UNITED
NATIONS, June
27 -- With UN
Peacekeeping
missions'
force
commanders
in New York
the past two
days, the
press
conference and
Security
Council
session were
just the
public face. Photo here.
Down
in Conference
Room 9 in the
UN's basement,
the force
commanders met
Thursday
morning with
the Office of
the Military
Adviser and
others.
The talk was
candid, with
one new force
commander
saying, you
all are
mostly
diplomats, and
wanting to
know the real
deal.
Those
running the
meeting urged
the force
commanders to
provide
information
to
headquarters
early and
often,
otherwise “our
political
masters”
will assume
the worst.
They added,
don't worry
about
providing
information to
DPKO spokesman
Kieran Dwyer,
he won't pass
most of it
on.
That's
an
understatement
-- Dwyer
has publicly
defended the
many refusals
to
answer the
Press of
Herve Ladsous,
the fourth
Frenchman in a
row to
head DPKO. And
when
information is
provided, it
is to the
friendliest
of scribes,
even
information
about the
kidnapping of
peacekeepers
in
the Golan.
In
the Council
chamber on
Wednesday,
Rwanda asked
new MONUSCO
force
commander
Alberto Dos
Santos Cruz
about the
Congolese
Army's links
with the FDLR
military. They
found his
answer vague,
about the
border
and a complex
situation.
Drones won't
help with
this.
In
the basement
Thursday
afternoon,
Ladsous stood
stiffly with
Ban
Ki-moon taking
a photo with
the force
commanders.
Inner City
Press photo
here.
Ban
Ki-moon,
Ladsous et al,
accountability
for Minova not
shown, (c) MLee
With
them was
Babacar Gaye,
soon to ship
out to Central
African
Republic. He
was in
the Delegates'
Lounge
Wednesday,
meeting with
the delegation
of
Gabon. “It
takes a
military man
to deal with
Seleka,”
another
diplomat told
Inner City
Press,
referring to
the rebels who
took over
Bangui.
Gaye
is one of the
good guys in
UN
Peacekeeping.
Who will
replace him?
Watch this
site.
, 
