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As White House Chides UN's Ban,
Will "Deadbeat-Gate" Have Legs?
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
WASHINGTON,
March 12 -- Will the
UN's "deadbeat-gate"
controversy have legs? On Wednesday, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in comments to the House Foreign Affairs
Committee called the
U.S. a deadbeat. Ranking member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen repeated
the word to reporters, including Inner City Press, and Ban mirthfully
confirmed
that he had used it. That midnight
his
Spokesperson issued a "clarification," which did not mention the
word. In New York the next day, Ban called it a misunderstanding.
But as one
observer points out, usually it is said that the listening and not the
speaker
misunderstand the use of a word. And
Ban's laughter when he confirmed using the phrase
does not support the
position that it was not understood.
What it appears happened was that some of the
Democrats running the
Committee gave the impression that they view the U.S., by which they
mean the
Bush Administration, out of office for 50 days now, as a deadbeat.
Representative Bill Delahunt told Inner City Press that the U.S. does
not have
credibility to criticize the UN when it is behind on dues. In this
reading, Ban
picked up on the mood and played into it.
Those who know Ban well, though, believe that the
word did not simply
and spontaneous spring to mind. Either it was used in the sessions
preparing
him for his two day Washington visit, or it was even suggested to him
by his
American advisors, among them Robert Orr and Lynn Pascoe.
While Ban used the word "misunderstanding" in his
prepared
introduction to his monthly press conference Thursday in New York, none of the
questions that he took used the word. (At
that time, Inner
City Press was at an IMF press briefing in Washington.)
UN's Ban and Secretary Clinton, "deadbeat-gate" not
shown
By
contrast at the White House press briefing on Thursday, Obama's
spokesman
Robert Gibbs was asked about the comment by CBS' Mark Knoller. Gibbs
called the
word "unfortunate," and when asked if Ban should apologize suggested
that Ban publicly "acknowledge" the U.S.'s role.
This is not what Ban or his
advisers were
hoping for, when they came to Washington.
In the eyes of some, it ended it overshadowing the
visits with Obama,
Senator Kerry and Representative Edward Markey. Inner
City Press has taped a debate about the
snafu, which will go online
over the weekend, here. Watch this site.
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
Click here for Inner City
Press Nov. 7 debate on the war in Congo
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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