Some of Jeff Goldstein's Protein Wisdom:
UNimpressive: "Annan Suspends Oil-For-Food Program Chief"Posted by dan at February 10, 2005 02:36 AMFrom the AP:
Secretary-General Kofi Annan suspended the head of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq and a senior official who dealt with contracts, following an independent investigation that accused them of misconduct, a spokesman said Monday.
Benon Sevan, who was in charge of the $64 billion humanitarian program, and Joseph Stephanides, who heads the U.N. Security Council Affairs Division, were told Friday that they had been suspended with pay, spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
[...] “I called them each separately and told them—in the most severe of my disappointed voices—that they were suspended effective immediately, and that we would be sending out a letter within the week,” Mr. Annan told reporters. “I told them that the letters would spell out our disappointment, and that we would not hesitate to couch said disappointment in the most severe of rhetorical tones.”
Asked how Mr Sevan and Mr Stephanides reacted to the news, Annan was pensive: “They were disappointed, I think. Until they found out they’d still be paid. Once they heard that they cheered right up and asked if I wouldn’t mind sending over a couple of hookers. Which I did. But not the expensive kind.
“So, y’know. Take that, rulebreakers."