In a one-on-one interview with NPR's Tavis Smiley, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan predicts that by the end of the week, U.N. Security Council members will agree on a resolution on Iraq.
"I am quite hopeful that there will be a resolution," Annan tells Smiley. "The member states have been working very hard on getting a resolution. They realize how grave the responsibility is, and they have been proceeding methodically, very seriously. I think it is the right approach. I suspect that by the end of this week we will see a resolution that will command quite a large majority of the member states."
Annan tells Smiley he considers the Security Council "the only body that has the legitimacy to authorize" the use of force against Iraq. "I am on record as indicating that it would be wrong for the United States to go alone," Annan says, "and I was delighted when President Bush brought the issue to the Security Council. And as I said, we will have a resolution."
During the interview, Annan talks with Smiley about the sometimes-strained relationship between the United Nations and the United States. He also offers a rare glimpse into his family life, and discusses how he rose through the ranks to become the U.N.'s seventh secretary-general. Of his job, Annan says, "It is a perpetual challenge. But you also have to have optimism and hope … It is painful, it is difficult, but if you are doing something that your heart is in and you feel you are making a difference -- even if it is the life of one person -- it gives you the encouragement and the inspiration to move forward."
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