Exit Kofi, Foolish and Defiant

While some, including Canada's John Baird, hail Kofi Annan's "noble" attempt to bring "peace" to Syria, Jonathan Shanzer writes that the feckless UN special envoy helped engineer his own failure:

Of course, Annan did not start the war in Syria, but perhaps he made things worse by legitimizing Bashar al-Assad as an equal partner in his peace plan, despite Assad’s direct role in the slaughter of thousands. Annan made things messier still by bringing in Iran as an interlocutor, even as the world sought to isolate the Mullahs for their nuclear program, not to mention their deadly support for the regime in Damascus.

In the end, Annan’s blunders contributed significantly to a prolonged and deadly stalemate from February 23 to July 31, the length of his tenure.

The death toll in Syria during Annan’s time as envoy was just over 13,500, according to the site Syrian Martyrs, which lists the death toll at over 22,000 to date.

Only one thing to do--give 'em a seat on the UN's "human rights" council!