In UNGA "Insult," Obama Slated to Leave NYC 10 Minutes Into UN Luncheon

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- Reflecting either President Barack Obama's lack of interest -- or of "respect," as one United Nations official put it to Inner City Press -- in the the UN, his schedule for September 25 does not include the annual "Luncheon hosted by the Secretary-General in honor of Heads of State and Government."

  The President of the U.S., as host country, traditionally attends and gives the toast at the S-G's lunch. 

   But according to Obama's schedule, after first paying tribute to Bill Clinton by speaking at his corporate Clinton Global Initiative gathering at the Sheraton at 12:10, Obama will "depart New York City en route to Washington DC" from JFK Airport at 1:25 -- ten minutes after Ban Ki-moon's lunch begins.

   Less than an hour later, Obama is slated to arrive at Joint Base Andrews. "That the lunch isn't listed on his schedule is insulting, or really, depressing," a high UN official exclusive told Inner City Press, asking not to be named given what he called the "inordinate power" of the US over the UN, and of "Obama over Ban Ki-moon."

  Last year, the ritual remarks by Ban and then Obama at the luncheon began at 1:54 pm and ended at 2:03 pm. By this year's schedule, Obama will be over DC by then.

  The UN's Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit's night-before Media Alert lists a Ban Ki-moon photo op with Obama at 10:50 am, before an 11:20 am photo with the Amir of Qatar, with at 1:15 pm in the General Assembly lobby the "luncheon hosted by the Secretary-General in honor of Heads of State and Government."

  Maybe the UN schedule is wrong; as Inner City Press has noted, it also lists a 3:30 pm press encounter by "Michael Spindelegger, Prime Minister of Australia" -- it's either Austria, or Julia Gillard. 

  But unless one of the two schedules is wrong, Bill Clinton and "The View" have definitely eclipsed the United Nations. "Insulting" or "depressing," as the UN official asked Inner City Press? You be the judge. 

  And also of Obama's speech. Earlier Monday at the UN,Inner City Press put the question of whether Obama will mention a ban on testing nuclear weapons to Tibor Toth, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

  Toth replied, "Personally I would wish a one liner... we will have to see." Video here, from Minute 22:15. At "The View" and not the annual UN lunch, apparently. Watch this site.

UN Sustainable Energy Headed by B of A, Suntech Feted as by Clinton Global Initiative

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- The UN's lax approach to financial conflicts of interest and corporate domination were both on display Monday behind high security in the UN's North Lawn building.

  There was also double-dipping, in which the Suntech solar panel firm was praised both at Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Sustainable Energy for All event Monday, after receiving praise for the same project Sunday across time at the Clinton Global Initiative, in front of Ban Ki-moon.

  The UN's September 24 press release announced the continuation as chairman of Chad Holliday of Bank of America, which is among the largest funders of moutaintop removal coal mining: hardly sustainable.

  The UN press release continued that "At today’s event, significant new commitments to action in support of achieving Sustainable Energy for All were also announced. These include:

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., the world's largest producer of solar panels, will donate up to 300 kilowatts of solar panels to the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, to help the hospital reduce its dependence on expensive diesel generators and improve access to electricity."

  Back in February 2011, Suntech announced it had an $80 million contract for solar panels for UN Peacekeeping missions. But then-Peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told Inner City Press he'd never heard of it, and Suntech was not then listed in the UN's Vendor database.

  No wonder: it is a conflict of interest to be on the UN's advisory board on a topic, as the CEO of Suntech is, and to be selling it a product, while not even being listed.

  In terms of following up on the UN Peacekeeping contract, Le Roy's successor Herve Ladsous, also French, refuses to answer any Inner Cithy Press questions, including on helping recruit militia in the Congo, after being exposed proposing that the UN use drones. Sources in the UN's C-34 Committee say the French firm Thales is already ready. And so it goes at the UN.

As UNGA Starts, Ban Ki-moon's Selective Talk with Mali & Bahrain, Quiet Germany, Corporate CGI

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- Before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon headed crosstown Sunday to the General Assembly's doppelganger, the Clinton Global Initiative, his office issued five read-outs of five meetings that morning.

  Notably, while for four of the meetings the UN purported to summarize what both sides said, for the meeting with German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, there was only a single sentence, on what Ban raise: "The Secretary-General discussed the situations in Syria and Lebanon, as well as the Middle East peace process." 

   No Africa; no Iran. And no Guido.

  Each of the other four read-outs, including Mali and Bahrain as well as Kuwait and Estonia, summarized that "they" discussed. For Mali, which controls less than half its territory, the UN summarized:

"The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister [Cheick Modibo Diarra] exchanged views on the situation in northern Mali...[Ban] reassured him of the United Nations full support to Mali in its efforts to fully re-establish constitutional order and its territorial integrity."

  The last phrase seems to imply that UN automatically supports territorial integrity. Of course, it's variance from that principle that the new President of the General Assembly, Serbia's Vuk Jeremic, has complained for years. But does Ban's summary today mean he will say the same to Georgia? Will he raise the prison abuse scandal there?

  The read-out for Bahrain was lengthy, despite the decidedly different response to crackdown on protesters and bloggers in Bahrain and the rest of the region and world. The UN said Ban

"welcomed the commitment made by His Majesty King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, to dialogue, good governance and genuine democracy... He also emphasized that a genuine, all-inclusive dialogue that addresses the legitimate aspirations of all Bahraini communities is the best way to promote lasting peace, stability, justice and economic progress in Bahrain."

  The read-outs for Estonia and Kuwait were predictable: International Criminal Court and Iraq, respectively. There will be many such read-outs this month (click here for Inner City Press coverage and video of Ban's meetings with the United Arab Emirates and Arab League on September 21.) And a pro-corporate mood: over at the Clinton Global Initiative, Bill Clinton's opening statement veered from praising Suntech and Tom Golisano to Proctor & Gamble, even the Freeport mining firm. 

  Ban Ki-moon, who put the chairman of Bank of America tops his Sustainable Energy for All group, was there, set to rush back to the real (old?) UN to speed-meet with leaders of the Maldives, Malawi, Finland, Bulgaria, Ahmadinejad of Iran, Luis Federico Franco Gómez (and not Lugo) of Paraguay and Dimitris L. Avramopoulos, FM of Greece. We'll be there. Watch this site.

Corporations Gone Wild at Clinton Global Initiative, Barclays Spin, No Haiti

By Matthew Russell Lee

NEW YORK CITY, September 20 -- Held at the same time as the UN General Debate, the Clinton Global Initiative is at once slicker and more sinister.

At a session on Disaster Preparedness late Tuesday afternoon, videos promoting Toyota's work on the Gulf Coast were screened, while media personality Riz Khan chose questions from Barclays Bank and Dell Computers, and one promoting UPS.

On stage Bill Clinton's head of FEMA and Denis O'Brien of Digicel said give money to established groups. Flacking for Bill Clinton and the UN, Denis O'Brien told fellow panelist and chief UN humanitarian Valerie Amos he had "no complaint about the UN, I saw what you did in Haiti." Introduction of cholera and sexual abuse in Port Salut were not discussed.

Inner City Press had been shepherded into the back of the room. During the Q&A, while attempting to ask Amos about humanitarian crises on the agenda of the Security Council, a staffer came over and said "members of the press are not invited to participate."

Still, at the table to which Inner City Press was led, an operative of Swiss Re insurance company handed out fliers and offered interviews after the session.

The listened sponsors were not only corporate but included long time New York political mystery Tom Golisano -- where's Lenora Fulani, one jaded reporter asked without answer.

While defanged and denied questions, the press corps was well fed, with free granola bars, fruit and soda, and wireless Internet stronger and more reliable than at the UN. For a time there was discussion of ex President Clinton becoming Secretary General, overriding a rule that no national of a Permanent Five member of the Council can be S-G.

Instead, Clinton holds his corporate heavy parallel UN every September in Manhattan. The lobby of the Sheraton is full of hucksters; the soundtrack is smooth jazz, with Fleetwood Mac in the wings. Obama will come here, and Hilary and Chelsea Clinton. It's as if the mis-service of Haiti never happened. But that's true back at the UN too...