Coleman Stays Strong on Annan

Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman reiterated today his opinion that Kofi Annan step down as Secratary General of the U.N. He includes the list of offenses that should be considered:

Since I called for his resignation, an avalanche of evidence
concerning the U.N.'s mismanagement of the program emerged:

• Volcker's investigators exposed the corrupt activities of Benon
Sevan, Annan's hand-picked chief of the program. Our subcommittee released
evidence showing that Sevan received lucrative oil allocations from Saddam
Hussein, including documents from the Iraqi Oil Ministry estimating Sevan's
profits at $1.2 million.

• The U.N. investigators also released 58 internal audits that revealed
numerous instances of rampant mismanagement by the U.N., exposing a program rife
with sloppy stewardship and riddled with "overcharges,"double charge[s]" and
other "unjustified" waste of more than $100 million.

• Our subcommittee disclosed overwhelming evidence that a U.N. agent
took a bribe of $105,000 to help Saddam cheat the Program.

• The Volcker committee determined that the U.N.'s process for awarding
three multi-million-dollar contracts in the program was "tainted."

Coleman concludes that any attempts to rectify the situation that does not include Annan's resignation should be considered a "half-measure." I would tend to agree.