Off-Kilter Kofi

Kofi Annan has flown off the handle again. This time, he's pre-judged Israel, accusing it of “apparently deliberate targeting” of a UN position in South Lebanon, killing at least two UN peacekeepers.

I shook my head as I typed "peacekeepers." If any further proof is needed of the inappropriateness of that word, it is the situation in Lebanon.

He went on:

"I call on the Government of Israel to conduct a full investigation into this very disturbing incident and demand that any further attack on UN positions and personnel must stop.”

As if Israel wouldn't investigate. As if it would deliberately repeat what is certainly a mistake again. In JPost, Israel's UN ambassador called Kofi's charges "premature and erroneous," adding:

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the hasty statement of the secretary-general, insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the UN post."

Annan has dealt with some regularity during his time as secretary-general with peacekeepers being killed and in preceding cases, he has spoken diplomatically -- even in cases where the killings were deliberate. What gives with this decidedly undiplomatic attack on Israel?

Could the sec-gen be suffering from a wee bout of anti-Semitism? A fit of pro-Islamofascism?