UNITED
NATIONS, June
14 -- The UN
has always
been tightly
scripted. But
under
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon it's
hit a new
level.
The day
after the
White House
said it is now
convinced
Syria has used
chemical
weapons and
would send a
letter to Ban,
the UN
announced Ban
would make a
statement and
take "one or
two
questions."
The
venue was
changed so
that it could
be broadcast
live. The
players
assembled;
Ban's special
rostrum was
rolled out.
After
congratulating
John Ashe of
Antigua and
Barbuda for
his selection
as
the next
President of
the General
Assembly -- as
noted by
Inner City
Press, Sri
Lanka military
figure
Shavendra
Silva also
offered
praise,
in the new
General
Assembly from
which the
press and
public are
banned --
Ban
predictably
turned to
Syria.
Ban
cited the
93,000 killed
figure
released
yesterday by
the Human
Rights
Data Analysis
Group, in a
study the UN won't say
-- and doesn't
know
-- who funded.
That might
have been one
of the
questions
-- Inner
City Press put it
Thursday to
the UN in
Geneva and
New York,
without
substantive
answer. But
no.
Ban
announced,
proudly it
seemed, that
he just
received a
letter from
the
United States,
but that it
would be up to
them to decide
if it would
be released.
(Outgoing
US
Ambassador
Susan Rice was
slated to do
her own
stakeout
between 11
am and noon;
when she did,
she said it
was she who
signed the US
letter.)
Then
Ban said he
would take
"two
questions."
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
announced the
identify of
both
questioners
before either
began. Video
here from
Minute 5:56.
The
first was
Pamela Falk of
CBS, as the
2013 president
of the old UN
Correspondents
Association, a
group which
just agreed
with Ban's
Secretariat to
ban media
workspace that
pre-dated
Ban's tenure
at the
UN Security
Council.
Seemingly in
exchange, the
UN is now
pressing
for the
removal of any
sign of the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
even on
journalists'
office doors.
But
the right
question
wasn't asked,
leading to
shouted
questions
after
Ban as he
walked away.
Soon he will
go to China.
On the road
again.
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
Ban
confined to a
concluding
footnote the
killing of a
UN peacekeeper
in Kadulgi,
Sudan; while
sometimes an
item is last
to give it
prominence,
here no question
on it was
taken. That is
the place of
Africa in
today's UN --
yesterday,
the UN's DESA
released a
report
projecting
the Sierra
Leone will
still have the
lowest life
expectancy at
birth
in the year
2095.
DRC and
Guinea Bissau,
which also
have UN
missions,
were similarly
profiled.
Diplomats from
each expressed
disgust to
Inner City
Press on
Thursday
night, one
saying "they
just want
to raise
money." And so
it goes.
, 
