The sanitizing of the legacy proceeds apace. Just in time for Kofi Annan’s retirement next month, a contributor to the New York Times magazine, James Traub, after more than a year of extraordinary one-on-one access to the UN Secretary-General, has published a book about the UN, and Kofi Annan — “trailing clouds of glory” — as its noble yet suffering incarnation. Having recently reviewed it for the NY Sun, I am by now wondering if there ought to be an entire officially recognized genre of UN cover-ups dressed up as in-depth reports.