(UN Sec. General) Ban, Shaken by Baghdad Blast, Says Iraq Too Dangerous

[sabra]

Source: Bloomberg

March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq is too perilous now for greater United Nations participation in the country's reconstruction, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the day after being shaken in Baghdad by an explosion so close he felt the shock wave and ducked in fear.

``Iraq is still very dangerous,'' Ban told reporters today in Cairo. ``I do not think the security situation has sufficiently convinced me that the UN should do something at this time. But, basically as a matter of principle, I am of the view that the UN should do more.''

...

``The door of the prime minister's residence was wide open and I could see the wind and dust coming in,'' said Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister. ``It was the first time for me to experience something like that.''

...

Ban said the press conference incident yesterday wasn't the only ``scary'' moment of his unannounced visit to Baghdad. He said that during his helicopter flight to the Green Zone from Baghdad's airport one of the helicopters in the formation released flares as a decoy because some type of threat was detected.


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a65B8HtSlkEc&refer=home

[whistle]

1. And that was from friendly fire

[MadMaddie]

2. And that proves the point that Iraq is more dangerous than

ever despite the pleadings of the worst president in history.

[rodeodance]

3. 4 years and UN will not enter. !!

[BeHereNow]

4. No, No, No...Everything is fine...trust us and our lying leaders.

And just how will the network news spin this one?
BHN

[ninkasi]

5. Apparently, he was unfortunate enough

to be close to the one daily explosion that St. Laura, of the Holy Order of Xanax and Oblivion, says is the reason people don't realize how much progress is being made. That, and the painted schools, which students are too frightened to attend, and which end up getting destroyed during the one daily explosion. That one explosion sure can cause a lot of damage.

[Purveyor]

6. How odd. NYT headline: UN Chief Isn’t Discouraged by His Close Call in Iraq

CAIRO, March 23 — Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that a mortar shell that landed near him on Thursday in Baghdad had surprised and scared him but would not deter him from expanding the United Nations presence in Iraq.

---
“But my position hasn’t changed because of that incident,” Mr. Ban said. “I am going to consider on my return to New York what and how the United Nations could do more for Iraqi social and political development.”

---end of excerpt---

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/24/world/middleeast/24cairo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[leftchick]

7. not odd for the NYT at all

still the paper of propaganda.

[youngdem]

8. Just for comparison, the U.N. IS in Darfur.

So, Baghdad is WORSE than an ongoing genocide.