Not surprisingly, our previous post about Roger L. Simon's hyper-focus on the Oil-for-Food controversy elicited a strong response from the UN's blog critics.
And not unexpectedly, the responses were largely dismissive, derisive, and betrayed a shallow reading of the original post.
Michelle Malkin, Captain Ed, Redstate, Glenn Reynolds, Hugh Hewitt, Pejman Yousefzadeh, and a number of others have weighed in. Here are the main lines of argument, with comments:
1. UN Dispatch is the UN's blog, and the post in question represents the UN's displeasure with Roger Simon.
False. Here's a brief quote from the 'About' section of this blog: "UN Dispatch is sponsored by the United Nations Foundation, though the views expressed herein do not represent the official views of the United Nations Foundation, or the UN."
2. UN Dispatch does nothing to refute Simon's contentions about Oil-for-Food and simply takes issue with his topic selection.
A non-argument. The post is clearly about an examination of why Simon is fixated on the subject, not what he says about it. A March 3rd entry on UN Dispatch quotes Mark Malloch Brown, chief of staff to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on Oil-for-Food: "There was wrongdoing at the UN, an organization which must live by the highest ethical standards, and we've got to correct it and root it out."
3. Simon has the right to blog about anything he pleases, whether or not the UN likes it.
Again, this isn't in contention. The point is not to deny Simon the right to post, but to examine his rationale for focusing on a single issue, however significant, to the exclusion of other issues of equal - if not greater - impact. The question seems reasonable considering that most issue-oriented bloggers such as Brad DeLong, Volokh, Juan Cole, etc. have an area of specialization that dovetails naturally with their blogging. In Simon's case, it seemed like a fair question to ask why this particular topic is of signal importance to him.
Finally, an unfortunate reaction from some bloggers is their willingness to simply shrug off the examples of UN-related issues listed in the original post. It's clear that many of these bloggers have become accustomed to knee-jerk attacks and are unwilling (or unable) to engage in a reasoned debate.
For the record, we'll re-post the issues we think warrant attention and let readers decide:
Tackling the threat of transnational organized crime
Shipping supplies to millions of Iraqi schoolchildren
Controlling the Marburg virus
Building thousands of homes for tsunami victims
Partnering with the private sector to meet humanitarian needs
Reducing child mortality rates
Rehabilitating Iraq's marshlands
Eradicating polio
Rebuilding lives in Afghanistan
Fighting the global malaria epidemic
Curbing the world's most hazardous pollutants
Improving global disaster and emergency response
Building a sustainable future
20% of Roger L. Simon's blog entries during the month of April make reference to the Oil-for-Food controversy.
0% of Roger L. Simon's blog entries during April make reference to the following UN-related issues:
Tackling the threat of transnational organized crime
Shipping supplies to millions of Iraqi schoolchildren
Controlling the Marburg virus
Building thousands of homes for tsunami victims
Partnering with the private sector to meet humanitarian needs
Reducing child mortality rates
Rehabilitating Iraq's marshlands
Eradicating polio
Rebuilding lives in Afghanistan
Fighting the global malaria epidemic
Curbing the world's most hazardous pollutants
Improving global disaster and emergency response
Building a sustainable future
________
Is Simon's hyper-focus on a single UN-related issue based on deep convictions? Unbending principles? Moral outrage? Maybe. Then again, there's his explanation:
"Thanks to the Secretary General of the United Nations for providing this blog with its first 50,000+ visitor day." - Roger L. Simon
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Coalition for Darfur: "From the UN News Center: "The African Union's (AU) "groundbreaking" mission in Sudan is effective where deployed and needs strengthening to enable it to expand its presence to cover more of the vast and difficult terrain in Darfur."
Simply Appalling: "The International Leadership Institute (ILI), a part of the United Nations University, has issued a report finding that 84% of Iraqi institutes of higher learning have been destroyed and 48 professors assassinated."
Think Progress: "[Bill] O'Reilly turned his crosshairs on Angelina Jolie, who since August 2001 has been the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees."
Washington Note: "The real achievement of those who have worked hard to oppose John Bolton's nomination on the grounds that we should be sending someone with impeccable credentials, someone with a brilliant vision of an effective and reformed United Nations, and someone that Americans can feel instantly proud of is that John Bolton is now part of pop-culture."
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
Mayors from around the globe to mark Environment Day with urban 'green' accords
UNICEF alarmed by cholera outbreak in Sao Tome, UNICEF rushes in medical supplies
Six million doses of vaccine shipped to Yemen for emergency polio outbreak response
UN sustainable development symposium opens in Nanchang
Court Favors U.N. on Oil-For-Food Papers
TRANSCRIPT
Chris DeBello: The news and talk shows have made it a hobby of debating and criticizing the UN. If you watch those debates you come away thinking that all the UN does is international diplomacy, politics, and well, arguing. My guest is here to present the other side of the UN; there are countless within the UN as well as via organizations aligned w/ the UN that make a huge difference in our world. One of these organizations features a woman with, well some very local roots. To talk more about this and the UN Foundation is Franklin, NJ native, Aimee Wielechowski.
Amy: Good morning, how are you
CD: Very good to talk with you and tell the listeners exactly where you are that I am talking to you
Amy: I'm actually in Nairobi in Kenya right now, waiting to go north to Khartoum in Sudan where I'll be working for the next four to six weeks or so.
CD: And just to make it totally official I want to give your full title. You are the response Officer, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Internal Displacement Division. Home base is Geneva, that must be a very large business card you need for a title like that.
Amy: Indeed, yes I work through OCHA, we're called, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs which is part of the UN secretariat, yes, and part of a relatively new division called the Internal Displacement Division which really tries to look at how we can solve the problems faced by the millions of people who are displaced from their homes by war or natural disaster but who haven't crossed the border so they're not refugees so there's no body of law to assist them except their own national bodies of law, so we're working with national governments and other humanitarian agencies to try and find ways to help millions of people who are displaced by conflict and natural disasters.
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Democracy Arsenal: "Top 10 Things the UN Does Well - The approach of D-Day on John Bolton makes this as good a time as any to remind ourselves why the UN matters and some of the ways that we count on it. As you know, I am guest-blogging this week on Dan Drezner. Check out that site for some items that ought to be on the UN's list of strengths, but aren't, and for my best assessment of who and what is to blame."
Chrenkoff: "Good news from Iraq, part 27 - Speaking of urban renewal, "The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), together with the Iraqi Ministry of Municipality and Public Works and the Construction and Housing Ministry, is holding a two-day round-table meeting beginning tomorrow in Amman, Jordan, on a "Slum Upgrading Strategy for Iraq."
Huffington Post [Rep. Ed Markey]: "Today, I will join Hans Blix at the United Nations for a discussion on the need to balance disarmament and non-proliferation. The real "nuclear option" that threatens our national security is not the one being debated in the Senate - this nuclear option will end in a devastating plume of smoke over our cities."
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Jolie urges aid for Afghans in Afghanistan and Pakistan
UN electoral team starts work in Lebanon for 29 May vote
Sudan: UN Food Agency Opens New Libya Root to Deliver Food to Darfur
UN sets up farming schools for Aids orphans
UN to co-host regional conference on development for rural women in South Asia
Recycling program provides tsunami survivors lifeline
Over 50,000 former Afghan soldiers have disarmed, UN reports
"A U.N. engineer from Myanmar was among three people killed when a suicide attacker walked into a Kabul Internet cafe and blew himself up, officials said Sunday, in the first fatal attack on a U.N. staffer in the capital since the fall of the Taliban in 2001." Full Story
"An exhibition of 19 sculptures by Tony Price (1937-2000), created from nuclear weapons salvage, will be on display at the United Nations through June 9th in the South Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors' Lobby." LINK