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| Kofi’s Pandora |
| 2004-03-31 |
| What other goodies is Annan locking away in UN file cabinets? by Judi McLeod Why is the "black box" flight data recorder from a downed 1994 aircraft, sent from Rwanda, in a UN file cabinet? Even though online publication giants like the Drudge Report covered the black box story, why is it that the jarring discovery was barely mentioned by major mainline print media? Why is it that no one is joining the dots between the discovery of the black box and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s refusal to send badly needed troops to Rwanda at the request of former Canadian General Romeo Daillaire? The recorder, unearthed from a locked UN file cabinet, is believed to be the one from the fatal 1994 plane crash that killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi. The crash led to large-scale African massacres, which the UN estimated, killed more than 600,000 people. Suspicion pointed to Rwanda’s current president, Paul Kagame, who was said to have ordered the plane shot down. Proof against Kagame was never found. On discovery of the black box some 10 years later, smooth-talking Kofi Annan registered surprise: "It sounds like a foul-up, a first-class foul-up," he admitted to reporters. Why was the finger of blame pointed at Kagame? It was Kagame who had been leading the rebellion against the Rwandan government of the day, By mid-1994, the governments of both Rwanda and neighbouring Burundi were overthrown, despite zealous efforts by the French and Belgian militaries to defuse coming insurrections. It took the accusation of the French attorney-general, who charged the UN of obstructing his investigation into the 1994 crash by hiding the flight recorder, to get at the truth. "There is no black box, I don’t know what you’re talking about," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters, reinforcing his comments with the pretext of peeking under his desk. Within days Eckhard was backtracking and was now admitting that a black box had indeed been found. No further information would be provided he said, until the data was analyzed. By this time, Stanislas Kamanzi, Rwanda’s UN ambassador was wondering aloud whether some sort of cover-up was involved. "The whole thing smells fishy," he told CNN. The bureaucratic ways of the world’s largest bureaucracy clouds the timeline of the missing recorder. No one, and least of all Kofi, can really say why it was never sent out for analysis. That’s only UN bungle Number One. Wouldn’t you just know it? Denis Beissel, the UN official who admits taking receipt of the recorder, is now retired. Beissel whose career is marked by controversy departed in 2003 after a highly publicized clash with the UN Staff Union. Charged with attempts to bust the employee group and suppress criticisms of the UN’s executive management, he headed off into the sunset. In 1994, when the plane went down, the department of peacekeeping affairs–including the responsibility for the investigation into the crash--was headed by then undersecretary-general Kofi Annan. Annan got it right when he called the black box affair a "first-class foul-up". It’s a foul-up that leads all the way to his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Dec. 10, 2001. The UN has failed Rwanda in the tragedy of some 600,000 deaths, many of them children hacked to death by machete. According to Candians.ca, the ABC of famous Canadians, "General Romeo Daillaire did everything he could pleading for 2,000 more peacekeepers to add to his insufficiently equipped 3,000 main force. Instead his forces were cut down from 3,000 to a mere 500 men, who had to watch as one of the most horrible genocides in human history took place before their very eyes." When Annan was trotted out by Canadian Parliament earlier this month, the diplomat heaped praise on Daillaire for his dedication to Rwanda. Kofi and Company will likely remain mum on how the black box ever got to be locked into a file cabinet. Perhaps the French attorney-general and Stanislas Kamanzi can look to the British for information. Two weeks ago, Annan discovered that British intelligence (M16) may have planted listening devices in his office. No word if there were any bugs planted in the new, bulletproof BMW issued to the secretary-general last November. Meanwhile, you don’t need black helicopters to hide black box flight recorders in a locked file cabinet in the UN Peacekeeping Department. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 Jews lied to President Bush about WMD and now they say that he lied. BTW, Rantburg is a Zionist propaganda BBS that censors truth while Americans die in Iraq on basis of Jewish lies. |
| Posted by: Patrick TROLL 2004-03-31 7:09:12 AM |
| #5 Anan has been irrelevant ever since (or even before) he declared, "Iraq too dangerous for the UN." His recent admission of failing Rwanda was much more than a day late and a dollar short. He and his pop-gun army ceased to be of use long ago. Those who give him any credibility deserve every bit of the protection his military powerhouse can provide. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-04-03 1:56:13 AM |
| #4 Reading the article, it doesn't say it wasn't from the Rwanda plane. It does make the point that there wouldn't be anything on it to say who was responsible for the shootdown. It seems to have been received from UNAMIR, which would indicate it was of some potential importance to the investigation. The fact that there was nothing on it of substance doesn't mean that Kofi -- or whomever -- wasn't afraid there was something on it of substance. |
| Posted by: Fred 2004-03-31 2:31:43 PM |
| #3 It's just too bad that black box was apparently NOT the black box from Rwanda. The entire premise of this article has turned out to be false... and two weeks ago, at that. |
| Posted by: Symblized 2004-03-31 11:12:06 AM |
| #2 People have pointed at Kagame but the fact is that the genocide was in full force just a few hours after the crash. How is that the Hutus organized so fast? It would be difficult in a First World country where everyone has a phone and radio or TV to have a) one or more leaders getting the idea, b) them getting access to the media c) people "heating" d) people getting weapons and beginning the dirty work And this was Rwanda were phones are rare and many people didn't have electricity, let alone radios. However in less than four hours (it could have been two hours, not sure) there were nationwide massacres. |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-03-31 6:56:08 AM |
| #1 This is truly a fantastic article. I just hope somehow this kind of exposure will keep on keeping on. We just can't let this kind of reporting be read and forgotten. Coffee needs to get his dues, and the sooner the better. I really would like to see the US recind it's membership in the UN and expell that body from our shore. A US led organization made up of real countries would bury those maggots in short order. I'm pissed. Chine |
| Posted by: Chiner 2004-03-31 2:34:17 AM |