What's New

Resources updated between Monday, July 8, 2013 and Sunday, July 14, 2013

July 11, 2013

Disciplined Hezbollah troops

The Obama administration, which this month holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, has circulated a Security Council "presidential statement" on the deteriorating situation in Lebanon. The unusually lengthy statement was supposed to be a catalogue of what's really going wrong in Lebanon. Except...there was not one word about "Hezbollah." That's how the Obama administration conducts international diplomacy. Naming terrorists is avoided for fear of offending somebody. Despite being charged with protecting international peace and security, the Security Council consistently avoids identifying Arab terrorists who threaten international peace and security. The administration's predilections fit right in. In this case, the Council statement did make plenty of references to "all parties." But naming those parties? No. There were references to "new security challenges." But naming Hezbollah backing Assad? No. The closest the Council got was referring to "the involvement of Lebanese parties in the fighting in Syria." But naming those mysterious Lebanese parties? Just couldn't manage it. The exercise was like talking about 9/11 and not mentioning Al Qaeda. Little wonder the Council is impotent on Syria, on Iran....

UN Security Council Presidential Statement on Lebanon Article

July 9, 2013

Nigerian soldier stands guard

Muslim terrorists target and murder dozens of Nigerian school kids, after rounding them up and throwing explosives into the room where they are being held captive. Why? Because "Western education is sin." The response of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was to condemn the act without naming the perpetrators. The Nuremberg Tribunal said long ago: "Crimes against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities." A lesson the UN agencies of today, intimidated or run by Islamist states, have conveniently forgotten.

UNICEF Condemns Killings in School Attack in Northeast Nigeria (Press Release) Development

Animals killed by chemical weapon attack near Aleppo, Syria (Reuters)

Fact: The Syrian government used chemical weapons against its adversaries. Fact: The UN "fact-finding mission" to find out if the Syrian government used chemical weapons never got off the ground. Latest UN "action" on Syria? "The Secretary-General welcomes the offer of the Government of Syria to continue discussions on the United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic." So dumb for real.

Secretary-General Welcomes Syria's Offer to Continue Talks on United Nations Mission Investigating Allegations of Chemical Weapons Use (Press Release), SG/SM/15159 Development

July 8, 2013

President Morales waves from his grounded plane

Bolivia has now complained to the UN Secretary-General - in a letter circulated to the entire General Assembly - that the diversion of its plane carrying President Morales was "a gross violation of international law." The plane, traveling from Russia to Bolivia, was diverted to Austria after an erroneous report - now believed to have come from the U.S. Ambassador to Austria - that the plane was carrying Edward Snowden. France and Portugal denied overflight, while Spain said it could land on its territory only on condition that the plane was searched. Bolivia has now placed the matter on the agenda of the General Assembly and "call[ed] upon the international community to take timely action in order to ensure that these acts do not go unpunished." The embarrassing mistake may well give rise to a new popular and recurring anti-American UNGA resolution.

Letter dated 3 July 2013 from the Permanent Representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, A/67/923 Development