To the Point

The United Nations at 60, Time for 'Regime Change?'

Kofi Annan himself calls last year one of the worst for the United Nations since its founding in 1945. There've been accusations that peacekeepers ran prostitution rings in Congo, claims of corruption in the Iraq Oil-for-Food Program, and a US Senator's call for the Secretary General's resignation. As the UN embarks on a massive tsunami relief program in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, what one official calls "the biggest assistance operation of its kind ever, will there be public accountability? Are attacks on Kofi Annan retaliation for his refusal to back the war in Iraq? Why is the UN necessary? We discuss calls for reforming the 60 year-old organization with Journalists covering the United Nations, and current and former UN officials, including a senior advisor to Secretary General Kofi Annan. Making News: Iraq Survey Group Ends Fruitless Search for WMD The hunt for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction is over. The CIA's top weapons inspector and his team of analysts came home from Iraq before Christmas, and they're not going back. That's according the Dafna Linzer in today's Washington Post, who adds that the US continues to hold two Iraqi scientists implicated in WMD programs. Reporter's Notebook: Indonesia Restricts Foreign Troops, Aid Workers' Movement in Aceh Indonesia says aid workers' safety in Aceh Province cannot be guaranteed outside the main city of Banda Aceh, and wants foreign soldiers out "the sooner the better." While this could be good news for thousands of homeless refugees, the International Labor Rights Fund's Bama Athreya, who spent three years working with human rights groups in Indonesia, reports that it could also be an ominous sign of what might happen next.