Smokers tell Annan to butt out
One of your favorite ambassadors has already told you that the 'secretary-general can by all means tell his underlings what to do, but not members of diplomatic missions. I guess the ambassador must have been fuming at the time.
- Nane Annan
I realize, of course, that mine will be a minority position, but I heartily applaud Kofi Annan (a fellow Macalester graduate, by the way) and his efforts to ban smoking in UN headquarters. Most every other public building in this country bans smoking, so why should UN headquarters be any different?
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- Smoking diplomats, especially those from Russia, Mexico and the Czech Republic, balked at a new ban against lighting up in U.N. headquarters and demanded Secretary-General Kofi Annan explain himself.
At a meeting of the General Assembly's committee on budget and administration on Wednesday, several delegates questioned the legal basis for Annan to put out such an order without a vote from member states and demanded a legal ruling.
A U.N. official promised one would be forthcoming after an earlier, similar request had been ignored.
"I will make sure, because I am also a smoker, that we will be given our explanations from the secretariat," said Ambassador Hynek Kmonicek of the Czech Republic, who is chairman of the committee....
Annan last summer announced that U.N. headquarters, the last bastion of smoking in New York, would begin following the tough new anti-smoking law of its host city.
He cited health reasons and insurance costs in the high-rise building on Manhattan's East River that does not have a sprinkler system, and urged voluntary cooperation.
One of the chief protesters against the ban is Russia's veteran U.N. ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, a chain smoker.
OK, Ambassador Lavrov, it's a relatively simple proposition: if you want to chain-smoke in a public building, go back to Moscow. Here in the US, we generally do not appreciate being subjected to someone else's cigarette smoke. I realize that your ego is bruised here- obviously, you're not used to being told what you can and cannot do. Again, in New York, no chain smoking in public buildings; in Moscow, hey, you can chain-smoke 24/7 if you so desire. Smoke 'em if you got 'em...just not in a public building in New York. Deal with it.
Yes, it is true that the US is far ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to recognizing the health effects of cigarette smoke. Having lived in Eastern Europe (where denial is more than just a river in Egypt), I can attest to the fact that smoking is the defacto national sport in most countries- and they have the lung cancer rates to prove it. It's time that the rest of the world woke up and smelled the cat litter- and that includes pampered, coddled diplomats.
If we were to find ourselves in a foreign country, we would be expected to conduct ourselves in accordance with the prevailing local laws. Diplomats in this country (diplomatic immunity be damned) should be held to the same standard in this country. You're in the US, y'all; if you don't like it, go home. Smoking in public buildings is illegal in New York. The UN headquarters is a public building. Do the math....
