UN
Beyonce Fest
Has CNN Tying
M23 &
Kabila,
Acapella
Offerings
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 10 --
Before Beyonce
finally
arrived to
sing an
embargoed
preview of her
song "I Was
Here" in the
UN
General
Assembly
Friday night,
Anderson
Cooper held
his own little
talk show in
which he said
that Congo's
M23 rebels are
"an
offshoot of
Laurent
Kabila."
Laurent
Kabila
is dead; his
son Joseph
Kabila is the
President of
the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo who
seeks to wipe
out the M23
mutineers.
Later Anderson
Cooper tried
to correct
himself and
said
"Laurent
Nkunda."
But
even that is
years behind.
Nkunda was put
under house
arrest in
Rwanda. The
allegation is
the Bosco
Ntaganda is
leading the
M23. But
neither his
name, not that
of UN "expert"
Steve Hege who
has written
that the Hutu
FDLR armed
group is not
really a
threat to
Rwanda, were
mentioned.
Nor
for example
was the
withdrawal of
the UN from
North Sri
Lanka in 2008
and 2009,
prior to the
killing of
40,000
civilians. It
was claimed
that the UN
doesn't take
side. But
sometimes
leaving is
taking sides.
Like in Rwanda
in 1994. And,
one wonders,
in Syria in
2012?
The
UN's Office
for the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs, one
of
Inner City
Press'
favorite parts
of the UN,
managed the
evening,
paying UN
Television for
time to
interview
chief Valerie
Amos and Ban
Ki-moon's new
deputy, Jan
Eliasson.
When
Eliasson took
the stage, he
called the
event "I Was
There,"
then corrected
it. He is a
long time
Swedish
diplomat, just
as the UN
considered
long time
Algerian
diplomat
Lakhdar
Brahimi to
replace UN
retiree Kofi
Annan as Syria
envoy.
Aren't
events like
this supposed
to interest a
younger
generation in
the
work of the
UN? Where are
they?
This
UN event was
for a bigger
picture crowd:
The Dream, and
Brooklyn's
own Theophilus
London. That
photo, Inner
City Press
tweeted,
noting
that "Journos
ask, who's
that?
Crooklyn."
Then
a general
news reporter
for a wire
service
which tried
to get
Inner
City Press thrown out
of the UN
asked, are you
a fan? What's
your
favorite song?
Why, "Morning
After Pill,"
of course.
Something of
an anthem for
UNFPA.
Ultimately,
Beyonce's
song -- it is
not clear if
we are allowed
to write about
it
-- and
especially the
video behind
it were
amazing.
What appeared
to
be the wooden
slats of the
GA Hall's wall
flew away for
a big-screen
presentation
of camps in
Darfur -- like
the one the UN
didn't protect
in Kassam, not
mentioned in
the show --
and scenes
that looked
Haiti.
One
wondered: why
not at least
acknowledge
that the UN
may have
brought
cholera to
Haiti,
inadvertently,
and try to
have some
accountability?
But,
it occurred,
those who
MIGHT hold the
UN accountable
only come
infrequently
and suck up to
it, thinking
that it makes
them look
good. But in
the case of
Anderson
Cooper, does
it?
There
were two other
songs, one
with simple
guitar that inspired
Inner City
Press to tweet
a song
online, about
Sri Lanka, Ban
Ki-moon and
more.
And so it goes
at the UN.
Watch, or listen, to
this site.
, 
