How About Some Hot Kofi After Skiing?

President Bush took a lot of criticism from the left because he chose not to end his Texas vacation and rush back to Washington after hearing about the tsunami. Of course, some of the harshest criticism came from a U.N. spokesman who called the U.S. aid "stingy".

Well surely the U.N. must have immediately leaped into action when the call for help came from the Indian Ocean countries. Let's hear what Secretary General Kofi Annan did direct from his own mouth (hat tip Little Green Footballs):

Q: Mr. Secretary, picking up on Richard’s question, I think a lot of people are asking exactly why you waited three days on vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, before you decided to fly back to New York in the face of this extraordinary crisis. Could you give us a full explanation of your thinking on that? Secondly, what kind of signal does that 72-hour delay send to the nations to which you are now appealing for greater help?

Annan: First of all, there was action. It wasn’t inaction. We live in a world where you can operate from wherever you are. You know the world we live in now. You don’t have to be physically here to be dealing with the leaders and the Governments I have been dealing with. You don’t have to be physically here to be discussing with some of the agencies that we have done.

I came back here because we have reached a level that I wanted to have meetings with all the people that I have met with today. So, we have taken action. And I don’t have to be sitting in my office to take action. I think the same goes for you in your profession.

Glad to see that the U.N. has their priorities in order.