Just went to a news conference with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It was the first time I'd seen Ban in action, and I have to say that though it only lasted about 30 minutes, I was about ready to eat my tape recorder out of sheer boredom.
Kofi Annan at least had a certain charisma. When he walked into a room, the vibe would tighten somehow and you'd get that typical rush of blood to the gut triggered by the presence of a famous person. "Hey, there goes Kofi Annan!" you might say. Not Ban. I finally understand why they all called him the Slippery Eel. He's as exciting as a bag of carrots.
When I covered the U.N., I routinely got the suspicion that none of it mattered in the slightest. Ban brought it all back. His remarks were a medley of "deeply concerned"s and "deplore"s and "I encourage"s and "must stop"s, and just seemed out of touch with the reality of Kenya's crisis.
Take this respose to a BBC question on whether he recognizes President Mwai Kibaki's government: "The Untied Nations is not an entity to recognize or not recognize any soveriegn country's internal political system." Wow!
Or this, when asked if he thought Kenya's violence was ethnic cleansing: "I am not in a position to characterize this situation in any way. I am deeply concerned about this situation and the number of deaths is just intolerable and unacceptable in modern world. This must stop and this is up to Kenyan people, you must act according to all established practices in this modern world."
You go, Ban! Say something completely uninspired and mildly offensive (the modern world?) and then blame the Kenyan people. What about the politicians? Oops. Technically, one umpteen millionth of Ban's salary is paid by the Kenyan government, so no criticizing Kibaki!
very funny :-)
Posted by: G | February 01, 2008 at 09:31 PM
Is it just me or was there something slightly patronizing -- I don't want to say racist -- about Ban's use of the phrase "the modern world"? I think there is a perception out there that the violence is base, atavistic, premodern. Does this go back to our use of the word "tribe"?
Posted by: shashank | February 02, 2008 at 07:47 PM