U.N. ‘Talk’ only exploits Syrian Massacre

Who is Kofi kidding? United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan condemned the killings in Syria “in the strongest possible terms” and is calling for an independent investigation into a weekend massacre that left more than 100 people--50 of them little children--dead.

“I have come to Syria at a critical moment in this crisis,” Annan said in a statement upon his arrival. “I am personally shocked and horrified by the tragic incident in Houla two days ago, which took so many innocent lives, children, women and men. This was an appalling crime, and the (U.N.) Security Council has rightly condemned it.”(FOX News, May 28, 2012) Sounds good to the mainstream media, Mr. Annan, but the people of Syria need more than just sounding good, because sounding good doesn’t save lives. How could Annan boast that he arrived at “a critical moment in this crisis” when more than 100 people were already brutally massacred at the time of his arrival?

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Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad et al have been on a killing rage for the past year and a half. Kofi Annan telling him off will bring a halt to their brutality? “Assad has come under intense scrutiny from world leaders in the wake of an amateur video, released over the weekend, that showed “a room crammed with the mangled and bloody bodies of children--some with their skulls torn open,” CNN said. According to the Associated Press, another later video “showed bodies, wrapped in white sheets, being placed in a sprawling mass grave.”(FOX News) (For video See Elias Bejjani column. Warning: horrific graphics). “I intend to have serious and frank discussions with President Bashar Al-Assad,” Annan said. “Our goal is to stop this suffering.” Some 13,0000 people have been killed since the uprising began in early 2011, according to estimates. The U.N., it seems is not very effective when it comes to massacres with massive tolls on human lives. It was on Annan’s watch as head of the U.N. peacekeeping department that the slaughter of 800,000 thousand civilians took place in Rwanda. In a speech that could have been delivered by Neville Chamberlain, Annan said at the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide of Rwanda back in April of 2004: “I believed at the time that I was doing my best. But I realized after (emphasis CFP’s) the genocide that there was more that I could and should have done to sound the alarm and rally support. “ But Kofi Annan did not “sound the alarm and rally support” in Rwanda and instead steadfastly refused to send more troops as requested by retired Canadian General Romeo Dallaire, who telephoned pleading for Annan to send help directly from the actual death arena. Nor does Annan, who is pressing for a U.N. investigation into the Syrian massacre have the best record on U.N. ‘independent’ investigations. It was on his watch as U.N. Secretary General that the U.N. Oil for Food scandal went down. To this day many of the prime scandal perps remain at large. Being mealy-mouthed, weak and ineffective must be prerequisites for U.N brass. The same United Nations that talks about an investigation into the Syrian massacre is the one that recently named despot Robert Mugabe as ‘International Tourism Ambassador’, in recognition of the promotion and development of tourism. Like its ludicrous appointments, U.N. investigations are always all talk, no action.