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| Iraq |
| U.N. Bombing Focuses on Possible Ties to Iraqi Guards |
| 2003-08-22 |
| EFLAmerican investigators looking into the suicide bombing of the United Nations compound on Tuesday are focusing on the possibility that the attackers were assisted by Iraqi security guards who worked there, a senior American official here said today. The official said all of the guards at the compound were agents of the Iraqi secret services, to whom they reported on United Nations activities before the war. The United Nations continued to employ them after the war was over, the official said. Now that’s really dumb, even by U.N. standards. The official said that when investigators began questioning the guards, two of them asserted that they were entitled to "diplomatic immunity" and refused to cooperate. Diplomats working in foreign countries are often entitled to immunity from prosecution by local authorities, but the official said the two guards could make no such claim. Investigators are continuing to question the guards, the official said. "We believe the U.N.’s security was seriously compromised," the official said, adding that "we have serious concerns about the placement of the vehicle" and the timing of the attack. The bomb exploded directly under the third-floor office of the United Nations coordinator for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, while he was meeting with a prominent American human rights advocate, Arthur C. Helton. Both men were killed, along with several top aides to Mr. Vieira de Mello. Sounds like it was an inside job and he was the primary target. In New York, a United Nations official reacted skeptically to the assertions. "All of us are trying to get to the bottom of this," said Fred Eckhard, spokesman for the secretary general, Kofi Annan. "In fact, the secretary general is sending his security coordinator to Baghdad this evening to investigate the bombing. But the task is not made easier by the conspiracy theories circulating. We’ll have to separate as best we can fact from speculation." You don’t want the facts that you’re stupid revealed. No one connected to the United Nations office in Baghdad, which was demolished in the bombing, could be reached for comment. The United Nations had a large presence in Iraq before the war, running the oil-for-food program and housing teams of weapons inspectors. And making a pretty penny from that program. The American official said investigators were trying to determine which, if any, of the guards failed to report to work the day of the attack. Even before the war, the government of Saddam Hussein was widely known to assign intelligence agents to guard and guide foreigners visiting or living in the country. Suspicions have focused on the guards rather than other local United Nations personnel because their links to Mr. Hussein’s security service were close. Under the former government, they had to report to the security service once a week on the activities of United Nations personnel, western officials said. Even so, United Nations administrators retained the guards after Mr. Hussein’s government was removed. American officials said earlier this week that the administrators had also turned down an American offer to provide greater security around the building. Hope we have that in writing, I sure would have. The American official also questioned the wisdom of United Nations officials who ordered the construction of a cement wall around the compound. In some places, he pointed out, the wall was just 12 feet from the building. Oh ho, so it was a U.N. wall, TV news had been saying the US was building it. I thought it was a little too close. Tensions have repeatedly flared between the United States and the United Nations over Iraq. The United Nations has been confined to a marginal role in Iraq since the war, and had sought to project a sympathetic and approachable image to the Iraqi people, partly by shunning the heavy protection surrounding American troops and installations here. "We’re the U.N., everybody loves us!" |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 This is the UN, not the US. They respect everyone until they're people get shunned or killed. Reminds me like a 4-year-old crying for attention. " Love Me " " Do what I want to do " " I don't want to do that " And so on. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-8-22 4:39:36 PM |
| #6 You would expect some pretty naive actions by NGO's, but I'm not sure that continuing to use Sadaam approved security during a guerilla war with his forces qualifies as anything other than stupid. You would think that the UN - an institution that funnels about 90% of all donations into administrative costs - would be a little more hip to the dangers of criminal activity. |
| Posted by: Steve D 2003-8-22 3:39:43 PM |
| #5 Sounds like it was an inside job and he was the primary target. Wonder if Mello was looking into the oil-for-food deal? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2003-8-22 2:55:41 PM |
| #4 tu3031, last Sunday there was an article in the Houston Chronicle by John S. Burnett, who is writing a book about relief workers in dangerous places. While researching his book, he went to Baghdad and hung out with the UN people. He used to be with the World Food Program, and seems to have lost his journalistic objectivity in transit somewhere. He says It was bound to happen. Those of us who spent time in the UN compound in Baghdad predicted it would happen and nervously joked that it was just a matter of time. It was such a soft target... Our only solace was the thought: Who would want to hurt the UN? So, YES, they are that deluded. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-8-22 2:06:04 PM |
| #3 So a wall to protect the UN is ok but one to protect the Joooooos is not? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-8-22 11:09:33 AM |
| #2 Is the UN really so deluded by it's noble self image that they think everybody loves them? That was some rude awakening Tuesday, wasn't it? Learn the lesson, idiots! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-8-22 9:44:07 AM |
| #1 And the chef-du-mission, M. Vieira de Mello, is unavailable for comment, being as he's dead. |
| Posted by: seafarious 2003-8-22 9:27:50 AM |