United Nations ? Besieged over the oil-for-food program and other scandals, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has taken a tougher stand, defending himself against U.S. opponents, the media and even member governments.

The depth of his exasperation was evident this week in remarks he made during a reunion of former U.N. spokesmen — an event he thought was off the record. Annan lamented that U.N. opponents had been “relentless” in their attacks and the world body wasn’t fighting back enough.

“We are outgunned. We are outmanned,” Annan said. “We need help from outside groups. We need to be able to organize outsiders to work with us to write to papers, to appear on television.”

An investigation led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker criticized Annan for his management of the $64 billion humanitarian program in Iraq and faulted his son, Kojo, for hiding the extent of his involvement with a Swiss company that won a contract under the program.

While acknowledging flaws in the oil-for-food program, Annan also has hit back, part of a strategy shift toward taking bolder action.

“I think his natural instinct has been to take a lot of blame,” said William Luers, a friend of Annan’s and a former U.S. ambassador who now heads the U.N. Association of the United States, an advocacy group. “He’s somewhat self-effacing and he’s sort of a servant to the U.N., (but) I think he’s convinced himself and others that he’s got to be an assertive leader and it’s probably time to do it.”