Who's in Charge Here, Anyway?

America risks blood and treasure in the gulf. Kofi Annan calls the shots

When the smoke--well, the fog of diplomacy--cleared, Saddam Hussein emerged whole from last week's confrontation with the U.S., ready to live and cheat again. For that he can thank Kofi Annan. Three times the U.N. Secretary-General insinuated himself into the showdown. By the time he was done, he had saved Saddam from the most serious attack on his regime since the Gulf War.

First, Annan sent a letter that offered Saddam not just an out but a win: a nice reward--broad hints of accelerating the move to lift the economic embargo of Iraq--if Saddam would just act nice. Saddam responded with...

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