On
Syria, Ban's
Pre-Spun
Verdict Ready,
ICC Whispers
by Jarba
Sponsors
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 15
-- After UN
Secretary
General passed
judgment
Friday on his
Syria chemical
weapons report
before he even
saw it,
now the UN
says the
report will be
released on
Monday
morning. (On this website: check it.)
But
with the US -
Russia deal
already cut in
Geneva, what
impact can
this
UN report
have?
A scribe who
already sponsored
a faux
UN briefing by
Saudi-sponsored
rebel Ahmad al
Jarba breathlessly
report that if
the
report points
to
accountability
by the Assad
government,
there may be
more
discussion of
a referral to
the
International
Criminal
Court, a
Security
Council
permanent-member
diplomat said.
This
sourcing is
both comical
and telling.
Since the US
already signed
off
on a deal that
has no mention
of the ICC, to
imply this
provision
might be in
the resolution
is misleading
or
ill-informed.
But
also,
the
"permanent-member"
can ONLY be
France or the
UK. And if
they don't
even dare say
it on the
record, what
chance does it
have?
This
breathless
"analysis" has
been offered
free on other
web
sites, sort of
like spam. Ban
Ki-moon, who
never asked
for a Security
Council
meeting much
less ICC
referral for
the killing of
over 40,000
civilians in
Sri Lanka,
thought he'd
promote his
image or
legacy by
speaking
Friday of
"many crimes
against
humanity" and
accountability.
But
since Ban
usually simply
accommodates
and then surfs
(or serfs)
behind what
the US wants,
this time he
may have
mis-read the
landscape. His
American head
of political
affairs
Jeffrey
Feltman
was at the UN
building on
Sunday. But to
what end?
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
Much
of the action
now passes to
Washington,
with talk of
new
resolutions to
authorize
force in
advance on
Syria - or
just on Iran.
We'll have
more on this.
, 
