UN Humanitarian Aid Chief and What He Said

Jan Egeland is the United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, appointed in 2003 by Kofi Annan. Normally I pay these folks no mind as they are in charge of an organization that hosts thugs, authoritarian regimes, dictatorships and terrorists as part of their look at the World. Why the United States is still a *part* of this despicable organization that can do no right and castigates everyone else for the wrongs THEY do, while not cleaning their own house, is beyond me.

But when blatant and easy to check hypocrisy shows up, then it is really a trifling thing to do a quick search and find the necessary quotes. So here is Mr. Egeland in all of his grand poobahness [24 JUL 2006 By LAUREN FRAYER, Associated Press Writer][bolding mine throughout this piece]:

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N. humanitarian chief accused Hezbollah on Monday of "cowardly blending" in among Lebanese civilians and causing the deaths of hundreds during two weeks of cross-border violence with Israel.

The militant group has built bunkers and tunnels near the Israeli border to shelter weapons and fighters, and its members easily blend in among civilians.

Jan Egeland spoke to reporters at Larnaca airport in Cyprus late Monday after visiting Lebanon to coordinate an international aid effort. On Sunday, he toured the rubble of Beirut's southern suburbs, a once-teeming Shiite district where Hezbollah had its headquarters.

During that visit, he condemned the killing and wounding of civilians by both sides and called Israel's offensive "disproportionate" and "a violation of international humanitarian law."

...

"Consistently, from the Hezbollah heartland, my message was that Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children," he said. "I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men."

Everyone points to the LAST paragraph being cited and not to anything BEFORE that in the article. This is a self-fisking of this meme. But, just to be fair, perhaps he was vociferous BEFORE this and no one noticed [24 JUL 2006, Beirut, Washington Times]:

U.N. humanitarian aid coordinator Jan Egeland condemned the Israeli air strikes as "a violation of international law" after touring a neighborhood in southern Beirut that had been largely leveled by air strikes. He said about $100 million was needed immediately to provide relief to an estimated 600,000 displaced Lebanese.

"It's terrible. I see a lot of children wounded, homeless, suffering," said Mr. Egeland, who visited a Hezbollah-dominated slum that was once home to several thousand people. "This is a war where civilians pay a disproportionate price in Lebanon and northern Israel. I hadn't believed it would be block by block leveled to the ground."

Looks a bit different, no? Ok, same day, possibly the same meeting, just rendered differently and gives the same self-fisking... oh, also note that he is asking for $0.00 for rebuilding Israel. Such a fair and nice minded guy to REWARD the antagonists in this. And that IS the Hezbollah 'heartland' and it is a SLUM. But, perhaps another source has a different take on this [24 JUL 2006, Beirut, Skynews]:

The United Nation's humanitarian chief has strongly condemned Israel's continued aerial assault on Beirut.

Jan Egeland said Israel's targeting of a crowded neighbourhood in Beirut is a violation of humanitarian law.

His comments came as he toured the shattered Haret Hreik district where Hizbollah's headquarters were.

So, while in the Hezbollah 'heartland' Mr. Egeland bravely CRITICIZES ISRAEL! But he might have said different things on the same day after the very first quote was taken, no? Oh, but the first piece was a self-fisk... never mind.

Ok, lets dig just a bit more and see what he said at the OUTSET of this conflict [ 15 JUL 2006, Paris, France, NZ Herald]:

Egeland called Israeli targeting of civilian infrastructure a violation of international law and of common sense. "You are supposed to do something with the armed troops, you are not supposed to hurt the children and people who had nothing to do with all of this."

No, Mr. Egeland has been bravely and consistently citing ISRAEL as the problem here. That Nation was merely attacked and defending herself against thugs and terrorists. When said thugs and terrorists use civilians as human shields to decry the counter-attack upon them, then all of this sympathy pours out for the attackers and their heinous use of civilians for this very end. And yet, Mr. Egeland really has a problem with saying *that* and giving the least bit of sympathy to the VICTIMS of such wanton acts of senseless violence, that being the Israeli population targeted by Hezbollah.

The UN: Protector of Aggressors the World Over. Terrorists may use ALL the violence and killing they want, while Nations may use NONE to defend themselves.

Say, sounds like a suicide pact between Nations, doesn't it?

I suggest the United States simply crumple this bit of diplomatic detritus and just walk out of the UN and cut its funding completely. Send these jokers packing to some nice Nation that prefers National Suicide as a common form of diplomacy... France, say...

And let other Nations choose obscure means of self-destruction as they will.

We the People do NOT sign International Suicide Pacts.