Puffy Annan

Claudia Rosett is the go-to journalist on the Oil-For-Food corruption case. The following is written with a sneer:

The United Nations has already put in place a sweeping set of improvements, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan reorganizing and streamlining the world body to bring about, according to a U.N. reform dossier, "a culture of greater openness, coherence, innovation and confidence." A blue-ribbon panel has "set more stringent standards for judging the performance of peacekeepers, in the field and at Headquarters." And there is now a system for dealing with U.N. staff, that "gives more precedence to merit and competence and less to tenure and precedent."

Of course, that sounds like Bill Clinton's promise that his administration would be the most ethical in history. It's the kind of rhetoric that makes you want to check your pockets to see if they've been picked. It's what we've come to expect from the U.N.--high flown, idealistic promises masking cynicism and corruption. It's the kind of promising you get from a used car dealer, called "puffing," which is allowed under the caveat emptor principle.

John Bolton and George Bush are aware buyers. The liberals attacking Bolton don't seem to think there's anything wrong at the U.N. and that we shouldn't offend the New World Order, but the first step to dealing with a problem is admitting that you have one. What's so wrong with a good old-fashioned intervention?