The End Might Be Near...

The end might be near for two former German media darlings: Kofi Annan and Joschka Fischer.

"I am not a crook! You may want to write down the phone number of my son Kojo..."

Kofi is expected to face the damning verdict of an independent panel investigating the ugly dealings involving his son and the UN oil-for-food programme.

Annan fate to be sealed by oil-for-food scandal report

(...) A palpable atmosphere of dread has overtaken the UN headquarters ahead of the release of a second interim report into the affair by the investigative panel headed by Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Officials hope the report will exonerate the secretary general of direct wrongdoing. But many expect it to criticise him for overlooking the activities of his son, Kojo Annan, who for eight years received nearly $400,000 (£220,000) from a Swiss firm that was given a large contract in the oil-for-food programme.

The suggestion even of managerial incompetence or blindness to nepotism on the part of Mr Annan will take a toll on him at a time when he is already beleaguered by other scandals and will almost certainly prompt new calls for his resignation.

But then again - according to the "German Media Award 2003" Kofi is a titan of world politics:

Like no other politician Kofi Annan represents the basic idea of the United Nations, searching for a better organized and more peaceful world...

How can you possibly ax such an able guy, nepotism or not...

Talking of world class politicians: German foreign minister Joschka "I am not convinced" Fischer, too, faces some unpleasant career changes:

Visa Rules Furor Casts Cloud Over Fischer

He was on the streets throwing stones at police in the 1970s and once took an oath of office wearing sneakers. But a reckless past and emotion-laden politics have long been part of the appeal of Joschka Fischer, Germany's unconventional foreign minister.

That love affair is now on the wane, however, as a furor over visa rules raises questions about his political judgment and casts another cloud over Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government, already beset by high unemployment and faltering efforts to revitalize Europe's largest economy. (...)

... some commentators already see gloom settling over the government. The liberal weekly Die Zeit doubted the Schroeder-Fischer team could survive its own "arrogance'' and "lack of discipline.''

Now, let's assume for a moment Kofi and Joschka both get the pink slip. What does the future hold for these two losers?

I think I'll have both of them work in a secure, tranquile environment. Desk jobs at John Bolton's UN office come to mind...

Comments

[Pogue]

If there were any justice in the world Kofi should go to Iraq and try to help the people of that poor country rebuild their society

Surely his diplomatic skills could defuse all the tensions over there

[Pamela]

No, let Kofi go to Dafur and fix THAT "not genocide" problem. His worthless spawn Kojo can hightail it to the Congo and help out the French with their corruption problems.

And Fischer is "Long rated the most popular politician in Germany"? God, you poor Germans really don't have much to work with, do you? Make him German ambassador to Taiwan. They'll love him there after supporting China's "No Independence" law by lifting the arms sanctions.

[PacRim Jim]

Schadenfreude is a dish best served in large portions. Waiter, supersize my order!

[Doug]

Can I caption that photo?

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I’ll say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

[Lou Minatti]

Will Fischer be wearing sneakers to his trial?

Gag. There are few things I hate more than old hippies desperately trying to appear hip. You're no longer "hip", hippy! You're now the people you mocked 35 years ago, only much less worthy of our respect.

[Alex]

Another quote, this one from my latin class: "spes saepe fallit", hope often misleads : Did any german mainstream media outlet admit Dr. Kelly wasn´t slaughtered by warmongers and that instead BBC-directors had to step down and apologize to Blair? Did they report on the inquiry that confirmed Blair did not lie to the public on Iraq? Are they publishing that only 10% of Bush voters are conservative christians?
Even if Annan and Fischer are forced to resign, which is what I hope for, it will be American pressure because Kofi rejected the war and it will be right-wing conspiracy to bring down the current government and to get rid of icon Fischer because CDU/FDP are envying his great performance and popularity .
People who want to rename central Berlin streets after Rudi Dutschke are not ready nor willing nor able to even consider the possibility of own misconduct.

[Pato]

It's about time this fake soft-speaken, pseudo humble, western coddled/mulsim stroked con artist's real colors are known.
A bit OT, but here is more nonsense spewed from the mouth of a historical revisionist who happens (again) to be german- "I take the following statement by the producer of Downfall, Bernd Eichinger:
"Many people advised me not to [make the film]. There was a big, big chance audiences might turn away or people might say, "How could you do a movie like this?" But these events only happened 60 years ago and we forget them at our peril. Look at the world today... if you read what happened in those Iraqi prisons, you see normal people within two or three weeks starting to torture other human beings. They are told someone is a bad guy and they do it, even though no one's going to shoot them if they don't. You can see how fast what happened under Hitler can happen. It's not so far away.
I highlight this statement in order to pose the following question, which it prompts for me: why is it that so many people of broadly progressive outlook in the West, when they want an analogy or comparison with, an illustration of, the sort of thing that happened in Hitler's time, immediately reach for an Iraq-war-related or war-on-terrorism-related example? To be clear here: I am not now talking about the merely crude and ignorant Bush=Hitler type of sloganeering. I'm talking about precisely the kind of statement quoted above. For the past two years such statements have been abundant. Eichinger could just as easily have taken his example from pre-war Iraq, which had more similarities with the Nazi regime than the US occupation has. He could, indeed, have cited Abu Ghraib in Saddam's time rather than since. But no, he found it more apt to use what on any well-balanced reckoning was the more distant rather than the closer example (I mean in scale of moral gravity)."
from norm blog UK- http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2005/03/analogies_for_n.html
Down goes Kofi.....
down goes schroder......
boom goes chirac....
KABAM goes "eu" constituion.........

[Pato]

....then kaboom goes the "eu".. long before it is even off the gruond.
Can we all remember the tons upon tons of intellectually crippled anti-US hysteria whipped up by the euro press, that continues even today?
Didn't seem to do any of them a goddamn bit of good at all.
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.22139,filter.all/pub_detail.asp

[Sock Puppet of Doom]

All is I can say I used to laugh at the "Get us out of the UN now." Bumper stickers and billboards in the 1970's. Now I say get my country out of the UN and the UN out of my country. I want it to happen tomorrow.

As for Joska Fischer he is a fool and a clown. He has done more to damage US German relations than anyone else besides Schroeder. I am happy many see him for the silly human he is now.

[kid charlemagne]

OT, is anyone familiar with the German magazine "Cicero"? It's a political magazine with a high intellectual level and is more conservative than other German publications. So it's encouraging that this magazine has appeared on the scene.

However, the latest issue features a short piece on Condaleeza Rice, written by the magazine's editor-in-chief, which is so absurd it cries out for a Fisking. In it, he explains how wonderful Rice because she actually knows about Old Europe. He uses the word "European" in sentence after sentence to refer to Rice's cultural background to show that she is an educated person, and not one of those typical, dumb gun-slinging Amis.

Anyway, I'm not doing a very good job of explication here (all those years away from your native langauge do take a toll!), so here's the article:
http://www.cicero.de/97.php?ress_id=1&item=480

[Pogue]

Hey Sock Puppet - I know EXACTLY what you mean The more I know about the UN the more I want the US out of it and the whole corrupt bunch out of my hometown

I think it should be reformed to expel all non democratic states myself - yes, even Red China

[Del Hoeft]

Oh, that picture is just too precious for words. Looks like Fischer smelt-the-Kofi. Why am I thinking Fischer could use some knitting needles?
There is more schadenfeude here than in Dodgeball.

[lemmy]

I guess Paul Volcker just gave his briefing. As expected, it didn't hammer Annan. No surprise.

Let's hope that they went easy on him with an agreement that that louse resigns.

[Pogue]

let me see if I understand this - Halliburton is the subject of endless abuse because one of its subsidiaries is chosen to fight the oil well fires expected in Iraq - due to the appearence of impropriety thanks to the VP's former association with the firm....

But Kofi and Oil for Food - a $100B scam ( the oil well fires contract ended up paying 600M btw ) - with his son directly involved - what - this doesn't prompt investigation?

[Sandy P]

After we, the Iraqis and the Brits expressed our "concern," the UN has decided not to pay Bevan's legal fees from the UN's Iraqi Oil fund.

If that isn't chuzpah(sp), I don't know what is.

[Barbara]

You know, it must be terribly hard for Kofi to bear up through all of this. Apparently, everyone in the UN BUT him is getting laid (every which way) and paid off, even his own son. So instead of kicking him while he's down, let's scrape a few bucks together and send him a gift basket: Bloomingdale's bath ensemble + spa kit, a nice Egyptian cotton terry robe, and a barrel of Iraqi oil, heated to boiling (I like my SG's extra crispy!)

[Medienmogul]

Fischer needs to step down from office and submit himself to an impeachment trial. He has allowed gangsters and potential terrorists to enter the EU, so there is no excuse for him staying in office and out of jail.

[Sock Puppet of Doom]

One thing is true Joschka Fischer is as pure as the driven snow when compared with some of the UN leadership. By the way, it is clear Joschka is not too convinced (or clear for that matter) about anything.

[Thomas]

Now I know you don't like pictures from the Stern magazine in that blog, but that of a sinking ship and its crew is a nice one:

http://img.stern.de/_content/53/80/538024/spd_500_500.jpg

[DL]

The only reason J. Fischer is consisently voted Germany's favorite politican is because he plays no role in dismantling the country's welfare state. As long as he avoids domestic politics, Germans can afford to love him.

[Cousin Dave]

@kid charlemagne: I guess we better not tell those Cicero guys that Condi Rice is from Birmingham, Alabama, and that her lifelong ambition is to be commissioner of the National Football League.

[Jakester]

I smell reverse racism in this Kofi-UN case. If he was a white Euro or American, all hell would break lose!