Good Riddance: Annan to leave envoy post

So Mr Annan will not renew his mandate on Syria that will expire at the end of the month. According to the BBC "In a news conference, he said the Syrian people "desperately need action" but criticised the UN Security Council for "finger-pointing and name-calling".

Great discovery. It took him six months to discover this, more than three and a half month to realize that his peace plan had not materialized (due mid-April) and would never materialize.

The regrets about his leaving by Putin (sic), that useless UN SG Ban Ki Moon, the Syrian foreign minister, UN Russian and American ambassadors mean nothing since these people are the most guilty for the situation in Syria.

Staying in his post for so long gave the opportunity to the Syrian regime to increase repression, killing more civilians, ignoring the aspirations of the Syrian people to end a 41 year family regime. The stupidity of the UN observers' mission to Syria, 300 people for 185,000 km2 (one per 600km2!) was another window dressing exercise that simply enabled Assad to increase repression. Not to talk about the risible EU sanctions towards Syria and the main representatives of its regime.

Annan should have resigned long ago, should have opposed the observers' mission, and, for a change should have had some dignity.

No wonder the Syrian people did not regret his departure, they who fight dictatorship and die for their freedom.

When Annan was appointed special envoy, I jumped but kept silent since miracles happen. I had no illusion but decided to wait and see. And what I expected happened, Annan acted as a diplomat, "brilliant diplomat and honest man" said Putin. This is enough to say that Annan, as usual, took good care of his image and reputation but failed in his mission.

I have known him since the mid-seventies and, apart once, I was never impressed by him. The one time was when he went to Iraq to prevent US bombing. We thought that he had succeeded and we, UN staff, greeted his (and his suave wife) in New York upon his return from Bagdad. But it did not work for long ...just gave more time to the US to prepare the war.

I will never forget that he had undermined the authority of the UN by letting many countries infiltrate so called gratis personnelf (all from their intelligence) in his department of peace keeping operations just not to refuse more mandates when he knew he did not have the resources to fulfil them; nor that he had sold that Department to France, a permanent member of the Security Council, to be elected UN SG in 1996; nor the fact that in spite of his statement that he would not seek re-election, he gladly "accepted" a second term; nor the way he dumped, literally, his very long standing assistant and advisor, E. L. for placing someone useful to his re-election in his cabinet; nor how he dumped a long standing high level official who had served him in difficult situation, B.S., for alleged corruption in the Oil for Food program ( 35 million dollars expenditures by the Volker Commission to find out that someone had not well justified 150,000$ income).

A too good diplomat to be efficient. Very successful since he kept a good reputation selling his soul to the main powers. A disaster for the UN, his ten year tenure was a good base for the current useless successor who continues in the mission to destroy what good is left of the UN.

Putin, Lavrov, Hu Jintao, Assad and Kofi Annan have the direct responsibility for the blood of the tens of thousands civilians and soldiers who fight the Syrian dictator. But the Arab leaders, France and the UK and USA are not less guilty.

Kofi Annan gave an opportunity to Russia, China and Assad to hide their cruelty and disregard for freedom behind his diplomacy. Let us hope that his belated departure will bring real change.

I am ashamed of being a former UN staff

For more than 35 years I was proud of being a UN staff.

For many years later I was proud of being a former UN staff, although it was getting more and more difficult to be so.

Now, when I see what is going on in Syria, after the massacres in Bosnia, Rwand, Iraq, Palestine and I see the smile of the one I consider the most guilty of the loss of the credibility and influence of the UN, Kofi Annan, while thousand of civilians are killed and massacred in Syria,

                       I AM ASHAMED OF BEING A FORMER UN STAFF

And I am sorry for the hundreds I have personaly known and thousand I know still work there with dedication, putting their lives in danger,  being disregharded by some diplomats in the interests of a couple of countries.

It's time to close the UN and to wipe out the names of Kofi Annan and Ban Ki Moon (and their close entourage) from our memories.

Ban Ki Moon - Go to Syria

So, the clown Ban Ki Moon, the puppet in the hands of Moscow and Bejing, following the example of his predecessors who allowed exterminations of civilians in Rwanda, Congo, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Cambodia and Liberia, is too busy carrying the Olympic Flame in London  among idiotic people applauding instead of going to Damascus and Alep to stop carnage.

Time to go home, with your stupid smile and your inept immer circle, Mr. Ban Ki Moon. You are ba ar the wprst UNSG we ever had.

And hopefully one day we will know how mych such mascarade did cost to the poor UN finances.

Bigotry

As of this moment, it appears that 20 UN staff, doing humanitarian work for the Afghan population, were killed by a crowd of angry Muslims.
It is not the first time, not will it be the last. But this time I am particularly touched, offended, and mad.
Apparently this mass killing by Muslim bigots was prompted by a so-called Christian bigot, a church man, Pastor Wayne Sapp, who recently burned a Koran.
Idiots are equally distributed around the world but it is time to stop all this. We need to stop all bigots, were they be Christian (so called), Muslims, Indus, Jews.
Western countries are guilty of continuing doing business with countries that allow such things to happen. They have to boycott them even if this means hardship for the population. Western countries have to stop appointing useless UN Secretary Generals who are unable to impose respect for UN staff. UN staff have to refuse going to certain countries for useless missions and without protection.
These 20 (or more) UN staff are the straw that kills the camel. Never again we shall allow this to happen.

But as of now the so called Reverend Wayne Sapp should be prosecuted as the instigator of such crime. And we shall fight bigots all over. Not forgetting that Catholic bigotry exterminated hundred of thousand of Christians and Muslims and indigenous people during colonization, nor that Jewish bigotry continues to kill hundreds of Palestinians, nor that Muslim bigotry oppresses millions of people around the world.

I mourn the victim of this last UN staff massacre and I feel close to the victims families. I pray that the useless Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon be kicked out before the end of his term. I lost any hope that the Security Council Member States will ever bring the UN back to its real mandate too busy with their useless games. Let us close the UN, we will save lives of innocent and valuable persons and stop the window dressing of hypocritical countries.

UN staff are now the ideal target: kill one and people will talk of you, kill many and the world will talk about you.

Time is over, no more UN staff shall be killed by bigots or war lords.

THE BLINDNESS OF US FOREIGN POLICY

The Arab world is in turmoil, the traditional US allies, corrupt and authoritarian regimes, are falling, the key country the US were relying upon for keeping some peace in the Middle East, Egypt, will go its own way. The entire castle, built over the years and that everybody knew was fragile, is collapsing.


Certainly Obama was fast in adapting to the Egyptian crisis (but the entire army is US trained, armed and financed!), has more difficulties in dealing with Libya and has no clue as to how to deal with Bahrain.

What is clear to all, and should be to the Obama's government, is that the Middle East will no longer be the same and relationships with the Arab world will be totally different. And as a consequence, the Israeli-Palestinian problem needs to be looked at in a different perspective.
Clear and simple. But not for the US and the blind Ms. Clinton whose electorate comprises the powerful Jewish community of New York State. So, yesterday, the US opposed a veto to a resolution condemning the Israeli settlements in occupied territories, which goes against previously voted Security Council resolutions.

The statements made by the US ambassador after the vetos do not change the facts: the US had a golden opportunity to show that it had understood that the Middle East is no longer the same. They had the opportunity to show to the Arab masses that they had understood and that the illegal and scandalous policy of Israel had lost the US support.

They missed everything and this will not help a settlement in the area. The masses, mad at their "leaders" (or better at the dictators that reign), will win, sooner than later. And then they will revolt against the US. A crisis nobody can imagine as yet.

It's Foreign Policy, idiot, get rid of Ms Clinton and be real. We are fed up of paying for the errors of the US blinded foreign policy.

The Fourth Punic war

The other day, Libya did forbid Swiss airlines to land on its sacred land. Why so? Hannibal of course. The Fourth Punic War is ongoing since Hannibal Gaddafi (and his wife) was arrested in Geneva for holding two housekeepers almost as prisoners. To the point that the workers of the hotel they were staying did call the Police.

Instead of being ashamed, the Gaddafi family started complaining about the Swiss authorities and even held two Swiss citizens hostage in prison. Now the retaliation against the Swiss planes (which by the way have only the name Swiss but belong to Lufthansa! but can you ask the Libyans to know all this?

If you think that recently the USA suspended all sanctions against Libya (but Americans were the most active for Libyan oil, still...), that the EU started negotiating with it again, that Sarkozy and Berlusconi, always them, made official visits to Libya and that Sarkozy received him with full honors in Paris in December 2007.

All this for a few barrels of oil. And they forget that Gaddafi, and his clique, is a killer (at least two civilian planes destroyed with hundreds of innocent victims, over Sahara and at Lockerbie), a hostage taker (the Bulgarian nurses), a slaves trader (all the illegal immigrants landing on Sicilian coast arrive from Libya).

Is there any morale left in international politics? If ever any existed in fact.

So all these fancy Western leaders accept passively the Fourth Punic was for a new Hannibal. And although once again Gaddafi shows his real face, nobody does anything to kick him out for good. But the US continue to boycott Cuba, the US, the EU and the UN Secretary-General call for free elections in Guinea, and the G77 supports Libya at the Commission on human rights (not applicable indeed to house workers of the Gaddafi's family).

Hannibal, the real, lost in the end. Let us hope that the history will repeat itself.


Photo : www.copts.com

The end of the United Nations

Never like now has the current set-up of the UN appeared obsolete and unrealistic. The dream of peace is gone; the five permanent members of the Security Council only do damage control. In spite of the highest than ever number of peace-keeping missions and others the conflict spread all over and the real crisis remain unresolved.

How can one trust a peace-keeping Department headed by a representative of a Permanent Member of the Security Council with the right of veto: France (the results of cows’ trade between France and Kofi Annan for him to be elected)?

How can you trust China blocking any resolution on Darfur or Zimbabwe while helping their dictators? Or supporting North Korea and Burma?

How can you trust the USA who lie in front of the world and invade a country on that basis? Or the USA, with the UK and France nodding gently, attacking Iran for its nuclear policy and keeping silent with Israel that has the bomb? Or pretending that Iran sticks to UN resolutions but letting Israel breaching all the resolutions on occupied territories?

How can you trust Russia that invades Georgia and blocks resolutions on Zimbabwe on the excuse that it is an internal matter?

How can you trust France whose President before being elected promised to be inflexible on human rights ad then goes to Beijing?

How can you trust the UK without a foreign policy since years and years, being a simple follower of the USA?

And why would Russia invading Georgia be worse that the USA who fomented coups d’état all over Latin America up to the infamous Condor plan and invaded Iraq?

And how could you trust NATO, i.e. the USA, UK and France with the rest following incapable of winning a war in Afghanistan?

Not to talk about all Africa leaders who readily support the worst dictators afraid of becoming themselves in the future a target for their corrupt policies?

The United Nations is now incapable of maintaining peace blocked by the five Permanent Members of the Security Council pursuing their own national interests against the charter of the UN. If ever there had been any doubt until recently, the problems in Georgia have demonstrated that the system is definitely broken and that the Secretary-General, a weak person chose probably because of his weakness.

The United Nations system is also incapable of dealing with economic crisis, in particular the looming food crisis generated to a large extent, but not only, by protectionist policies in the USA and Europe and by the policies imposed for years and years by the World Bank and the IMF. All what it can do is to send rescuers and food supplies: charity instead of self reliance policies.

Clearly there is no United Nations. I saw how it works, directly, through more than 30 years in the system of which 11 in New York : the main countries making their own interests using almost corruptive policies with the little and poor countries who all have one vote at he General Assembly but few diplomats who cannot follow all what happens and in a sense “sell” their votes or leave junior diplomats pursuing their own interests, in particular in the Fifth Committee, the budgetary and administrative one, in the absence of national policies.

The Security Council set-up does not make any sense any

Longer: this is known since years but of course the five permanent members do not agree on any reform too attached to their obsolete privileges. France and the UK have neither reason nor right any longer to have a permanent seat: Europe should have it and the fifth could go to India or Brazil for example: and the veto rule must be suppressed.

But who will take the risk of destroying the UN? Only a strong Secretary General posing the real problems can do it. Although if it continues like that, the UN system may implode thanks to the blinded policies of the USA, Russia and China who will be taken themselves by surprise. The UN is a political animal, but poor blinded politicians kill it.

Time for a change and it ay come only through a major major world crisis: dark times ahead for the world.

Photo www.britannica.com

US accountability

Everybody remembers the fuss by the US of the so-called UN Oil-for-food scandal. More than 35 million dollars were spent to discover that one Russian guy had been providing info to potential contractors and that a high level UN official might not have justified well enough 150,000 $ (yes 35 million to discover a possible fraud of 150,000 !) he had declared as income. Ah those incompetent and corrupt UN staff....

A couple of years ago, a GAO report stated that they could not find how 8.8 million $ had been spent by the US transitional government. Interestignly enough there was much less talk about such a report than about the alleged oil for food scandal.

And now, the Pentagon's Internal Accounting Office reveals that at least 15 billion dollars are not accounted for: about 10 years of UN budget....those wasteful bureaucrats. ( see Mary Ugone's report dated 22 May 2008 before the Committee on Oversight and Government reform of the House)

Incompetence ? everybody thought that only UN staff were incompetent. Corruption ? come on, the UN is corrupt. Waste ? waste is giving money to the UN instead of churches spreading the Godspell.

Come on, there is something wrong somewhere : the honest, efficient, trustworthy Americans wasting taxpayers money ? Republicans betraying US taxpayers ? money meant to win the war and bring civilization to tye Middle East lost between corrupt US contractors and corrupy allies.

Will ever someone pay for it ?