There must be something untoward in the jubilee vodka being served at the UN these days. They’re all acting up, and acting out.
Mr. Ziegler’s appearance at the UN’s fire and brimstone rostrum should be a treat. One interesting tidbit to add: while El Z is, indeed, vice-president of the group of organizations, Nord-Sud XXI, that oversees the Khaddafi Prize awards (one wonders what other humanitarian efforts they are behind?!), he is also the 2002 recipient of said prize! Yup, $200K+, rather like shifting spare change from one pocket to another. Pretty neat.
But never let it be said that the UN does not offer variety of entertainment as we dance on the edge of the precipice. Today’s Wall Street Journal, in its Review & Outlook section, brings news of a perennial UN favorite, Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of that merry band of thespians, the IAEA. Read it all, it’s brill: (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116182795285804202.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep).
El B seems now to be angling for the Jimmy Carter Meddlesome Foreign Policy Award, or is it the Bill Clinton I Feel Your Pain Award….. For our information, El B notes that North Korea is only messing with those nasty toys because, “they feel isolated, they feel they are not getting the security they need.” As for Iran, “the jury is still out on whether they are developing a nuclear weapon.” Sound familiar? Rewind to the year of your choice; same tune. El B has also turfed out the IAEA chief weapons inspector for Iran, Chris Charlier, after the hapless fellow opined publicly that he thought that Iran was determined to build a nuclear weapon. And remember El B’s meddling before the 2004 US Presidential Election? Same old, same old. Here’s my question: After all their past experience with El B, why, oh, why did Condi Rice and the White House ignore John Bolton’s advice, and instead support El B for a third term as head of the IAEA? Stupidity? Imprudence? Denial of reality? Magical thinking? Who is making the decisions here?