At
UN, Obama
Twice Cites
KFC, No Congo,
Mali or Sudan,
Nor UN Reform
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 25
-- Twice in US
President
Barack Obama's
speech
to the UN
General
Assembly he
cited the
destruction of
restaurants,
by fire and
smashing.
Among
with these two
apparent
references to
the attack on
Kentucky Fried
Chicken in
Lebanon (KFC
has since
closed its
stores in
Pakistan),
Obama
delivered a
3900 word
speech which
did not
mention Sudan,
or
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo, or
Haiti, or the
need for UN
reform.
As
Inner City
Press noted
yesterday,
quoting a UN
official that
it was
"insulting or
depressing,"
Obama will not
stay after his
speech to give
the toast
at Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
luncheon
for heads of
state, which
it's said
American
Presidents
have gone
since 1986.
Obama
will head
crosstown to
the Clinton
Global
Initiative --
a fifteen
minute
appearance he
appeared to
plug in his UN
speech, saying
he
would talk
about human
trafficking
later in the
day -- and
then to
the airport
and back to
Washington.
The campaign
is calling.
But what
are the
events?
Obama
drew applause,
after saying
he was
Christian, by
saying he
supports
the right to
be harshly
critical of
him. In a
portion of the
speech
that Ban
Ki-moon,
notably, has
not echoed
Obama defended
freedom of
speech. He
chided Iranian
leader(s), it
seems clear,
for Holocaust
denial, and
called for
criticism of
attacks on
Shiite
pilgrims and
Sufi shrines.
But
what about
mausoleums in
Timbuktu? The
words Sahel or
Mali
did not
appear in
Obama's
speech.
Earlier, Ban
Ki-moon had
said that "the
crisis
in the Sahel
is not getting
sufficient
attention." Ya
don't say. But
on September
19 when Ban
Ki-moon held a
pre-GA press
conference, of
the 10
questions
chosen none
were on
Africa.
Africa
is over 50% of
the world of
the Security
Council and
UN, but it
featured
little not
only in Ban
Ki-moon's
press
conference but
also
in Obama's
speech. Syria
is the big
one: but what
will these
speeches
accomplish?
Watch this
site.
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