Bush 'Undermining UN with Aid Coalition'
The UN couldn't build a coalition if they got a Build-Your-Own-Coalition kit for Christmas. First they accused the US of being stingy with relief money, and now Britain's former International Development Secretary, Clare Short, is making whining noises because we're trying to build a coalition to coordinate aid to tsunami victims. And this is what they do when they are trying to get us to cooperate with them.
“I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the UN when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up,” she said.
“Only really the UN can do that job,” she told BBC Radio Four’s PM programme.
“It is the only body that has the moral authority. But it can only do it well if it is backed up by the authority of the great powers.”
Moral authority? Are we talking about the same UN?
Ms Short said the coalition countries did not have good records on responding to international disasters.
The coalition of four countries - The US, Australia, Japan, and India - have already pledged more support for tsunami victims than the rest of the world combined. Sounds like the US has picked the right group of countries and has a powerful base for the tsunami coalition. But not according to Short:
She said the US was “very bad at coordinating with anyone” and India had its own problems to deal with.
“I don’t know what that is about but it sounds very much, I am afraid, like the US trying to have a separate operation and not work with the rest of the world through the UN system,” she added.
Gee, I wonder why? They make working with them sound like such a delightful experience.
Update: The Diplomad agrees, Flash! Clare Short is an Idiot!
