"The
local Guardian correspondent has called the Embassy; he is doing
a negative story on the U.S. relief effort based on 'information'
provided by the U.N. at a press conference. ...
"This
Embassy has been running 24/7 since the December 26 earthquake
and tsunami. Along with my colleagues, I've spent the past several
days dealing non-stop with various aspects of the relief effort
in this tsunami-affected country...
"That
work, unfortunately, has brought ever-increasing contact with
the growing U.N. presence in this capital; in fact, we've found
that to avoid running into the U.N., we must go out to where the
quake and tsunami actually hit. As we come up on two weeks since
the disaster struck, the U.N. is still not to be seen where it
counts -- except when holding well-staged press events...
"Ah,
yes, but the luxury hotels are full of U.N. assessment teams and
visiting big shots from New York, Geneva, and Vienna. The city
sees a steady procession of U.N. Mercedes sedans and top-of-the-line
SUV's -- a fully decked out Toyota Landcruiser is the U.N. vehicle
of choice; it doesn't seem that concerns about 'global warming'
and preserving your tax dollars run too deep among the U.N.ocrats...
"Sitting
VERY late for two consecutive nights in interminable meetings
with U.N. reps, hearing them go on about 'taking the lead coordination
role,' pledges, and the impending arrival of this or that U.N.
big shot or assessment/coordination team, for the millionth time
I realized that if not for Australia and America almost nobody
in the tsunami-affected areas would have survived more than a
few days. If we had waited for the U.N.ocrats to get their act
coordinated, the already massive death toll would have become
astronomical. But, fortunately, thanks to retrograde racist war-mongers'
such as John Howard and George W. Bush, as we sat in air conditioned
meeting rooms with these U.N.ocrats, young Australians and Americans
were at that moment 'coordinating' without the U.N. and saving
the lives of tens-of-thousands of people."
Editor:
One of the brave (and anonymous) Foreign Service Officers who operates
the blog "Diplomad" writes: