Washington Times Publishes AIM Letter on Kofi Annan and His Real Record
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
April 18, 2001 |
Annan supporter overlooks history of blunders
Inaccuracies abound in Tony Fleming´s April 13 letter to the editor, "Annan has earned his global acclaim," which criticized Cliff Kincaid´s April 10 letter arguing that Kofi Annan should not be given another term as U.N. secretary-general ("Support for Annan not befitting of 'America´s Newspaper´").
Mr. Kincaid listed 14 of Mr. Annan´s positions and policies that conflict with U.S. policies and interests, and four of his actions that show bad judgment. Mr. Fleming tried to answer only five of these 18 criticisms and alluded to two others.
Mr. Kincaid cited Mr. Annan´s terrible blunder in denying the request of U.N. peacekeepers in Rwanda for permission to seize the weapons being accumulated by the Hutus for their massacre of a million Tutsis. Ignoring Mr. Kincaid´s description of this blunder, Mr. Fleming accused him of perpetuating the myth that the secretary-general was responsible for not sending reinforcements to Rwanda.
Another blunder Mr. Fleming ignored was Mr. Annan´s staging of a vote on independence in East Timor, which set off a blood bath there. Nor did he tackle the charge that U.N. peacekeeping forces have spread AIDS around the world. He also neglected the charge that Mr. Annan has done nothing significant to make the United Nations more cost-effective.
Mr. Fleming doesn´t deny that we have given more than $10 billion to support U.N. peacekeeping operations, for which we have received no compensation or credit. Bills have been introduced in Congress that would require the United Nations to reimburse the United States for missions undertaken in association or compliance with resolutions passed by the U.N. Security Council. Mr. Fleming implies that we should forgive this debt because we were "protecting primarily U.S. interests."
Mr. Kincaid criticized Mr. Annan for his advocacy of three treaties that the United States opposes one requiring that the United States reduce burning fossil fuels to prevent global warming, one that would ban all nuclear arms tests and a third establishing an international criminal court, which Mr. Fleming misleadingly calls "prosecution of war criminals." He claims these treaties "have either never come before the Senate or failed by the smallest of margins." The global warming treaty wasn´t submitted to the Senate because it was clear that it would be defeated overwhelmingly. The test ban treaty fell 19 votes short of the two-thirds required for ratification not a small margin.
REED IRVINE
Chairman
Accuracy in Media Inc.
Washington
This is the published letter Reed Irvine was countering:
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
April 13, 2001
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Annan has earned his global acclaim
I appreciate your March 31 editorial´s endorsement of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to another term as head of the world body ("Keep Annan on, for now"). It was also revealing to read the tirade against Mr. Annan by Cliff Kincaid, with whom I´ve discussed the U.S.-U.N. relationship personally ("Support for Annan not befitting of 'America´s Newspaper´"). Mr. Kincaid´s group, America´s Survival, Inc., is dedicated to one aim - leading the American public to believe in a threat that does not exist. Rather than propose effective solutions that are in America´s economic and political interest, he instead insults a man who has worked closely with American leaders to address their concerns over U.N. dues, debt relief (which even Sen. Jesse Helms now supports), and reform of the world organization.
Whether Mr. Kincaid likes it or not, America does have interests abroad. The millions of U.S. tax dollars in foreign aid that supported the Marshall Plan has paid us back in spades through a strong European market for American goods and strategic alliances for America´s interests. Mr. Kincaid misleads readers by implying that Mr. Annan´s support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, actions against global warming, and prosecution of war criminals is completely at odds with the feelings of Americans and their representatives. He knows such treaties have either never come before the Senate or failed by the smallest of margins. He fails to mention that in every country where family planning is permitted, the number of abortions drastically decrease. Unfortunately, the current administration seems intent on increasing the number of abortions worldwide through the Mexico City policy, seemingly to Mr. Kincaid´s approval.
A fact conspicuously absent from his letter is that there are currently no U.S. troops serving on U.N. peacekeeping missions and that countries such as Fiji and Bangladesh provide more men and women in support of ending war. Yet he feels compelled to demand reimbursement for missions in which the United States rejected U.N. leadership and support and for which American soldiers were protecting primarily U.S. interests unilaterally or through NATO. In the same paragraph, he continues the myth that the secretary-general, not the U.S.-led Security Council, failed to send reinforcements to Rwanda. Lastly, rather than note that the United Nations has a total budget less than that of McDonald´s - and less than many U.S. cities - he cites a large scary amount out of context.
Mr. Annan´s leadership has earned him the respect of such former critics as Mr. Helms and The Washington Times. It appears now that Mr. Kincaid is crying in the wilderness against a threat even "America´s Newspaper" knows doesn´t exist under Mr. Annan.
TONY FLEMING
Director of Communications
World Federalist Association
Washington
This is Cliff Kincaid's original rebuttal letter:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
April 10, 2001 |
Support for U.N. Secretary-General not befitting 'America's Newspaper'
Your March 31 editorial, "Keep Annan on, for now," should have been dated April 1; I was sure it was April Fool´s joke. For a conservative newspaper to run such a flawed editorial is a supreme embarrassment. You claim that the positions of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan "have generally been supportive of many U.S. interests." The facts, however, show otherwise.
Mr. Annan made a deal with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that led to the expulsion of weapons inspectors and Iraq´s re-emergence as an international security threat. He also made a deal with Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, giving him immunity from prosecution in the Pan Am 103 terrorism case. Mr. Annan supports the comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was voted down by the U.S. Senate. He supports the global warming treaty, which would raise U.S. energy prices while benefiting Communist China and the Third World. He also supports an International Criminal Court, which could arrest and imprison Americans.
The secretary-general supports the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, even though it was signed with the USSR, a country that no longer exists, and was violated by both the Soviet Union and Russia. He supports the Biological Weapons Convention as well, even though China and Russia have violated it. Mr. Annan opposes a national missile defense system for the United States. He collaborated with then-First Lady Hillary Clinton and Bella Abzug to promote abortion as an "international right" and smeared the United States as a greedy nation in a speech at the University of Notre Dame, claiming Americans don´t spend enough on foreign aid. He supports all "necessary revenues" for the United Nations, which amount to global taxes.
Mr. Annan lent his support to the international campaign to abolish the death penalty in the United States and other nations. He berated the United States for not paying its "dues" to the United Nations, when America had contributed billions of dollars to peacekeeping operations that had not been reimbursed or credited to the United States. He promotes "global debt relief," a cover for transfers of more U.S. wealth to deadbeat socialist Third World dictatorships. The secretary-general refused requests to authorize U.N. peacekeepers in Rwanda to seize weapons and prevent genocide. He proceeded with an independence vote in East timor that led to a bloodbath, and he covered up the fact that U.N. soldiers were spreading AIDS around the world.
Your claim that Mr. Annan "has championed some reforms that have helped make the United Nations a more cost effective and transparent" is also false. U.N. whistleblower Linda S. Shenwick, a former budget analyst at the U.S. mission to the U.N., says that no significant reforms have been carried out. No one has lost a job at the United Nations because of Annan´s reforms. On the other hand, the U.N. pension fund has grown to $25 billion.
The Washington Times is entitled to be pro-U.N. and pro-Annan, but this stance is inconsistent with being "America´s Newspaper."
CLIFF KINCAID
President
America´s Survival, Inc.
Owings, Md.
America's Survival, Inc, P.O. Box 146, Owing, MD. 20736 301-855-2679 FAX 301-855-3732 |
