annan's three children and the son from his ... company had no relationship with
Kofi Annan or the ... implicated in Zimbabwe's "VIP housing" scandal after being ...
archives.californiaaviation.org/airport/msg07877.html - 15k - Cached - Similar pages

News/Activism by keyword KOJOANNAN
... NILES LATHEM March 18, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - The son of UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan worked for ... the role of top diplomats in the growing bribery scandal. ...
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/k-kojoannan/browse - 25k - Cached - Similar pages

Nothing personal,...but, I grow weary on "hopelessness".

I want a piece of hope for humanity,...and there is no way anyone can convince me that the UN, for better or worse, fails in its endeavor to bring some relief to this hell on earth.

and to indicate "why" an "agreement" might be forthcoming. IF the "investigation and articles " suddenly "go away", it would be hard to question whether a deal had been arranged as "cover" for Annan AND Bush.

This whole "Faux outrage" scenario is one that they are famous for.. They have no love of the UN, and yet, if the UN ends up saving their bacon, they would have to "offer" something in exchange.

and yes.. This admin HAS made me more cynical than before...but with good and plenty of reasons.:)

Otherwise, why should I even try?

I have far more faith in Annan's "HEART" than I do this administration.

He, Annan, clearly stated that, "we cannot be possessed by some 'rule of the jungle'" (paraphrasing).

Annan is NOT the "bad" guy.

The UN,...is NOT the "bad" institution.

I will NOT attack people or organizations that clearly hold far more fundamental "goodness", notwithstanding their imperfections and mistakes and weaknesses, than what is presented in this insane environment of predatory leaderships.

To the contrary, I will cling with all my passion to those who have proven, by action, their fundamental value of human worth,...than I will empassion those who attack such things.

I like Annan, and hate to see him being "muscled" by the thugs we have in office.. I hope he comes out ok on the whole thing.. Every "program" has irregularities attached to it.. But the Bushies are only interested in spotlighting the ones that people they don't like are connected with..


Since their ilk "own the echo chamber", we will not be hearing about the duplicitous Marvin Bush's dealings, or those of Neil Bush, or KennyBoyLay, or anyone connected to Bush...but the rightwing media feediing frenzy WILL be all over the littlest faux pas of their "opponents".

,...I really did not mean to do that. I just,...well,...I just choose to empower those who obviously hold "good will", notwithstanding the imperfections of their position (which has its caveats and pressures) as opposed to focusing upon their comparative failures.

In other words, I prefer to acknowledge and uplift the "good-hearted" while condemning the "evil-hearted".

Oh, geez,...maybe I make no sense, at all. Maybe, I should just shut the f-up and take a very long vacation from this messy world.

:shrug:

I'm sorry.

:).. I just do not trust the Bush gang a BIT ...and would not put something like this out of the question :)

I too, hope that Annan comes out a winner in this duel :)

Nobody is saying that the UN is a failure. Kofi Annan is human, like everybody else.

You're denying that smears are the tactics employed by the Bush regime? You think it's coincidental that of all the people that could have been named out of the 270 names that could have been named, we get Kofi Annan's son? And he's just a consultant to a company, not even directly connected?

Under these circumstances and knowing the power of the Bush media smear, you think he wouldn't try to figure out a way to work with Bush? Even hoping that with some kind of UN involvement, they might be able to sway things to a different end?

I have hope in humanity too. But not while Bush is in charge.

Nothing you have stated in your post makes any sense to me with respect to "Bush" and "smearing" and whatnot.

I guess I must be in a state of total confusion, right now, because what I read is a total mismatch from your words.

Oh, well. I'm just human, too.

Please, don't hurt me.

they're building in Iraq. The is a political ploy to take the issue away from Kerry -- he nicely set himself up for this. What a great move on Bush's part -- preempt the issue away from Kerry while getting the UN to do the dirty work in Iraq while we retreat to our new bases still in charge of the overall direction of Iraq and Iraqi oil, and poised and ready to strike other countries in the mideast. Sure hope the UN doesn't do this without a demand that the US completely withdraw from Iraq -- otherwise they become nothing more than enablers. God I hope France and Germany see through this gambit.

I'll believe it when I see it. As usual, it's the State Department blowing off steam again. They are such bullshitters. Yawn. stretch.

This will happen if and only IF the US buts out.

In the meantime, in Washington, the State Department is reviewing blueprints for building the biggest US Embassy in the World. A total of 3,000 diplomats will be sitting in their shiny new office in Baghdad a year from now. "It's to protect our interests", says Bush.

Like I said, yawn....

,...no matter how small.

You make me :cry:

Have we NOTHING to hope for,...is hope completely destroyed? Are we so consumed by despair that we can embrace nothing?

Geez,...

How many divisons does Kofi have?

The UN would be lucky to muster 4000 peace-keepers for Iraq. Who does Annan think he's kidding?

Notice Annan hasn't mentioned any names. The resolution will be "encouraging governments to come together in a genuine international effort..."

This is razor sharp diplomacy at work. What Annan is really saying is, "The best that the UN can come up with will be a nonbinding request for cooperation, resulting in very few takers at this point."

As long as the USA and Britain insist on complete control over Iraq and its vast oil reserves, the rest of the world will tell them to go take a hike.
Remember, selfish children who won't share their toys always end up sitting alone in their sandbox. In this case, the toys are the oil rigs sitting on top of a vast, priceless treasure of black gold. Wars have been fought for much less than this in the sordid history of our world.

:kick:

And more mouths to feed and air condition in secure garrisons miles away from the Iraqi cities.

.
.
.

words, watch da vords vewwwy vewwy carefully.

"I THINK it will be part of the new resolution . . ."

Hmmmmmmmmm

I'll wait until I see an actual resolution first,

THEN I will read every word with skepticism.

The US is NOT going to give up its quest for the ME oil this easily.

More stealing, threats, and bribes to come I believe.

And of course:

The US's usual lies and broken promises.

oh, and that Resolution 1511?

It's a farce.

Paragraph 13 reads in part:

"authorizes a multinational force under unified command"

Sounds good, right? UNTIL you get to paragraph 25

25. Requests that the United States, on behalf of the multinational force as outlined in paragraph 13 above, report to the Security Council on the efforts and progress of this force as appropriate and not less than every six months;

Resolution 1511 (2003) Adopted by the Security Council at its 4844th meeting, on 16 October 2003

So the US gets to do a "report card" on the effectiveness of this as-of-yet non-existent multinational force.

(sigh)