Tonite, I watched the French news and they showed the part of The Great Diplomat Annan's speech where he criticizes the coalition forces in Irak. Then we saw (quickly) 3 smiling Iraqis who had been 'working for the UN'. The 3 obligingly said that the AMERICANS should have protected the UN complex. At least, that's what the voice over said they said. The 3 smilers were not actually shown being interviewed...who WERE they anyway? No names were given. No job titles. They looked like they were about 20 - 23 years old. Experts in terrorist tactics, no doubt. ;O
Now consider this quote:
A Bagdad, un responsable militaire américain a noté que l'Onu était responsable de sa propre sécurité.«C'est à l'Onu d'assurer sa propre sécurité. (...) Ils avaient loué les services d'une société privée qui assurait la sécurité autour du complexe», a déclaré le lieutenant Peter Rekers.
Briefly: LT Rekers, a US military spokesman, pointed out that the UN was responsible for THEIR OWN SECURITY. They had hired a private company to guard their complex.
So why would a journalist suggest blame for this bombing lies w/the coalition when the coalition was not even providing security at the UN offices in the first place? Got me.
Blame would be more logically laid at the feet (if they can be found in the rubble, that is) of...THE SUICIDE BOMBER(s)! But then, that would also be admitting that the target in Irak is not only coalition troops...who, because of their physical presence and number, have up to now borne the brunt of the insanity.
It is, after all, Them vs. the Civilized World. Not them vs. the coalition.
P.S. Kofi, fire the private security company for not 'securing' - they apparently hadn't hired clairvoyants to predict the attack. Oops, I think I was being facetious there...
Also the UN refused to allow the big concrete planters, that US and British use, to be placed in strategic places to prevent large high speed vehicles from bolting through checkpoints. They literally have to slow to a crawl to get around them because they cannot bowl them over. And hardly anything, short of an A1-Abrams tank, is going to stop a cement truck hauling ass.
Not only is the UN corrupt and inept it's stupid too.
Valerie,
Regarding French news reports...
Yesterday night, on France 2, the anchorwoman talked about "the tragedy that took place in Baghdad", announcing an estimated 24 people dead and 100 wounded. A few minutes later, she talked about the "attack that took place in Jerusalem", announcing an estimated 20 people dead and 100 wounded.
I'm not minimizing at all what happened against the UN but a suicide bombing against the UN is a "tragedy" and in Jerusalem, against a civilian bus half full of children, it's just an "attack"?
I had heard elsewhere that those guarding the UN building were actually former (current?) members of the Baathist Party intelligence and security apparatus.
