Remember the praise in January 2004 for the winner of the "German Media Award 2003", Kofi Annan?
Like no other politician Kofi Annan represents the basic idea of the United Nations, searching for a better organized and more peaceful world...
Except - some people think, he's not quite up to the job to searching for a better organized and more peaceful U.N.:
Secret Meeting, Clear Mission: 'Rescue' U.N.
The meeting of veteran foreign policy experts in a Manhattan apartment one recent Sunday was held in strict secrecy. The guest of honor arrived without his usual retinue of aides.
The mission, in the words of one participant, was clear: "to save Kofi and rescue the U.N."
At the gathering, Secretary General Kofi Annan listened quietly to three and a half hours of bluntly worded counsel from a group united in its personal regard for him and support for the United Nations. The group's concern was that lapses in his leadership during the past two years had eclipsed the accomplishments of his first four-year term in office and were threatening to undermine the two years remaining in his final term. ...
The apartment gathering on Dec. 5 came at the end of a year that Mr. Annan has described as the organization's "annus horribilis." The United Nations faced charges of corruption in the oil-for-food program in Iraq, evidence that blue-helmeted peacekeepers in Congo had run prostitution rings and raped women and teenage girls, and formal motions of no confidence in the organization's senior management from staff unions.
On a related note, Hillary Clinton will receive the "German Media Award 2004" in February 2005... (No information yet on the nominee for the "German Media Award 2005", but my guess is that John Kerry (remember him?) is the one to beat.)
May I add that I strongly reject this awful cartoon that is reproduced here with the utmost disgust:
Source: daybyday (via Instapundit)
Update: It's not that the U.N. under Kofi wouldn't care for the poorest of the poor, such as ... "The Toyota Taliban".
Will the German media report on Kofi's 3 days skiing while South Asia suffered - or is that not newsworthy?
Posted by: Pogue | January 03, 2005 at 05:55 PM
@Pogue
The German media may well report Kofi was on a vacation, but it will be downplayed as they have to stay in line (gleichhaltung) with the anti-American reporting template.
Posted by: Robert in Mexifornia | January 03, 2005 at 06:17 PM
What in heaven's name has Hilary Clinton done to distinguish herself in 2004?
Posted by: Joe N. | January 03, 2005 at 07:08 PM
She stayed out of the way while John Kerry ran himself into the ground, paving the way for a Clintonista renaissance in the 2008 Democratic primaries. Now, why the German press should care about that . . . ?
Posted by: pgepps | January 03, 2005 at 09:15 PM
Joe - Hillary gets the nod for not being George W Bush
By this method it would seem there is a long list of "Persons of the Year" for Germany
Posted by: Pogue | January 03, 2005 at 10:21 PM
Robert - isn't it just a perfect example of media bias - German and other - that Bush staying in Crawford Tx ( the Western White House with more comm gear than most coutries ) IS news - but Kofi keeps skiing, and that ain't news
Posted by: Pogue | January 03, 2005 at 10:29 PM
@Joe N.
Joe, she didn't have to do anything but exist. The German press and German elites just love Hillary. They perceive - though they may be miscalculating somewhat - that the US under President Hillary Clinton will stop exercising its sovereignty and begin doing what the Leftists at the UN tell it to do.
Posted by: beimami | January 04, 2005 at 09:20 AM
Something tells me if Hillary were to get elected president of the US the rest of the world better duck. She is not Bill, she is pretty harsh. She is the type to impose her will on others in everything. She is about as safe as a rattle snake.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom | January 04, 2005 at 01:16 PM
(Best of) Hillary Clinton on Foreign Policy
www.issues2000.org/Senate/ Hillary_Clinton_Foreign_Policy.htm
Cut off US aid if Palestine declares a state unilaterally
Q: In recent weeks, scores of people have been killed in the Middle East. In view of what�s happened, do you think there should be a Palestinian state now?
CLINTON: Only as part of a comprehensive peace agreement. That�s always been my position, that [it should] guarantee Israel�s safety and security and the parties should agree at the negotiating table. A unilateral declaration is absolutely unacceptable and it would mean the end of any US aid.
Source: NY Senate debate on NBC Oct 28, 2000
Returned money from organization associated with terrorists
CLINTON: I learned that an organization claimed credit for sponsoring a fund-raiser I attended; an organization whose members have made statements that I find offensive and have condemned. And as soon as I found out the facts, I returned all of the money that was raised because I did not want anyone to have a false impression about my strong support for Israel�s safety and security.
Source: NY Senate debate on NBC Oct 28, 2000
Keep Cuban embargo; pay UN bills
Hillary Clinton said she would oppose lifting the embargo against Cuba until democracy took root there. She said she would support paying America�s unpaid bills to the United Nations. She once again voiced her support for Israel and, while praising the tentative cease-fire agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians reached Monday, she made it clear the burden was on Yasir Arafat to end the violence.
Source: Dean Murphy, NY Times Oct 20, 2000
US should have vetoed biased anti-Israel UN resolution
Q: Did the U.S. do right to abstain from the UN�s anti-Israel resolution?
CLINTON: We should have vetoed it. It was one-sided. It did not address the violence that I believe is fomented by Arafat. It did not address what Israel has tried to do, such as pulling out of Lebanon. We�re seeing the capture of Israeli soldiers, the desecration of Joseph�s tomb. It�s imperative that Arafat end the violence and get back to negotiating. The US remains the guarantor of Israel�s security, and in the Senate, I would certainly be a strong voice for doing whatever was required. I�ve also called for conditioning aid to the Palestinians on their willingness to end violence, on their willingness to rid their textbooks of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli statements.
Source: Senate debate in Manhattan Oct 8, 2000
Support Israel in finding a safe and secure peace
Hillary Clinton supports a move [of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem]. She spoke more generally yesterday about what she called her longstanding respect for the country and its people. �The United States has been and will be always there for Israel,� she said. �And we will always support the Israeli government and Israeli people as they struggle to find a safe and secure peace.�
Source: Associated Press in NY Times May 26, 2000
Posted by: Roland | January 04, 2005 at 02:01 PM
Roland - that might be her point of view in 2000, because she just had a 8 year close-up with yasser araphish with her husband.
Posted by: roman thomas | January 04, 2005 at 02:29 PM
Roman,
I have heard plenty of rhetoric from HRC in more recent days which sounds the same or tougher. I think that if one wishes to discount her senatorial rhetoric as just politics one must also discard her behavior as First Lady. After all that was just politics (and diplomacy).
She gets support from a lot of pinkish people but that doesn't make her one herself. Any more than such support made JFK into a wimp....
Posted by: Don | January 04, 2005 at 11:35 PM