DEAN II. Another guy who does not agree with Howard Dean, Hillary Clinton, the French, and the U. N. is Hoshyar Zebari. Zebari is the defense minister of the Iraqi interim government. He addressed the U. N. about the rebuilding of Iraq.

Zebari said "one year ago, the Security Council was divided between those who wanted to appease Saddam Hussein and those who wanted to hold him accountable.
"The UN as an organization failed to help rescue the Iraqi people from a murderous tyranny of 35 years. The UN must not fail the Iraqi people again." Ouch. That had to hurt.

And listen to the response of Kofi Annan. You won't believe it. He said "I think the UN has done as much as it can for Iraq. So quite honestly I don't think today is the time to hurl accusations."

What did the U. N. do? It opposed armed intervention and failed to act at all. It has not helped since the war, pulling out after an attack and asking the U. S. to keep it safe. Can you say "loser"?

Zebari also scolded the U. N. for pulling out to Cyprus when the going got rough. For a guy who has lived with rough his whole life, it probably seemed a little cowardly. It certainly did to many who have not had it rough also.

Kofi continues to maintain that Iraq is too dangerous. This is a little funny. I just read a story of a mother who traveled there to see her daughter who is in the Army serving in Iraq. Missionaries have also gone there.

But there may be another reason for Kofi's reluctance. He said "In taking the difficult decisions that lie ahead, I need to weigh the degree of risk that the United Nations is being asked to accept against the substance of the role we are being asked to fulfil,". Meaning the U. N. would not go where it was risky unless they were in charge.

What we really need is more talk. "We need much greater clarity on what is expected of the United Nations by Iraqis and by the coalition in terms of assistance to the political transition." This is also what Dean wanted. More talk.

Remember Ruwanda? The U. N. pulled out of there when it got dangerous too. They talked. Millions died.

I think Zebari is wasting his breath. But you have to admire his candor.