UN Boss Defends Canadian Human Rights Chief

Glad to hear Arbour and others at the UN are not about to stop asking questions even if at the same time apparently dinner with Rice is enough to shut up some European politicians.

Great. One sleazebag defending another.

Can't expect justice from a Country or a people that support an Administration that won't follow the rule of law but makes and aplies its own laws to other nations and their people.

Bush Administration releases its National Security Strategy Policy.

"We will take the actions necessary to ensure that our efforts to meet our global security
commitments and protect Americans are not impaired by the potential for investigations,
inquiry, or prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose jurisdiction
does not extend to Americans and which we do not accept. We will work together with
other nations to avoid complications in our military operations and cooperation, through
such mechanisms as multilateral and bilateral agreements that will protect US nationals
from the ICC. We will implement fully the American Servicemembers Protection Act,
whose provisions are intended to ensure and enhance the protection of US personnel and
officials."

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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

Which makes one wonder why the U.S. feels it has a right to go any where in the world and apply U.S. law to non U.S. citizens?

If one lives by the rule of law then one should have no fear of defending oneself in any court of law!

More U.N. goodies (eh)...<br />
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<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/051216/w121654.html">http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/051216/w121654.html</a><br />
<br />
a selected quote or two from the above linked article:<br />
<br />
"Deputy Secretary General Frechette to step down..."<br />
<br />
"UNITED NATIONS (CP) - Louise Frechette, the UN's deputy secretary general who was criticized for tolerating corruption in the oil-for-food program, will join a research centre in her native Canada..."<br />
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"Frechette has served as Annan's deputy since March 1998, taking a mainly behind-the-scenes role in dealing with UN management. She was the direct boss of Benon Sevan, the oil-for-food program's executive director now being investigated for allegedly accepting kickbacks. <br />
<br />
An exhaustive investigation of the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, criticized the almost total lack of oversight of the program by the secretary general and deputy secretary general. It issued "adverse findings" against Frechette, Annan and Sevan. <br />
<br />
The report gave meticulous accounts of Annan, Frechette and others dodging responsibility. The investigators also accused Frechette and Annan of tolerating corruption and doing little to stop Saddam Hussein's manipulations. The powerful UN Security Council was accused of doing much the same. <br />
<br />
One of the largest humanitarian programs in history, oil-for-food was established in 1996 to help ordinary Iraqis cope with UN sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait - and it was a lifeline for 90 per cent of the country's population of 26 million. <br />
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Frechette refused to comment on the report's findings at the time."<br />
<br />
"In a stinging rebuke in March 2004, Annan accused senior UN staff of ignoring the security threats in Iraq before the bombing. He fired one top official, demoted another and chastised Frechette but refused to accept her resignation. <br />
<br />
In recent months, she has been overseeing UN reform efforts. <br />
<br />
Before joining the United Nations, Frechette was Canada's deputy minister of national defence from 1995 to 1998. Prior to that, she served as associate deputy minister in the Finance Department. Frechette started her career as a foreign service officer and was Canada's ambassador to the United Nations from 1992 to 1995. <br />
<br />
She had made no secret of wanting to return to Canada..."<br />
<br />