The meeting was requested by U.S. Ambassador John Danforth in a letter on Dec. 9, and backed by Russia, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Annan polled member states and 138 nations in the 191-member assembly agreed. A parting "up yours" jesture to ShrubCo? :shrug:
http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m-news+article+storyid-4483-PHPSESSID-dd84b54bb81c948599bb2ae42be829ad.htmlIn his last appearance at a public meeting of the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Ambassador John Danforth on January 13 reaffirmed the United States' commitment to the United Nations and paid tribute to the world organization and fellow ambassadors. "A lot of people have criticized the United Nations, especially recently, and they've a lot to criticize in the United Nations, the oil-for-food issue, the problem of abuses by peacekeepers especially in the Congo, and there will always be things to criticize. But those points of criticism did not detract, and do not detract, from the essential value of the United Nations," Danforth said during a public Security Council briefing on the Middle East.
The United Nations is a place where the United States can listen as well as speak, the ambassador said. The United States should listen to the views of others at the United Nations even if the comments are ones "that we would rather have them not make."
The United Nations, Danforth said, is "even more important than I thought it was when I came here. The United Nations is important for the welfare and the stability of the world. And it is important for the welfare of the United States as well."
Danforth was appointed as chief U.S. representative to the United Nations by President Bush in June 2004 to replace Ambassador John Negroponte, who was being sent to Baghdad, Iraq, to head the U.S. embassy there at the end of the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Danforth announced that he was leaving the top U.N. post in December 2004, saying "at this point in my life the question that I ask myself is what's most important to me and what is most important to me is my wife and my home and having more time with both." The ambassador added he told President Bush that he would be available for special assignments. His resignation from the United Nations is effective January 20.
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Insofar as my own country is concerned, a lot of people have voiced concern even opposition to the United Nations. I think the reasons for that are understandable; people complain, well, the United Nations doesn't always support the U.S., especially on the issue of the war in Iraq, representatives from various countries and people in the Secretariat make comments that we would rather have them not make. I would simply say in that connection the United States is a big country, it's a very strong country, it's a well-meaning country, it really tries to do the right thing. And nobody likes opposition; and nobody likes criticism. But simply because the U.S. is big, and because the U.S. is strong, it is important to be particularly open to the views of other people and the views that sometimes are different than our own. We have a concept in our own country called checks and balances, which is a governmental concept, but it is very important that the stronger you are to be a country that listens and that takes on board the views of others even though we may not end up agreeing with those views. And the UN is a place where we can speak, the U.S. can speak, it's also a place where we can listen, whether we end up agreeing or disagreeing with what we hear.
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