By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 17 -- Tony Blair is many things, as he makes sure to flaunt, one of them being the UN / Quartet Representative in support of Palestine.
Here's what Blair published in the Korea Herald on August 13: "Egypt could pivot back toward democracy. Elections by early 2014 have been promised, and all parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, could take part."
On August 14, hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters were killed, and today there is talk of the party being outlawed by the military backed authorities in Cairo.
What does this say about the Middle East advice Blair give to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon? Why has Blair been allowed to mix his UN role with big money making for JP Morgan Chase, Kazakhstan and others?
When Inner City Press has asked about these conflicts of interest, the UN has invariably said, "Ask Tony Blair's office." Right. But now, isn't he discredited?
And here's the tale, in the nature of a short eulogy, of other Brit, an actual expert in Palestine: Graham Usher, who after covering Palestine and Pakistan came to cover the UN (click here for one of his Al Ahram Weekly pieces.)
Usher authored, among other things, Palestine in Crisis (Pluto Press 1995). Now he has passed away, at the age of 54, from Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. We are sorry for his loss and have to say: only the good die young. Presente.
