Annan wins round one, but this could still be a brawl

The calls of "off with his head" have been quieted, but United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan should not rest too easily.
Last week an influential U.S. senator was calling for Annan to resign, and twice President Bush passed up opportunities to express his support of Annan. But a U.S. move to depose Annan, if that's what was brewing, got no traction, not even from this nation's strongest allies. Indeed, even the hint that Annan might be a U.S. target apparently added to his luster. Wednesday he got a standing after he addressed the General Assembly, outlining plans for U.N. reforms.
Conciliatory shift
Apparently realizing that it was running the risk of isolating itself, the United States shifted it position. U.S. Ambassador John Danforth, who made a point of saying that he was speaking for the Bush administration, said Thursday, "We have worked well with [Annan] in the past and look forward to working with him for some time in the future."
That does not, however, mean that the United States should let up the slightest bit in its demands for a full investigation of the scandalous Oil for Food program.
The program, which was designed to allow Iraq, after the Persian Gulf War, to buy food and medicine for its people turned into a cash cow for Saddam Hussein. It is estimated that Saddam pocketed more than $20 billion that was supposed to go for humanitarian aid in his country. And while his own people were being deprived of food and medicine, Saddam did all that he could to paint the United States as the villain.
What Saddam did was criminal -- perhaps among the lesser of his crimes, but criminal nonetheless. But it was a crime that he could not pull off on his own. He needed accomplices within the United Nations and its approved contractors to be able to divert that much money from the humanitarian pipeline into his bank accounts.
While it is clear that Saddam will be brought to justice for a life of crime against humanity, it is not clear that the United Nations is committed to prosecuting his accomplices.
More to come
Annan, having won round one, should not rest easily, because it is clear that some members of Congress are spoiling for a fight. They will not rest until the U.N. bureaucrats who enriched themselves by doing Saddam's bidding are exposed and punished.
There are already calls in some quarters for the United States to pull out of the United Nations. Less strident critics acknowledge a need for the United Nations, but are inclined to tighten the strings on the U.S. purse, from which the United Nations gets about one dollar of every five it spends. The United States provides more toward the U.N.'s operating budget than France, Germany, China, Canada and Russia -- combined.
If Annan wants to avoid a crisis of conscience and cash flow, he will allow investigators to follow the trail of misdeeds in the Oil for Food program, wherever that trail leads.