Commentary

The Nobel Peace Prize: An Award for Service to U.S. Imperialism

The recent announcement that the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the United Nations and its General Secretary, Kofi Annan, once again raises serious questions about the political criteria for the award.

During the past decade, what contribution has the United Nations made to world peace? It is responsible, under U.S. demands, for the murderous economic sanctions against Iraq which have killed over one million Iraqi civilians, most of them children. It failed to stop the genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda. It has failed to end the slaughter in Central Africa and Liberia. It has done virtually nothing to solve the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa which threatens to kill half the population of that region. Nor did it do anything to prevent the genocide committed by the Indonesian government against the people of East Timor. It did not assert its authority to prevent the illegal bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO forces in 1999 and has done nothing to stop the illegal attacks by the U.S. and its allies against the people of Afghanistan. So how exactly has the United Nations contributed to world peace during the past decade?

As for Kofi Annan, he was head of the United Nations peacekeeping department during the lead-up to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and did nothing to prevent it. In the preceding months Canadian General Romeo Dallaire, the senior U.N. officer in Rwanda at the time, made repeated appeals to Annan's office warning of the preparations for the impending massacre. He was answered by silence. After the killings began, Dallaire again appealed to the United Nations Security Council for assistance. However, the United States opposed taking any action to prevent or stop the genocide and the Security Council bowed to the will of the U.S. government, refusing to authorize any measures. It actually ordered Dallaire to withdraw the U.N. peacekeepers from Rwanda and allow the slaughter to take its course. Only when Dallaire defied his orders did the Security Council authorize some half-hearted response by the U.N. peacekeeping forces. The genocide was eventually ended by Rwandese Patriotic Front forces with no assistance from the U.N.

Kofi Annan replaced Boutros Boutros-Ghali as U.N. Secretary-General on January 1, 1997 at the insistence of the United States, which was upset with Boutros-Ghali's repeated demands that the U.S. pay it arrears to the U.N. While pledging to "renew the United Nations", during the past five years Annan has done nothing to restore the prestige of the organization. He has remained silent in the face of repeated violations of the U.N. Charter by the United States and its allies, including the current illegal war against Afghanistan.

Kofi Annan and the United Nations join a long list of unworthy recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, including Henry Kissinger, an unindicted war criminal. Clearly the award does not go to those who have made a genuine contribution to peace and security in the world, but rather to those who have a record of meritorious service to the interests of U.S. imperialism.