On
Iran
Contrary to
Juppe, Araud
Threatens
Military
Action, State
Media AFP
Gushes,
Bungles
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 28
-- French
foreign
minister Alain
Juppe said
"no" on
September 19
when asked
"Were
diplomacy and
sanctions to
fail in the
case of Iran,
would France
favor military
intervention?"
Juppe
replied, "Very
simple answer:
No. We
intervened
militarily in
Libya, but I
would like to
reassure you,
we are not
fans of
military
intervention,
of course,
especially
against a
country like
Iran... I
think that
sanction are
efficient on
the long
term."
Eight
days later French
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Gerard Araud
was dutifully
quoted by
French
government
media Agence
FRANCE Presse
that "If we
don't succeed
today to reach
a negotiation
with the
Iranians,
there is a
strong risk of
military
action."
So
which one is
true? AFP did
not mention
Juppe's
previous
statement,
only
intervening
statements of
Nicolas
Sarkozy.
AFP called
these Araud's
"surprisingly
frank comments
at a New York
panel
discussion" --
but it
involved only
Araud and a
single
questioner.
Nor
did AFP
analyze
another Araud
quote it
transcribed,
that "'All the
Arab countries
are extremely
worried about
what is
happening'
with Iran's
nuclear drive."
One question
is obvious:
isn't Syria an
Arab country?
Juppe in UNSC
voting yes,
military
action on Iran
not shown
Lebanese
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Nawaf Salam
was holding a
reception
Tuesday night
less than 20
blocks from
Araud's "panel
discussion" to
which UN press
corps members
were only
selectively
invited. AFP
reported the
most
breathlessly
about Araud's
remarks,
without
analyzing or
weighing any
of them.
On
Wednesday at
the UN's noon
briefing, AFP
reporter Tim
Witcher
came and asked
the spokesman
for Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon if he
wished to say
more about
Syria than was
in the short
read-out of
Ban's meeting
with that
country's
foreign
minister. Not
surprisingly,
and seemingly
scripted, the
spokesman did
have more to
say.
This
same reporter
on Tuesday
after Sudan's
foreign
minister Ali
Karti said
that of the
UNISFA
peacekeepers
"fifty percent
are there" in
the contested
Abyei area
asked Karti,
"fifty percent
have left?"
Karti said
"no,
deployed."
Anyway, France
is sure to
have its own
numbers. Watch
this site.
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