UNITED
NATIONS, May 6
-- As we predicted
this morning,
but even
faster, the
UN and the US
distanced
themselves
from the
statement of
UN Human
Rights Council
appointee Carla Del
Ponte of
strong
suspicions of
the
use of sarin
gas by the
Syrian
opposition,
not the
government.
At
Monday's
UN noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
if Ban's
prober Ake
Sellstrom
would at least
look at the
evidence Del
Ponte cited
from
"victims,
doctors and
field
hospitals" in
neighboring
countries.
Nesirky
told
Inner City
Press, " I
would simply
refer you to
what the
Commission of
Inquiry said
in its press
release,"
which he
summarized as
"clarifying
that it has
not reached
conclusive
findings about
the use of
chemical
weapons in
Syria by any
parties to
the conflict.
And, as a
result, the
Commission
said it is not
in a
position to
further
comment on the
allegations at
this time."
It's
one thing for
this UN
"Independent
International
Commission of
Inquiry" to
not have
public comment
-- but
shouldn't two
arms of
the UN, the
Commission and
Sellstrom's
team, as least
share
evidence?
In
Washington,
Obama
administration
spokesman Jay
Carney said,
"We
are highly
skeptical of
any
suggestions
that the
opposition
used
chemical
weapons. We
think it
highly likely
that Assad
regime was
responsible
but we have to
be sure about
the facts
before we make
any
decisions
about a
response."
In
terms of US
public
opinion, and a
survey as
scientific as
Sellstrom's
has been to
date, Inner
City Press was
a guest on
several radio
shows
on Monday,
ranging across
the US from
Chicago to the
Arizona,
Nevada
and California
tri-state area
up to
Pacifica's
Flashpoints in
San Francisco.
These
stations,
including the
one covering
Arizona,
wanted to
question
Senator John
McCain; the
Chicago
station was a
defender of
President
Barack Obama.
But
it's strange,
about the
Obama
administration:
they
were fast
Monday to
criticize or
disbelieve UN
official Carla
Del
Ponte, but
they have been
slow to
criticize the
UN for, as
simple one
example
exposed by
Inner City
Press, allowing
a
UN-accredited
NGO to
auction off an
internship "in
the UN" for
$26,000.
Watch
this site.
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