UNITED
NATIONS, May
19 -- With
North Korea
firing
short-range
missiles into
the sea again,
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon made
targeted and
then bland
comments, back
to back, to
RIA Novosti
and then in
writing,
through his
spokesperson.
In
Moscow to RIA
Novosti, Ban
said "We are
very worried
over North
Korea's
provocative
action. I hope
North Korea
will refrain
from
further such
actions. They
must soon
return to
talks and
lower
tensions."
Three
sentences,
three
pronouns. Who
the "we" in
the first
sentence is
meant to be is
not clear: the
UN
Secretariat?
Those
traveling with
Ban? The
entire
international
community?
Then
the following
was e-mailed
out:
The
Secretary-General
is aware of
reports that
the Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korea (DPRK)
yesterday (18
May) launched
short-range
guided
missiles into
the sea off
the eastern
coast of the
Korean
Peninsula.
The
Secretary-General
remains
concerned
about
provocations
and tensions
on the Korean
Peninsula,
particularly
given the
risks of
miscalculation
and dangerous
escalation.
He
stands ready
to help
facilitate the
process of
peace and
trust-building
on the Korean
Peninsula.
Three
separate
paragraph
(well, each
one a
sentence),
less
finger-pointing,
more offering.
By
contrast to
this fast
double comment
on missile
that hit only
water,
when UN
Peacekeepers
were kidnapped
for the third
time in the
Golan
Heights on May
15, Ban
said...
nothing.
The
news was left
to be
"announced,"
if it can be
called that,
to small group
of sympathetic
reporters or sycophantic scribes by
Herve Ladsous,
whom Ban
accepted
without
question from
France as that
country's
fourth
Peacekeeping
boss in a row.
When
Inner City
Press asked
for
confirmation
and comment
from Ban's
three
top
spokespeople
as well as
Ladsous'
three, the
response came
more
than three
hours later,
from Ladsous'
team, not
Ban's.
Then
eight hours
after that,
Ban's office
finally
e-mailed out a
confirmation
of the
kidnapping.
Unlike on
North Korea,
it had no
comment from
Ban.
On
Friday at the
UN, two
countries'
diplomats told
Inner City
Press it
was "strange"
and
"inappropriate"
for Ban to
have
waited so
long, and then
had no comment
on the
kidnapping of
UN
Peacekeepers.
One
opined it is
because of the
allegation in
the General
Assembly of
the
involvement in
the kidnapping
of Qatar,
whose former
Ambassador Ban
has named the
High
Representative
for the UN
Alliance of
Civilizations.
In
any event
there are two
comparisons:
on North Korea
between what
Ban
told RIA
Novosti then
what his
spokesperson
said, and
between those
two and his
Office's delay
and then
no-Ban-comment
on the
kidnapping
of UN
Peacekeepers.
We'll
have more on
this -- for
now, here
is video of
Ban's deputy
spokesman
telling
Inner City
Press he
wouldn't
explain even
when Ban's
Office
knew of the
kidnapping,
nor why it was
left to the reclusive Ladsous
to "announce"
to scribes.
The Free
UN Coalition
for Access
protested
this. Watch
this site.
, 
