December 18, 2006
Annan's Bye-Bye Bash May Be a Dud
I'm a couple of days late on this (I wasn't on the Internet at all over the weekend), but thought it too good to pass up, especially since not all of you may have seen it. I'm including the whole thing:
December 16, 2006 -- NEXT week's farewell bash for United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan may be more like a wake than a party.
Sources tell Page Six the outgoing Ghana-born leader has infuriated so many people during his reign that his Tuesday farewell gala at the U.N. could be noticeably under-attended. "He's so detested it will be interesting to see who doesn't show," a source says.
Among those bitter at Annan are 7,000 members of the U.N. Staff Union in New York. He has refused to schedule an official goodbye meeting with them to discuss their concerns, offering to hold only an "informal encounter in the U.N. cafeteria," union vice president Emad Hassanin told NewsMax.com. Issues include early retirements, budget cuts and charges of sexual harassment by senior U.N. officials.
Also not expected to show is outgoing U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, who's also said to be skipping the swearing-in ceremony of new U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Earlier this year, Bolton showed his solidarity with the union by meeting with leaders to discuss reforming the U.N. bureaucracy. Later, NewsMax reports, Bolton said he had "more in common with the staff union than he had with the 38th floor," where Annan's office is located.
The U.N.'s human resources department contemplated firing the staffers who met Bolton, but later backed down.
Others are mad that Annan reportedly plans to exit his position 11 days early so he can get a jump start on his Christmas holiday - a decision that may impact the fate of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah last July. Under terms of a U.N. Security Council brokered cease-fire, Annan was directed to secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers, NewsMax reports.
When Annan does leave, he'll have a comfy financial cushion to lean on, collecting a $14,000-a-month pension from his secretary general stint. He'll also get an additional $8,000 a month accrued from his early days at the U.N. when he ran human resources, served as controller and was head of peacekeeping operations.
I knew I liked John Bolton. And how like Annan to say "screw you" to Israel even as he leaves office.
And, to thank him for his incompetence and complete buffoonery, we the people get to help finance his retirement to the tune of $264,000 per year. At least we finally know where some of the U.N. monies are going to.
Good riddance.
He definitely will not be missed
h/t: Kitty
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