Koffi On Terrorism

Kofi Annan has written a new, lengthy piece for Foreign Affairs. In the portion entitled "Freedom From Fear," he discusses terrorism, and it's hard not to get the feeling that he is a late arrival to an already-swinging party.

For instance, can the UN be treated as a serious player in the new millenium, even as they continue to struggle to define exactly what terrorism is:

World leaders should unite behind a definition of terrorism that makes clear beyond any question that the targeting of civilians or noncombatants is never acceptable. And they must work to strengthen the capacity of states to meet the binding antiterrorism obligations imposed on them by the Security Council.

Here's an interesting statistic on the success of peaceful efforts to resolve conflict:

Half of all civil wars that appear to have been resolved by peace agreements tragically slide back into conflict within five years.

Here, Annan supports the creation of an entirely new commission, from which many important summits, but very few acts, will certainly spring:

I therefore propose the creation of a new intergovernmental organ in the UN: a Peacebuilding Commission. The commission would be a forum in which representatives from donor countries, troop contributors, and the country being helped would sit together with leaders from other member states, international financial institutions, and regional organizations to agree on strategy, provide policy guidance, mobilize resources, and coordinate the efforts of all involved.

I'll bet it hurt to write this:

When prevention fails, and all other means have been exhausted, we must be able to rely on the use of force.

I'll bet it really hurt to write this:

Article 51 of the UN Charter preserves the right of all states to act in self-defense against an armed attack. Most lawyers recognize that the provision includes the right to take pre-emptive action against an imminent threat; it needs no reinterpretation or rewriting.

This statement answers everything except what we should do when the UN itself fails to live up to it's responsibility:

When states fail to live up to this responsibility, it passes to the international community, which, if necessary, should stand ready to take enforcement action authorized by the Security Council.

In Iraq's case of course, the UN met all the criteria except the "stand ready" part.

Kofi's outline for battling the present and future terrorist threats seem akin to closing the barn door after the cattle's out, and does not really inspire much confidence that UN leadership has learned much since September of 2001.