KOFI ANNAN A “PEACEKEEPER” HANDPICKED BY THE CIA

WHO IS KOFI ANNAN? A UN “PEACEKEEPER” HANDPICKED BY THE CIA

By Thierry Meyssan | Tuesday, April 3, 2012
http://www.4thmedia.org/2012/04/03/who-is-kofi-annan-the-united-nations-peacekeeper-handpicked-by-the-cia/

[HERE ONLY EXTRACTS: Open the above website to read the full article. Lines in brackets are my additions, just to make clear some paragraphs]

KOFI ANNAN: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASKS

[That was the original Title of Thierry Meyssanarticle in: http://www.voltairenet.org/Kofi-Annan-black-skin-white-masks]

Although Kofi Annan’s track record at the UN is an indisputable success in terms of management and efficiency, he has been sharply criticized for his political shortcomings. As Secretary General, he aspired to bring the Organization into line with the unipolar world and the globalization of U.S. hegemony. He called into question the ideological foundations of the UN and undermined its ability to prevent conflicts. Notwithstanding, he is today in charge of resolving the Syrian crisis.
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Former UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize, Kofi Annan, has been designated by Ban Ki-moon and Nabil El Arabi as joint special envoy to negotiate a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis. With Annan’s extraordinary experience and shiny brand image, his appointment was welcomed by all.

What does this top international official really represent? Who propelled him to the highest-ranking positions? What were his political choices, and what are his current commitments? These questions are met with a discreet silence, as if his previous functions were in themselves a guarantee of neutrality.

HANDPICKED AND TRAINED BY THE FORD FOUNDATION AND THE CIA

His former colleagues praise him for his thoughtfulness, his intelligence and subtlety. A very charismatic personality, Kofi Annan left a strong imprint behind him because he did not behave simply as the “secretary” of the UN, but more like its “general,” by taking initiatives that revivified an organization that was mired in bureaucracy. All that is known and has been repeated ad nauseam. His exceptional professional qualities earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, although this honor in theory should have been bestowed for personal political commitment, not a management career.

Kofi was then 19 years old [when] he was spotted by a headhunter from the Ford Foundation who incorporated him into a program for “young leaders.” From there, he was invited to follow a summer course at Harvard University. Having noticed his enthusiasm for the United States, the Ford Foundation offered to sponsor his complete studies, first in economics at Macalester College in Minnesota, followed by international relations at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

After the Second World War, the Ford Foundation, created by famous industrialist Henry Ford, became an unofficial instrument of U.S. foreign policy, providing a respectable facade for the activities of the CIA [See: “Ford Foundation, a philanthropic facade for the CIA,” Voltaire Network, 5 April 2004, and “Pourquoi la Fondation Ford subventionne la contestation,” by Paul Labarique, Réseau Voltaire, 19 April 2004.].

A SUCCESSFUL CAREER DESPITE TRAGIC FAILURES

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar chose Kofi Annan as Assistant Secretary-General in charge of human resources management and staff safety and security (1987-90). With the annexation of Kuwait by Iraq, 900 UN employees remained stranded in that country. Kofi Annan was able to negotiate their release with Saddam Hussein, a feat that boosted his prestige within the Organization. He was then successively put in charge of the budget (1990-92) and peacekeeping operations under Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1993-96), with a brief interlude as a special envoy for Yugoslavia.

According to Canadian General Romeo Dallaire, commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda, Kofi Annan failed to respond to his many appeals and carries the primary responsibility for UN inaction during the genocide (800,000 dead, mainly Tutsis, but also Hutu opponents) [2].

A similar scenario was repeated in Bosnia, where 400 peacekeepers were taken hostage by Bosnian Serb forces. Kofi Annan remained deaf to the calls of General Bernard Janvier and allowed the perpetration of predictable massacres. [Annan didn't request the release of hostages because the destruction of Yugoslavia was in the plan of his masters in the US. It seems to be that at that time Annam was already working for the CIA]

In late 1996, the UNITED STATES vetoed the reappointment of the Egyptian Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Secretary General, regarded as dangerously Francophile. They succeeded in imposing their candidate: Kofi Annan. His failures in Rwanda and Bosnia blossomed into assets after he candidly confessed to them and promised to reform the system so that they wouldn’t recur. He was elected on this basis and took office on 1 January 1997.

UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL

The terms of Kofi Annan (1997-2006) reflect the reality of the historical period, that of a unipolar world subjected to the globalization of U.S. hegemony at the expense of nation-states and the peoples that they represent.

Kofi Annan’s landmark initiative was the Global Compact, the mobilization of civil society for a better world. On the basis of a voluntary dialogue, businesses, unions and NGOs were brought together to discuss and commit to respect human rights, labor standards and the environment.

In practice, the Global Compact did not yield the desired effect on the ground. On the contrary, it deeply distorted the nature of the UN by playing down the power of nation-states and emphasizing that of transnational corporations and of associations [NGOs] which are “non-governmental” only in name and which are covertly funded by the great powers.

The Global Compact is a deviation from the nearly universally accepted logic that international law serves the common good, to a logic embraced only by the Anglo-Americans for whom the common good is a chimera and good governance consists in bringing together the largest number of special interests. Ultimately, the Global Compact has had the same effect as the charity galas in the U.S.: to give oneself a good conscience by launching high-profile initiatives while condoning structural injustices.

In that sense, the terms of Kofi Annan (1997-2006) reflect the reality of the historical period, that of a unipolar world subjected to the globalization of U.S. hegemony at the expense of nation-states and the peoples that they represent.

Peace has stopped being a concern for the UN since the unipolar world has its own policeman, the U.S.; thus the organization can concentrate instead on absorbing all forms of protest to better corroborate the global disorder and justify the progressive global expansion of U.S. hegemony.

[THE “ANNAN DOCTRINE]

Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s 20 September 1999 speech to the General Assembly outlined what has been termed THE “ANNAN DOCTRINE.” Using his own impotence in Rwanda and Bosnia as an excuse, he argued that in both cases the States had failed in their duty to protect their own people. HE THEREFORE CONCLUDED THAT THE SOVEREIGNTY OF STATES, GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF THE UN CHARTER, CONSTITUTES AN OBSTACLE TO HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION. The African Union adopted this view under the name of “RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT” [called also R2P and HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION] the UN followed suit in 2005 during the World Summit responsible for the follow-up of the Millennium Summit [and finally adopted the UN Res 1674 in 2006, the one that gives power to US-NATO to destroy nations like Irak and Libya with the support of the UN and in the name of "Humanitarian Intervention"].

THE ANNAN DOCTRINE IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE REINCARNATION OF THE RIGHT TO INTERVENE INVOKED BY THE BRITISH TO WAGE WAR AGAINST THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND, MORE RECENTLY, UPDATED BY BERNARD KOUCHNER. THE NEW CONCEPT WILL BE USED EXPLICITLY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2011 TO LEGALIZE THE COLONIAL OPERATION AGAINST LIBYA [See “UN security council resolution 1973 in favour of a no-fly zone in Libya,” Voltaire Network, 17 March 2011.].

[ANNAN INVOLVED IN WAR CRIMES: Case IRAK, “oil for food” Progamme.]

In addition, Kofi Annan’s terms as UN Secretary-General were marked by the “Oil-for-Food” programme which was devised by the Security Council in 1991, but was effective only from 1996 to 2003. IT WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO ENSURE THAT IRAQ’S OIL REVENUES WOULD BE USED EXCLUSIVELY TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND NOT TO FINANCE NEW MILITARY ADVENTURES. HOWEVER, IN THE CONTEXT OF THE INTERNATIONAL EMBARGO AND UNDER THE PERSONAL SUPERVISION OF KOFI ANNAN, THIS PROGRAM BECAME AN INSTRUMENT IN THE HANDS OF THE U.S. AND THE UK TO BLEED IRAQ WHILE THEY OCCUPIED THE “NO-FLY ZONE” (which corresponds roughly to the current autonomous Kurdistan region) until the outbreak of the aggression against and destruction of the country [See: “Annan: Génocide en Iraq et Paix en Syrie? ” by Hassan Hamade, As-Safir (Lebanon), Réseau Voltaire, 22 March 2012. ].

For years, the population was undernourished and deprived of life-saving medicines. Several international officials who were in charge of that program qualified it as a “war crime” and even resigned after refusing to apply it. Among them, the UN Assistant Secretary-General Hans von Sponeck and UN Humanitarian Coordinator Denis Halliday considered that this program brought about the genocide of 1, 5 million Iraqis, including at least 500,000 children [See: “United Nations implications in war crimes,” by Silvia Cattori, Voltaire Network, 23 March 2007].

[KOFI ANNAN THE REPENTED]

It was not until the invasion and destruction of Iraq that Kofi Annan finally rebelled and denounced those who had paid for his education, propelled his rise to Secretary-General of the UN, and awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize. He described the attack on Iraq as illegal and voiced public concern that this precedent would eviscerate International Law [See 7 in Endnotes below] Washington responded brutally with a spying operation against Kofi Annan, his cabinet, his family and even against his friends. The Secretary-General’s son, Kojo Annan, was accused of embezzling “oil for food” program funds with his father’s blessing. The prosecution did not manage to convince UN member states and, on the contrary, consolidated the authority of the Secretary-General [See 8 in Endnotes] However, during the last two years of his mandate, Kofi Annan was paralyzed and forced to toe the line.

BACK TO SQUARE ONE [Annan, the pawn servant of big powers again]


The KENYA case as model of "regime change" to serve the US-NATO interests

In December 2007, elections in Kenya degenerated into conflict. President Mwai Kibaki appeared to have defeated the candidate backed by Washington, Raila Odinga. Within days, riots left more than 1,000 dead and 300,000 displaced. Madeleine Albright proposed the mediation of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. The institute sent two mediators: former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, both members of the Board of Administration.

As a result of that “mediation,” President Kibaki was forced to bow to U.S. wishes. He was able to stay in office, but first had to accept a constitutional reform that stripped him of his powers in favor of the Prime Minister and to agree to the choice of Odinga as Prime Minister. In his role as wise old African, KOFI ANNAN HELPED TO GIVE A VENEER OF LEGITIMACY TO A REGIME CHANGE IMPOSED BY WASHINGTON [See: “Behind the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize,” by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 19 October 2009 ].

[ANNAN as SERVANT OF BIG CORPORATION]

He also serves as chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which aims to solve the food problems of the black continent through biotechnology. In fact, AGRA is a lobby funded by the Bill Gates and Rockefeller Foundations to promote the dissemination of GMO’s produced by Monsanto, DuPont, Dow, Syngenta and others. Most independent experts agree that, beyond the issue of their environmental impact, the use of non-reproductible GMO crops keeps farmers under the thumb of their suppliers and introduces a new form of human exploitation.

KOFI ANNAN IN SYRIA

So what has this former high-ranking international official come to Syria for?

In the first place, his appointment suggests that the current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, whose image has been tarnished by his kowtowing to the United States and by a string of corruption scandals [See: “An Open Letter to the dishonorable Ban Ki-moon” by Hassan Hamade, As-Safir (Lebanon), Voltaire Network, 27 January 2012] was not up to the task, while Kofi Annan, despite his balance sheet, still enjoys a positive image.

Secondly, a mediator can succeed only to the extent that he has been selected by the parts in the conflict. But this is not the case. Kofi Annan represents the Secretary-General of the UN and his Arab League counterpart [both institutions already kidnapped by the US-NATO allies]. He defends the honor and reputation of both institutions in the absence of clear political instructions.

Why the appointment of Mr Annan was approved de facto by the members of the Security Council and those of the Arab League?, it is because it satisfies conflicting expectations. For some, the joint special envoy is not intended to broker peace, but to clad a peace that has already been negotiated between the great powers so that everyone can stand tall. Others expect him to repeat the Kenyan script and bring about regime change without further violence.

Over the past three weeks, the action of Kofi Annan has been to present his own plan, an amended version of the one developed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In doing so, he has rendered the plan palatable for Washington and its allies. In addition, Mr. Annan has intentionally introduced an element of confusion by suggesting that he had convinced President al-Assad to appoint one of his vice presidents, Farouk al-Shara, to negotiate with the opposition. This is portrayed as a concession made by Syria to the Gulf Cooperation Council. In fact, Vice President al-Shara has been in charge of these negotiations for a year and the demand made by Saudi Arabia and Qatar is totally different: that President al-Assad should step down because he is an Alawite and that power be transferred to the Vice President for being a Sunni. It would thus seem that the joint special envoy is engineering a way out for those states that have attacked Syria and invented the fable of a democratic revolution crushed in blood.

However, the doublespeak of Kofi Annan, who when IN DAMASCUS WAS SATISFIED WITH HIS MEETING WITH PRESIDENT AL-ASSAD BUT EXPRESSED DISAPPOINTED ONCE BACK IN GENEVA, has not raised any questions about his true intentions.

ENDNOTES


[1] “Ford Foundation, a philanthropic facade for the CIA,” Voltaire Network, 5 April 2004, and “Pourquoi la Fondation Ford subventionne la contestation,” by Paul Labarique, Réseau Voltaire, 19 April 2004.

[2] Shake Hands with the Devil : The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, by Roméo Dallaire, Arrow Books Ltd, 2004

[3] “La NED, vitrine légale de la CIA,” by Thierry Meyssan, Odnako (Russian Federation), Réseau Voltaire, 6 October 2010.

[4] “UN security council resolution 1973 in favour of a no-fly zone in Libya,” Voltaire Network, 17 March 2011.

[5] “Annan: Génocide en Iraq et Paix en Syrie?,” by Hassan Hamade, As-Safir (Lebanon), Réseau Voltaire, 22 March 2012.

[6] “United Nations implications in war crimes,” by Silvia Cattori, Voltaire Network, 23 March 2007.

[7] “For Kofi Annan, international law no longer guarantees anything”, by Sandro Cruz, Voltaire Network, 15 July 2005.

[8] “Harassing Kofi Annan,” by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 13 December 2004.

[9] “Behind the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize,” by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 19 October 2009.

[10] “An Open Letter to the dishonorable Ban Ki-moon,” by Hassan Hamade, As-Safir (Lebanon), Voltaire Network, 27 January 2012.


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OPEN: Thierry Meyssan, http://www.voltairenet.org/Kofi-Annan-black-skin-white-masks

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