Why does Kofi Annan need a translator earpiece? Doesn’t he speak Texan?

The Economist steps into high-gear and turns around an excellent review of the scene at the United Nations today in “Bush’s Stark Message.”

IF THE opening day of the United Nations General Assembly is any precedent, the rift created by the American-led war with Iraq will be slow to heal. Speaking to assembled world leaders, President George Bush defended America’s invasion of Iraq, saying that the Middle East was a more stable place following the removal of Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime. While acknowledging pre-war differences—many in his audience opposed the war—he called on countries to look to the future rather than the past, and to provide aid to Iraq. He did not offer a speedier timetable for providing Iraqi sovereignty, as some (especially France) have advocated: America, he said, would listen to the needs of Iraqis and be “neither hurried nor delayed” by others’ wishes on the matter.

Kofi Annan warned against pre-emptive action and further noted that the structure of the United Nations needed to change to reflect the present state of the world instead of the post-World War II power structure. (Sounds to me like India may be invited into the Security Council). Jacques Chirac also gave a speech with the expected theme.