Written by: Beck

First of all, former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has risen to the occasion. Rather than being defensive about his complicity in the scandal recently exposed by the interim report of the Volcker commission, Boutros Boutros-Ghali has decided to take the "Maximize Collateral Damage" approach.

Former U.N. head Boutros Boutros-Ghali refused to take all the blame for Iraq's scandal-tainted oil-for-food program on Saturday, pointing the finger at his successor Kofi Annan.

Boutros-Ghali was U.N. secretary-general at the start of the program which was designed to allow Iraq to buy food and medicines to ease hardships caused by U.N. sanctions.

"I share the responsibility, but don't twist the whole operation," Boutros-Ghali told BBC radio.

"The basis (of the program) was decided by the Security Council, approved by the Security Council, the execution was done during the mandate of my successor."

Next, Canada Free Press has an interesting article reporting on some unreported aspects of the OFF scam. Among other things, this article makes it seem that Annan knew a lot more about what was going on than he lets on.

Finally, this article from the Telegraph doesn't really reveal anything especially new or exciting, but I absolutely love the way it starts.

A thick scent of the past lies heavy in the miles of tatty corridors in the United Nations headquarters building on New York's Lower East Side. Throughout the towering 38-storey block, the glory days are not merely remembered, but cherished.

At the end of one dust-encrusted hallway is a debating chamber designed as a venue for diplomats to discuss the fate of the UN's own colonies, the trusteeships.

The last of those states reached independence 11 years ago. Even so, every day UN guards switch on the lights for the ghosts of a past age, the desks ready for diplomats and the empty podium with a functioning microphone. Above sit the press boxes for journalists who won't be reporting what isn't happening.

Further down the poorly lit corridor are shelves piled high with metal boxes containing miles of film footage from forgotten events. "Dominica Flag Raising," says the tape attached to one, a reference to the Caribbean nation's membership ceremony in 1978. Underneath sits a 1950s typewriter.

Even in the UN's main arteries there are celebrations of earlier days. Just yards from the Security Council entrance is a large photographic collage celebrating the UN's role in ending colonial rule, a process very largely completed 40 years ago.

The sense of an organisation unwilling to acknowledge the nasty realities of a changed world has been much in evidence this week after the publication of the first of Paul Volcker's reports on the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal.

I'd say that's a pretty good metaphore for the entire United Nations organization. A useless fossil left behind by history and best left behind in the past.

(Hat tip: Instapundit)