By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 5 --
It was the day
after
Christmas that
US State
Department
spokesperson
Jan Psaki
said, "the
United States
condemns in
the strongest
terms today’s
rocket attack
at Camp
Hurriya that
has reportedly
killed and
injured camp
residents and
also injured
Iraqi police
officers... we
have been in
communication
with the
United Nations
Assistant
Mission in
Iraq, UNAMI."
And
now at 8 am on
a Sunday
morning 11
days later, UN
Secretary
General
has named an
American, the
well placed
Jane Holl
Lute, as the
his
Special
Adviser for
relocation of
Camp Hurriya
residents
outside of
Iraq."
As
Inner City
Press reported
exclusively
back in 2008
Jane Holl Lute
played a large
role in the
awarding of a
sole source
contract with
Lockheed
Martin for
"super camps"
in Darfur.
Ultimately
Jane Holl
Lute, after
the General
Assembly
except the US
voted to
express
concern about
the $250
million
set-aside for
an American
military
contractor, agreed that
it has caused
confusion.
Click here
for that.
No
confusion here:
the UN has
been pilloried
for its deal
with the Camp
Ashraf and now
Camp Hurriya
residents. The
issue still
follows
previous UN
envoy to Iraq
Martin Kobler
as he goes on
pro-government
victory tours
of Eastern
Congo, and
does not
answer
questions
about
the impact of
withdrawing a
full battalion
of
peacekeepers
after
pledging to
"neutralize"
the Hutu FDLR
militia.
So
now Ban
Ki-moon, as
often happens,
puts the issue
in American
hands.
Recently the
US moved
Uighurs out of
Guantanamo Bay
to Slovakia,
and
Psaki's deputy
Marie Harf
fielded
questions from
Chinese media
about
the
implications,
and
reciprocity.
Is Jane Holl
Lute's role to
put
the "full
faith" (and
credit?) of
the US behind
requests to
countries to
take in the
Hurriya
residents?
Will they turn
on her as
well? Watch
this site.
Footnotes:
In
December 2013
when Inner
City Press exposed
and is now
pursuing
France's
non-public
"Letter of
Assist"
payment from
the UN
and its member
states for air
field services
in northern
Mali, French
ambassador
Gerard Araud
said to look
other states,
and to ask the
UN
Spokesperson.
There,
simple
financial
answers --
like, what
percentage of
UN letter of
assist
payments do
France,
Russia, the US
and others
each get --
have
still not been
given. This
inquiry is a
follow up to
Inner City
Press'
previous
exposure of
the UN's
set-aside
Darfur
contract for
Pacific
Architects and
Engineers,
then a
subsidiary of
the US'
Lockheed
Martin. Now
PAE is no
longer with
Lockheed, and
is "in
the game" in
Mali.
Also at issue
in Mali are
the alleged
gang rapes by
Chadian UN
"peacekeepers,"
on which UN
Peacekeeping's
Herve Ladsous
has given no
update at all.
Jane Holl Lute
was big on
"zero
tolerance"
when she was
at the UN;
even since
then, on the
Minova rapes
in the DRC and
now in Mali,
there has been
backsliding.
Will Holl Lute
do anything on
this issue?
Ladsous repeatedly
says he has a
"policy"
against
answering
Inner City
Press
questions,
because of
questions Inner
City Press
asked about
his public
acts,
including 1994
positions on
Rwanda.
Inner City
Press asked
Jane Holl Lute
if her husband's
position on
Iraq in the US
government
might be conflict.
She bristled
-- but never
"pulled a
Ladsous."
That, is on
him. And that
the UN now accepts
Ladsous' "policy"
is indicative
of UN decay.
The new
Free UN Coalition
for Access is
pushing back.
Watch this
site.