UNESCO
Says US "Very
Active" In Its
Cultural
Heritage
Programs,
FSA Echo
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 5 --
Destruction of
cultural
heritage in
Syria, as
well as Iraq,
Libya and
Mali, was the
topic of a UN
briefing by
UNESCO on
February 5.
Along with
questioning if
the Free
Syrian Army
is selling off
the artifacts
and about
Ma'alula,
Inner City
Press
asked if the
US still
participates
with UNESCO
despite the US
law
that cut off
funding when
Palestine
joined UNESCO.
Franscesco
Bandarin,
Assistant
Director-General
of UNESCO for
Culture,
replied
that yes, the
US is "very
active" He
said "there
are
many ways,"
and said that
since the US
military has
changed
since the
museum in
Baghdad, "we
can use them
for training."
He
said, "they
are not
contributing
directly to
UNESCO at this
stage but they
are very
active."
On
the Free
Syrian Army
selling
antiquities,
which was
reported by
Time
magazine in
2012, Bandarin
said "I'm not
sure I can
answer,
these are
rumors,
difficult to
check...
Sometimes war
are very
disorderly, it
can happen."
It
brought to
mind the more
recent
stand-off in
which while as
Inner
City Press
first reported
on January 29
the UN has
found that the
FSA
recruits and
uses child
soldiers, and
there is a US
law against
aid
to child
soldier
recruiters,
the US Mission
did not answer
and the
State
Department
spokesperson
Jen Psaki
simply today
said the US
does
not support
child soldier
recruitment.
OK - but how
then support
the
FSA, given the
UN finding?
Inner
City Press
when first
called on
offered a
generic thanks
to Bandarin
for his
briefing. Then
twenty minutes
into the
session a
representative
of the old United
Nations
Correspondents
Association
came in, and
insisted on
offering a
"branded"
thank you.
Since
UNCA "leaders"
have tried to
get the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN
leading to the
founding of
the new Free
UN
Coalition for
Access to
actually
defend the
right to
independent
investigative
journalism,
Inner City
Press then
offered a
thanks for
FUNCA. As
shown, it is
UNCA which
insists on
putting its
(censoring)
brand on UN
events -- and
given the
history, when
it does, FUNCA
follows suit.
This is the
UN.
, 
