(2003-03-06) — Most United Nations delegates withheld comment on U.S. President George Bush’s news conference tonight, preferring to wait for a printed translation of his remarks.
“It’s not that we didn’t understand his words,” said Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “Most of us speak English. But we are confused because his remarks were almost totally lacking in nuance and subtlety. We’re waiting for someone to give us a more complicated version of it.”
Mr. Bush said that Saddam Hussein should disarm or the U.S. and her allies would disarm him, and that the U.N. should vote yes-or-no on whether Iraq has complied with Security Council Resolution 1441.
“We at the U.N. are not accustomed to hearing people say what they mean,” said Mr. Annan. “This will take us some time to digest and interpret. Perhaps a committee-of-the-whole could examine the transcript for several months.”

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