Decaffinated Kofi



(image via scotsman)

Secretary Genral designee Ban Ki Moon's sobriquet among the worldly diplomats at Turtle Bay is "Decaffinated Koffi," due, no doubt, to his astonishing deficit of charisma in comparison to that wild and crazy guy, Kofi Annan (Averted Gaze). The Secretary General's race is usually at least as interesting -- though profoundly less magesterial -- as the campaigns for the Papacy among the College of Cardinals. Frankly, we thought that the race was a lock for India's thoroughbred Shashi Tharoor, a man whom The Corsair's father knew during his UN days, and who was -- is -- considered the ultimate Insider's Insider at Turtle Bay. Alas, India's rib busting ox-strength might have worked against Shashi. That, and the quixotic US veto over India (The US has greater stroke with "our guys" in Seoul, thus locking up Moon) Last week's salmon-colored weekly had an interesting story last week about how it all came to pass. To wit:

"Mr. Ban did ... quietly make the rounds of the member states of the Security Council. He also received the energetic support of his government�backing which itself attracted controversy and unfavorable comment late in the race.

"Last week, both The Washington Post and The Times of London reported that Seoul had offered aid and other incentives to nations whose votes would be important to Mr. Ban�s bid.

"They drew particular attention to Mr. Ban�s pledge of millions of dollars in aid for Tanzania during a trip in May; another recent trip by him to the Republic of the Congo (the first by a senior South Korean official since the African state gained independence in 1960); and a trade mission to Greece headed by Mr. Ban and his nation�s president last month, which culminated in the signing of agreements on trade, tourism and transport. Tanzania, Congo and Greece are all on the 15-member Security Council.

"Mr. Ban and his government have vigorously insisted that their behavior was ethically sound. But the stories have been met with dismay�though not surprise�by U.N. skeptics."

And since you asked us nicely (The Corsair drains a glass of fortified wine): How would we solve North Korea. The fundamental question is: How much stroke does Beijing have with batshit crazy Kim Jung-Il? Certainly China controls certain projects internal to North Korea, they are also a massive trading partner of the failed state. If The Corsair were President, we would say to Beijing, regally: We cannot stop Japan from nuclearizing if Kim Jung-il himself remains nuclearized. It would be in Japan's national interest to gain the bomb to deter North Korea. But if Jung-il relinquishes his nuclear capacity altogether (with, to be sure, lots of international aid dollars as carrots to go with those sticks) --as overseen by the IAEA and other international organizations -- we will actively stand in the way of a nuclear Japan for the time being. For the time being.

Then allow China's natural antipathy towards a nuclearized Japan to work in America's national interest.