UN At Work

We all heard of the single UN employee sacked over the Oil-for-Food scandal-

"Joseph Stephanides, fired May 31...violated staff rules by showing preference to one bidder for an oil-for-food contract."

Of course this being the UN, that bastion of ethics, this isn't quite the end of the story- they've hired him back.

Yep, that's right, he broke the rules in a scandal that benefited a homicidal dictator but the UN has decided that his punishment for doing so was, "too harsh."

Too harsh? No mention of the untold suffering caused to the Iraqi people by the UN's corrupt and simply inept management of the program. Stephanides was sent a letter, signed on behalf of Kofi Annan, stating that-

"the sanction that was imposed on you has been reconsidered in light of all the circumstances in the case and the principle of proportionality."

I'm nit sure what circumstances have been revealed which make this man's crimes less serious, but a UN appeals board has not only reinstated him, they've also,

"issued a written apology and paid about $200,000 — about two years' back pay — for the emotional suffering and damage to his reputation caused by Annan's handling of his case."

If this is UN justice as work they can keep it.