Posted on 06/07/2006 9:06:16 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
June 7, 2006
According to this article in the New York Times, Americans out in the heartland don't like the U.N., and its all the fault of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
Said Mark Malloch Brown a Briton who is deputy to Secretary General Kofi Annan, there is "too much unchecked U.N.-bashing and stereotyping." He added:
"Much of the public discourse [about the U.N.] that reaches the U.S. heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News," he said.
Malloch Brown also took a swipe at US Ambassador John Bolton. As per the Times article:
"Mr. Malloch Brown did not mention Mr. Bolton by name, but he criticized the working strategy that many diplomats have associated with Mr. Bolton since his arrival last August. "Exacerbating matters is the widely held perception, even among many U.S. allies, that the U.S. tends to hold on to maximalist positions when it could be finding middle ground," Mr. Malloch Brown said."
If Malloch Brown is correct, sounds as if Rush and FNC are doing something right!
OIL FOR FOOD, OIL FOR FOOD, OIL FOR FOOD AND DON'T FORGET JOHN BOLTON.
Great point on 'unchecked.' Ve must haf rules!
"Said Mark Malloch Brown a Briton who is deputy to Secretary General Kofi Annan, there is 'too much unchecked U.N.-bashing and stereotyping.'"
This statement is the perfect, concise, stand-alone statement that makes the point for Fox and Rush. This guy and the UN want to stifle free speech and everything else that opposes them and their agenda. Nice of him to put us and the rest of the world on notice, so that we know what they are really up to.
Neither Rush nor Fox told me that the UN has a Communist history, has a long record of ineffective action and corruption, and wants more money to waste. The UN wants to tax the US for its "dues," and as a step toward one world government. The record of success of the UN is lilliputian compared to its monumental failures.
Translation: It would be so much better if the US would just do it our way and surrender to communism.
Sounds like a McCainiac.
Member Faults How U.S. Presents U.N.
By NICK WADHAMS
Associated Press WriterUNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United Nations' No. 2 official accused the U.S. government of keeping Middle America in the dark about the world body's good works, a rare direct criticism that drew an angry response Wednesday from Ambassador John Bolton.
Bolton called Tuesday's speech by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown a "very, very grave mistake" that could undermine Secretary-General Kofi Annan's efforts to push through an ambitious agenda at the world body.
"I spoke to the secretary-general this morning, I said 'I've known you since 1989 and I'm telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior U.N. official that I have seen in that entire time,'" Bolton told reporters on Wednesday.
"To have the deputy secretary-general criticize the United States in such a manner can only do grave harm to the United Nations," Bolton said.
In the speech, Malloch Brown said the United States relies on the United Nations as a diplomatic tool but doesn't defend it against criticism at home, a policy of "stealth diplomacy" that he called unsustainable.
He lamented that the good works of the U.N. are largely lost because "much of the public discourse that reaches the U.S. heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News."
"The U.N.'s role is in effect a secret in Middle America even as it is highlighted in the Middle East and other parts of the world," Malloch Brown said.
The speech was delivered at a daylong conference sponsored by two think tanks, the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation. Malloch Brown called it a "sincere and constructive critique of U.S. policy toward the U.N. by a friend and admirer."
It was a rare instance of a senior U.N. official directly and openly criticizing a member state. An unwritten U.N. rule says high-ranking officials don't name names or shame nations.
Yet Malloch Brown and even Annan have done so in the past. Last year, with the U.N. under intense criticism over the Iraq oil for food program, Annan said opponents of the U.N. had been "relentless," and the world body wasn't fighting back enough.
U.S. officials, including Bolton, said they were especially upset that Malloch Brown, a Briton, mentioned "Middle America."
Bolton said Malloch Brown's "condescending, patronizing tone about the American people" was the worst part about the speech.
"Fundamentally and very sadly, this was a criticism of the American people, not the American government, by an international civil servant," Bolton said. "It's just illegitimate."
The United Nations had no immediate comment about Bolton's remarks or whether Annan would respond.
Malloch Brown used the speech to defend U.N. peacekeeping missions in 18 places round the globe. He criticized the United States for voting against the creation of a new Human Rights Council. It was joined by just three nations, with 170 countries voting for the body.
He acknowledged that the U.N. was in desperate need of an overhaul - in the Security Council, over its budget, and even the headquarters building itself, which hasn't been renovated for decades.
But the U.S. tendency to criticize the United Nations and to take "maximalist positions," rather than seeking the middle ground, has made other nations suspicious of its intentions.
Bolton warned that Malloch Brown's comments could undermine the reforms that Annan wants and that the United States supports.
"To have the deputy secretary-general criticize the United States in such a manner can only do grave harm to the United Nations," Bolton said. "Even though the target of the speech was the United States, the victim, I fear, will be the United Nations."
Bolton called Tuesday's speech by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown a "very, very grave mistake"
He he he!!!
As soon as the U.N. directives take place and free speech is revoked, there will be no more U.N. bashing (or Rush Limbaugh or Foxnews). That will solve everything.
the second amendment is what the un is after, the first & others won't make a difference then....
No, it wouldn't have anything to do with the Oil for Food rip off or rapes in Africa.
Said Mark Malloch Brown a Briton who is deputy to Secretary General Kofi Annan, there is "too much unchecked U.N.-bashing and stereotyping."
Unchecked? Just how is the UN going to check anything? How about nuclear proliferation - guess that problem is just too difficult.
...the U.S. tends to hold on to maximalist positions when it could be finding middle ground," Mr. Malloch Brown said."
OK maybe a compromise, like only raping on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays would be acceptable.
That is scary -- he seems to be suggesting it should be checked. These UN a'holes want NO accountability.
I think the liberals are making a mistake to take the word of a deputy for Kofi as to the "Why?" part of Americans not liking the UN munch these days.
Well...they do seem to appreciate it, when they aren't in it.
It just so happens that I've been arguing with a group of liberals and have been compiling a list of UN failures. It's pretty bad when even Ammnesty international and Human Rights Watch are calling the UN a massive failure.
Here's what I have so far. If anybody has any to add just let me know. Left leaning sources that trash them are best of all.
UN fails to guarantee justice and human rights in East Timor
http://web.amnesty.org/web/wire.nsf/september2001/east_timor
Iran: U.N. Fails to Condemn Rights Abuses
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2002/04/22/iran3868.htm
"UN fails to protect the displaced in Angola"
http://www.afrol.com/News2002/ang007_un_hrw_idps.htm
UN 'fails' to save Afghan statues
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1201763.stm
UN fails to rally Sierra Leone force
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/933288.stm
U.N. Fails to Censure Sudan's Slavery
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/4/20/165110.shtml
World: Africa UN plan Rwanda failures inquiry
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/301503.stm
Oil-for-food probe: U.N. failures let Saddam pocket $10.2 billion
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/3344191.html
Martin delivers scathing critique of UN failures
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1126878834611_122288034/?hub=TopStories
Nobel peace laureate in attack on UN failures
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=469142006
Anatomy of a Balkan Massacre
http://hir.harvard.edu/articles/854/
The U.N. Sex Scandal
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/081zxelz.asp
Sex-for-aid under UN spotlight
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1861763.stm
UN food agency deputy resigns over leader's 'culture of silence'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1774642,00.html
Food Fight (funny and pathetic at the same time)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,449436,00.html
UN admits Rwanda genocide failure
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/714025.stm
U.N.: Darfur Resolution a Historic Failure
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/09/18/darfur9355.htm
Fox had a video statement from Bolton on this morning, slamming this guy. Confirms for me that Bolton is exactly the right guy in the right place at the right time.
I love that guy. Go John Go!
I guess someone didn't like the picture.
O'Reilly should get a lot of mileage out of this one.
What "good works" would that be?
If an organization is doing its job above board, it does not need to have a PR shill like Mallock out front for it acting as its lead defender ..
The irony is he is doing it on yours and my dime.
There are none.
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