This is an issue I have barely followed until the holiday, when my traditionally Republican father started calling it one of the major factors why the Iraq invasion shook out the way it did, if not THE major factor. Why France and Russia and other countries did not get involved and the UN dragged its feet on resolutions, etc. Today he sends me a USA Today article quoting Senator Norm Coleman, of the subcommittee for investigating UN irresponsibility, who says Annan should step down for the $23 billion skimmed by Hussein and the kick-backs received by his son through a Swiss subsidiary. My dad's email indicates this may be the "worst financial scandal the world has ever seen."
Now, I am constitutionally disinclined to see this as that bad. Bad, sure. Terrible, obviously. I don't know much about Coleman, but I see that "R" next to his name and see this as a convenient way for breaking up UN-block power, and as a denizen of this board, I'm more interested in Haliburton-IMF type scandals. This UN thing is really bad and needs to be ferretted out.
But how bad is it? Could some intrepid soul put this in perspective for me? Is there a way I can tip my dad the other way?