U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday called the war in Iraq, including the Baghdad bombings that killed 21 U.N. staff members, one of his greatest failures during his 10-year tenure. In his final news conference before stepping down on December 31, the outgoing secretary-general also criticized the United States for not obtaining a U.N. resolution approving the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I hope that next time one is dealing with a broader threat to the international community, one would wait and seek the approval of the Security Council, said Annan. A country has a right to defend itself, but when it is an issue of a broader threat of the international community, it is only the Security Council that has that legitimacy to authorize action on that basis. The deaths of U.N. workers, including his friend Sergio Viera de Mello, were a pain that Annan equated to the death of his twin sister. In terms of moving forward for Iraq, Annan spoke with Iraqi Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi before his final press conference to propose international conference to help the Iraqi people stabilize Iraq. Given the bitterness and the fighting that has gone on, they Iraqis cannot do it on their own. Third-party help is required, said Annan, who suggested a grouping of Iraq, its neighbors, and the Security Council to work on security issues among other topics. They need to settle the political issues, reconciliation, oil and taxation issues, and revenue sharing is extremely important.
