tBlog - KramerBlog

You can find the two documents thus far put out by the UN here and here. The Diplomad wants to underline that these documents appear on the UN's official web site; they are what the UN wants you to know; they comprise the official UN party line; they are not interpretations by journalists or bloggers.

Let's go to the second document first. This is what the UN is handing out in New York and elsewhere as their UN assistance fact sheet,

OCHA Fact sheet on UN response in First Month after Indian Ocean Tsunami

This was largest earthquake in the world in 40 years. 12 countries separated by thousands of miles of ocean were affected.

More than 20 foreign militaries have lent their aircraft, naval vessels, search and rescue teams, logistical support, air traffic and ground handling crews, etc to the effort.

Donors have been extremely generous of the $977 million we seek, $775 million has been pledged --- Some $200 million is already in the bank. There has been unprecedented level of contributions from private sector and world public. Private contributions total $188 million.

A massive logistical operation has been established through the good work of the UN Joint Logistics Center-- It includes an airbridge that brings in supplies from around the world. In Indonesia alone, the UN and IOM have a fleet of 300 trucks. The UN also has 11 helicopters and 3 huge cargo ships operational in Sumatra.

In the first 31 days, every major community has received some sort of aid. The humanitarian situation has stabilized everywhere except pockets in Indonesia and Somalia.

No major outbreaks of communicable diseases have occurred.

Across the region: The World Food Programme is already reaching more than 1.2 million people with food out of a target population of 2 million.

More than 500,000 people are being provided with clean water. Students are going back to school; 60,000 started back to classes in Sumatra today. Hundreds of thousands more will return in February.

Sri Lanka: A WHO strategy targeting one million people is underway. More than 700,000 people are being fed (100% of target population). School supplies for 200,000 students have been delivered.

Indonesia: Shelter has been provided for more than 250,000 people. Malaria control program for 200,000 people. Five UN coordination offices have been established Aceh. 100 UN staff on the ground. Food aid now reaching 330,000, will soon reach 500,000.

Somalia: UNICEF is reaching 15,000 people with basic supplies. More than 20,000 people receiving food. Clean water has been brought to 1250 households.

We will focus on Indonesia, The country most affected by the quake and tsunami and the one where we were working, saw the UN up close and personal, and know best. The press release is deceptive and misleading. Its author has a future in advertising, or working for the next John Kerry campaign.

So, "20 foreign militaries lent" their assets, eh? Lent? To whom? Not to the UN, that's for sure. For at least three of the past four weeks, the UN had nothing to do with the operations of the "20 foreign militaries." The UN certainly was not directing the Aussies, who were the first ones in; they blazed the path for the rest and thousands of people owe them their lives. They weren't running the assets of the Kiwis or the Singaporeans, either, and they sure weren't running ours. Up until just a few days ago, those "20" foreign militaries were Aussies, Singaporeans, Kiwis (who've gotten little credit for the fine work they've done), and Yanks with a modest but appreciated assist as of about 10-12 days ago of the Spanish and the Pakistani militaries. The coordinating was being done by the Australians, the USA and the Indonesian military. Up until just about four or five days ago, except for the disaster tourists such as Annan and Bellamy, the UN WAS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN -- except quite overwhelmingly in Jakarta's luxury hotels, a few UNocrats in Medan, and a tiny handful at the airport in Aceh writing up press releases claiming all the credit for the UN and bad-mouthing the hard-working Aussies and Americans.

The puffery about the UN Joint Logistics Centre is just that puffery. The UNJLC, as of today, is still not completely functional in Indonesia. To be fair, they seem to have brought in some good people (some not so good) who should do a credible job coordinating the much-reduced relief activity anticipated in the days ahead as US, Australian, and New Zealand forces depart. It is not clear, however, that the Indonesian military couldn't do it alone, but, international donor politics demand a UN stamp.

And the 300 trucks? Notice how the UN press release rolls together IOM and UN. It would be akin to stating, "Between them the United States and Mexico have 12 aircraft carrier battlegroups." Technically true, but . . . The overwhelming majority of those trucks are IOM's -- arranged and paid for by USAID. The Indonesian Minister of Defense noted, January 16, "The U.S. Military [in Aceh] has been the backbone of the logistical operations providing assistance to all afflicted after the disaster. We'd like to pay tribute to the soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen of the U.S. Forces deployed in Aceh throughout the relief effort." He didn't say the UN.

The press release is vague about who provided shelter and malaria control. For good reason: the UN has done VERY little of that. USAID and the USN have done the majority of it. Same with the claim about reaching hundreds-of-thousands of people with food aid. The UN didn't do that; the Aussies and we did that. It was US, Australian, and New Zealand C-130s, and US boats (both USN and leased by USAID) that moved the food to Aceh and Medan. It was USN and USMC helos and LCACs that moved it out to the affected areas. The UN-leased helos -- paid for largely by the Japanese -- have only just begun to operate.

Let's take a quick look at the other UN document: the UN's rendition of Egeland's January 26 NY press conference. Excerpts follow,

PRESS BRIEFING ON TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORT

Jan Egeland said today at Headquarters that the humanitarian response had been remarkably, perhaps singularly, effective, swift and muscular. Mr. Egeland said that the emergency-life-saving phase to save the survivors and avoid a second wave of death, destruction and disease had succeeded in just one month. Normally, such a phase took three or more months, but in this case, and despite monumental obstacles - no roads, few airstrips, no ports and torrential rains - the second death wave had been avoided

Credit was due, first and foremost, to the local communities and national governments, whose responses had been uniquely effective, he said. Secondly, there had been an enormously effective international relief effort by the United Nations, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, and hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Thirdly, a bigger and more effective partnership than ever with military forces had emerged, involving 20 foreign militaries and the national militaries of all of the affected nations, bolstering the effort with aircraft, helicopters, naval vessels, search-and-rescue teams, logistical support, air-traffic and handling crews, and so forth.

Donors' response had been unprecedented and generous, he said, drawing attention to the $775 million in firm pledges to the flash appeal for $977 million. Some $200 million had been received, and another $250 million was "in the mail". Another major achievement had been in the area of logistics. Huge bottlenecks had been foreseen, but most had been solved early on through the identification of alternate routes, airports and transport means. The joint logistical services of the United Nations and its coordination mechanisms had largely worked to his satisfaction.

The number of people already receiving food was 1.2 million, and that was likely to increase to perhaps 2 million at the peak, he said. More than 500,000 people had already been provided with clean water. Students were increasingly returning to school; today, 60,000 started school in Aceh and Sumatra

He appreciated Oxfam for calling on countries that had pledged money to "pay up". Some, like Japan, had been outstanding -- it had pledged, committed and disbursed and transferred $229 million within days. Altogether, $450 million had either been received or was on its way, and that was very impressive, he added. He now had a total pledge from the United States of $39 million, all of which had been received; the World Food Programme had received $28 million from that country. Japan was in a class of its own, but other large donors included Norway, Sweden, the European Commission and Germany. [H]e said that, if things had gone slower, if it had been "business as usual", there would have been a higher casualty figure. Against all odds and expectations, some assistance had reached even the most remote places.

Again, the dishonesty is breathtaking.

When it's convenient, Egeland rolls in work done by non-UN actors and makes it seem like the UN has done it, e.g., USAID "cash-for-work" programs have cleared the rubble away and made school re-openings possible -- the UN didn't do that!

Yet when talking about pledges, he mentions only money pledged or given the UN! He attempts to minimize the role of the USA -- by far the biggest contributor to the relief effort. He praises Japan for being in a class by itself. Why? The Japanese have given the UN $229 million. The US is giving only a relatively small portion of its tsunami relief moneys to the UN, so it doesn't count -- quite aside from the fact that even prior to the tsunami the USA was providing about 40% of the WFP and UNHCR budgets. Notice how he can not bring himself to mention AIRCRAFT carriers; they presumably get covered under "and so forth." To mention aircraft carriers would be to acknowledge that the USA is in a class by itself. Once again, we see the nonsense about the logistics operation and the overcoming of bottlenecks; the UN didn't do that. He makes absolutely NO mention of the superb work done by the Australians or the Kiwis. Why? Because they did it on their own or in coordination with the US. The countries praised are precisely those who have done the least in the real world to alleviate the tsunami caused suffering. Why? Because they believe in "business as usual" and give their money to the UN.

The Diplomad finds absolutely stunning the language about the response being "remarkably, perhaps singularly, effective, swift and muscular" and that it "had succeeded in just one month. Normally, such a phase took three or more months . . ." Why was it so quick and effective? Thanks to President Bush who quickly threw together a "core group" of nations that responded right away, without waiting for the UN. Precisely the group that Clare Short and her ilk so criticized for undermining the UN.

Pathetic.

In nightly sermons broadcast on the Internet, Sheik Omar Bakri Muhammad, a 46-year-old Syrian-born cleric, has urged young Muslim men all over the world to support the Iraq insurgency on the front line of "the global jihad," investigators say.

He struck a similarly defiant tone this month at a rally attended by 500 people at a central London meeting hall, where a giant screen behind him showed images of the World Trade Center falling. "Allah akbar!" - "God is great" - some audience members shouted at the images.

After eavesdropping for months on his nightly praise of the Sept. 11 hijackers and of suicide bombings, Scotland Yard said last week that it was investigating Sheik Omar, the leader of Al Muhajiroun, Britain's largest Muslim group, and officials are exploring whether they can deport him. "We're fed up with him," said a senior British official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He needs to be stopped, or he needs to go."

The more aggressive approach toward Sheik Omar is part of an increasing effort to monitor and restrict militant imams in Britain and across Europe. Authorities have stepped up surveillance of militant mosques in several countries, including Germany and France. French officials deported an imam this month after officials said he was inspiring men to join the jihad.

One major concern, officials say, is that more heated religious rhetoric is encouraging young men to leave home to fight in Iraq.

Although the dimensions of the recruitment effort from Europe to Iraq are not clear, there are indications that it is intensifying.

On Sunday, the German police arrested a man suspected of being a member of Al Qaeda and charged him with recruiting men to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq. These arrests were part of an ongoing investigation in cooperation with the United States of recruitment and other terrorist activities in Europe. A senior German official said he was certain there would be additional arrests of militants inside the country who have set up sophisticated recruitment and smuggling networks that lead to Iraq.

Italian investigators say several recruits from Italy carried out bombing attacks in Baghdad. Swiss officials say they are concerned that several militant clerics have openly urged men to become terrorists. And in Jordan, senior officials say they have recently arrested several dozen men who intended to cross the Iraqi border to serve as foreign fighters.

Bohre Eddine Benvahia, the 33-year-old imam recently deported by France to Algeria, had urged young men in a working-class neighborhood of L'Ariane, outside Nice, to join jihad, French intelligence officials said.

Sheik Omar did not return repeated phone calls over the past several days. Last week, he denied in several interviews that he had urged people to become foreign fighters in Iraq, saying his comments had been taken out of context.

"I believe Muslims are obliged to support their Muslim brothers abroad - verbally, financially, politically," he told The Associated Press. "I never said, 'Go abroad.' But if people want to go abroad, it's a very good thing to do. But we never recruit people to go abroad."

News of the central London rally, which was first reported by United Press International, and portions of Sheik Omar's nightly Internet sermons, have alarmed senior British officials. In one sermon last week, Sheik Omar called Al Qaeda "the victorious group" that he said Muslims were "obliged" to join.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke has asked officials to investigate whether they can help relocate Sheik Omar to Syria or Lebanon.

Like their counterparts in Britain, counterterrorism officials in Germany say they have seen indications of an increase in attempts by groups there to recruit young fighters to travel to Iraq to fight. Some men in recent weeks have planned to go to Iraq to carry out suicide bombing missions, the officials said.

In the arrest on Sunday, prosecutors said a man they identified as Ibrahim Mohamed K., a 29-year-old Iraqi from Mainz, Germany, had persuaded a 31-year-old man, Yasser Abu S., to go to Iraq on a suicide bombing mission.

Prosecutors said Yasser Abu S. intended to fake his death in a car accident in Egypt and use the life insurance proceeds to pay for Qaeda activities in Germany and travel expenses to Iraq, where he planned to carry out a suicide bombing. The surnames of suspects in criminal cases are not disclosed in Germany.

"Stopping recruitment for Iraq where they may do harm to U.S. troops is our highest priority, and the Germans and other European governments are cooperating," a senior American counterterrorism official based in Europe said in an interview with The New York Times and the PBS program "Frontline." He said a would-be suicide bomber intending to travel to Baghdad was arrested early last fall in Germany. German officials said they were worried that recruitment had intensified there in recent months.

Last October, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated that 1,000 "foreign fighters" had entered Iraq to join the insurgency, although American military officials in Iraq have acknowledged that they are unsure of the numbers of outside fighters.

In raids in several German cities on Jan. 12, the German police arrested 22 people suspected of being militant Muslims while recovering dozens of forged passports and boxes of militant propaganda. A senior German law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said many of the arrested men were members of Ansar al-Islam, recruiting young men to go to Iraq. "One of their projects was to recruit, but they also were smuggling people to Iraq," the official said. He declined to say how many people were estimated to have left Germany for Iraq.

Counterterrorism officials view some militant European mosques as a link in the Iraq recruiting chain, just as they came to see the importance of Al Quds mosque in Hamburg in the formation of the Qaeda cell led by Mohamed Atta, the leading hijacker in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Senior officials say that in addition to their concern about European fighters going to Iraq, they also fear that the Iraq war has increased the possibility that terrorists might single out European countries, particularly Britain and Italy, whose leaders have not wavered in supporting the war.

Officials say that in some countries, their efforts to control activities at mosques are hampered by laws that protect religious expression and restrict what they can do to stop hateful speech. British officials say that if they want to deport an imam who they fear is inciting violence, the proceedings can often take months or even years. Under Britain's Terrorism Act of 2000, prosecutors can charge clerics for using "threatening, abusive or insulting behavior" to incite racial hatred.

In Britain, where 1.8 million Muslims live, elected officials are demanding that the police move quickly against several imams who they say have become far more vocal in recent weeks.

Sheik Omar, who was lived here since 1985 after he was deported from Saudi Arabia, warned that Britain must scale back its antiterrorism laws or it would face a "horrendous" response from angry Muslims. "I declare we should ourselves join the global Islamic camp against the global crusade camp," he said.

It is not just imams who have become outspoken in exhorting young men to become jihadists. At the rally sponsored by Sheik Omar, a young speaker named Abu Yahya Abderahman said: "We are at war. It's time for brothers, sisters and children to prepare. Prepare as much as you can, whether they are sticks or stones or bombs. Prepare as much as you can to defeat them, to terrorize them."

In the months after Sept. 11, diplomatic pressure built for Britain to move against outspoken imams. But it was not until last May that British officials arrested the most high-profile militant cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri of the Finsbury Park mosque in north London. He was charged with soliciting or encouraging others to murder people who did not believe in the Islamic faith.

Mr. Masri also faces extradition to the United States, where he is charged with 11 terrorist counts, including trying to establish a terrorist training camp in Oregon. The Finsbury Park mosque was attended by Zacarias Moussaoui, now facing Sept. 11 terrorist charges in the United States, and Richard C. Reid, the so-called shoe bomber.

Now leading the mosque is another militant Muslim, Abu Abdullah, who said in an interview, "People see us as extremists because we don't compromise the religion of Allah."

Last month, the United Nations placed sanctions against Saad Fagih, a Saudi dissident living in London who is the leader of the Movement of Islamic Reform in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Fagih adamantly denies that he has any ties to Al Qaeda, but British officials say they are concerned about his activities, too.

Don Van Natta Jr. reported from London for this article, and Lowell Bergman from Europe. Souad Mekhennet contributed reporting from Frankfurt.