Of
UN
Women and Ban Ki-moon's Second Term, Dirty Deals, Double Crosses,
Albright Boutros Echoes
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 2 -- How badly does Ban Ki-moon want a second term as
UN Secretary General?
So badly, sources tell Inner City Press, that
he has offered special input into the awarding of the top job in the
new UN Women agency to Permanent Five Security Council members who
could block his second term, in exchange for their support.
This
quid pro quo
was not favorably viewed in Washington. With UN
management harshly
criticized in the End of Assignment report of outgoing Office of
Internal Oversight Services chief Inga Britt Ahlenius, it was
hardly
the time to offer top posts in exchange for political support for a
second term.
The
U.S. State
Department of Hillary Clinton, in any case, felt it should have input
into who heads UN Women without having to lock in support for Ban
Ki-moon getting a second term.
Back
in 1996, the
Democratic administration of Bill Clinton played its cards close to
the chest until, late in the process, Madeleine Albright came out
against Boutros Boutros Ghali. (For the record, Susan Rice is
reciting support for Ban Ki-moon as well.) Team Ban does not like
that precedent and is seeking commitments now. But this, one source
said, was just too ham handed.
UN's Ban and Hillary Clinton, Albright and Boutros,
UN Women not shown
The
Obama
administration cannot accomplish its goals through the UN with Ban
Ki-moon at the helm, argued the reflexively pro-UN pundit James
Traub, probably too practical to intentionally burn his bridges to
the UN.
Some time
ago, Inner City Press exclusively reported the first fear among Team
Ban, that the U.S. will cede the top post at the World Bank in 2012 to
China, in exchange for Asia Group control of the UN S-G post being
moved, and Obama getting his own choice. This fear and possibility
remains.
There
is another UN
women -- without the capital W -- theory on the move in the North
Lawn building. In it, Inga Britt Ahlenius' devastating memo is
linked with the ambitions of her friend Alicia Barcena to swoop in as
Secretary General in 2012.
Inner
City Press
has already shown Ahlenius writing to Barcena to be sure to be on
selection panel to get Ahlenius' friend Danielle Coolen a job. Click here for the
story, here for Ms.
Ahlenius'
email. But these theorist
say Ahlenius and Barcena met and
dined before the fateful memo was leaked, and that there are other UN
women, some ostensibly close to Ban Ki-moon, involved in the plan.
Watch this site.
Footnote:
the
interview for the top UN Women post were presumably to have
included, or been led by, Deputy Secretary General Asha Rose Migiro,
interim head of UN Women. But with Ms. Migiro in Uganda and now on
annual leave, the interviews have proceeded, with the involvement of
Ban's senior advisor Kim Won-soo (who appears repeatedly and
prominently in the Ahlenius memo.)
On
August 2, Inner
City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky who is in charge of
the UN, with Mr. Ban traveling to Japan and Ms. Migiro on annual
leave. While Nesirky insisted that Mr. Ban is always in charge, Inner
City Press asked if anyone had formally be made officer in charge.
Watch this site.
* * *
For
UN,
Is
Merely Being There Enough, with Ban Under Fire for a 2d Term?
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July
26 -- What has Ban Ki-moon accomplished as UN Secretary
General in Myanmar and Sudan, Inner City Press asked his spokesman
Monday, for the fourth day in a week.
“His record is
clear,” Spokesman Martin Nesirky replied. “From standing in front
of a still burning warehouse in Gaza, to visiting Haiti five days
after the earthquake, to visiting Darfur refugee camps... he has
achieved a huge amount.” Video here,
from
Minute 26:55.
But
the three
achievements listed were only “being there” -- celebrities have
traveled to Haiti, and to refugee camps in Darfur and elsewhere.
Meanwhile
reports on the UN's performance in Sudan are largely negative. Rubble
still fills Haiti's streets. And even the Goldstone response is late,
due to failure to translate. Myanmar, telling, was not even mentioned.
Is being there enough?
Seeking
the
Ban
Administration's -- if not yet Ban Ki-moon's -- response to the
criticism being heaped upon his tenure, Inner City Press asked
Nesirky when he made a piece by a heretofore big UN supporter, “Good
Night, Ban Ki-moon.”
“We don't need
to comment on every piece,” Nesirky said, calling that piece a
“rehash.. a lot of what is in the piece has been seen before.” A
lot by not all: the piece mentions inaction on Sri Lanka:
“A
peacekeeping official pointed out that Ban had insisted on
behind-the-scenes diplomacy in Sri Lanka even as the government was
killing thousands of civilians in its campaign to erase the brutal
insurgency of the Tamil Tigers: "We're doing everything we can
to avoid saying anything at all about it. That's been our line on
practically everything. The SG is clear that his final consideration
is going to be the political costs of whether he should or shouldn't
speak." That's a very real calculation every secretary-general
must make. But, he added, "There's no sense that the
deliberations include, 'What should we do?'"”
Only
this
year, Ban
after saying he would name a panel of experts on war crimes in Sri
Lanka, then delaying 90 days, has gone out of his way to limit the
scope of the panel to providing advice on “models of
accountability” to himself and the Rajapaksa government, if they
want it. The Rajapaksas have said they will deny visas to the group;
Ban through Nesirky has repeated declined to comment on the refusal
to cooperate.
UN's Ban on plane: he was there, cracked
windshield and direct responses not shown
Now
a brewing
fight is Ban's decision to bypass South African and other developing
world candidates to nominate a Canadian, Carman Lapoint-Young, as the
new head of the Office of Internal Oversight Services. Inner City
Press, which reported
exclusively on the move on the night of July
23, asked Nesirky for Ban's response to developing world countries
who say the post was meant for their regions.
Nesirky
once
again
declined comment, except to say there is “very strong, overwhelming
support” for the nominee. Sort of like the overwhelming support for
a second term?
It
is time for Ban
Ki-moon to speak for himself on this controversy -- time for him to
“be there,” as it were. He will appear before the press Monday at
5:30. Before his appearance Friday at a reception for the press,
Inner City Press was repeatedly told not to ask about the
controversy, not to “hijack” the event. That cannot similarly be
asked on Monday evening. Watch this site.
* * *
, 
