{"id":288737,"date":"2017-01-05T13:33:58","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T12:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/requiem-for-a-un-yes-man\/"},"modified":"2017-01-05T13:33:58","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T12:33:58","slug":"requiem-for-a-un-yes-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/requiem-for-a-un-yes-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Requiem for a UN \u2018Yes Man\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Even as much of the world bridled at the U.S. pretensions of \u201cunipolar\u201d power, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon toed Washington\u2019s line and further undercut the U.N.\u2019s supposed evenhandedness, writes Joe Lauria.<\/p>\n<p>By Joe Lauria<\/p>\n<p>After ten years of almost total obedience to Washington, Ban Ki-moon stepped down Sunday as United Nations Secretary-General, leaving behind a sorry legacy that has undermined the U.N.\u2019s legitimacy, which rests on its real and perceived neutrality in overseeing world affairs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21009\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/692864.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/lazy-load\/images\/1x1.trans.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/692864-300x200.jpg\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-21009\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/692864-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/692864-160x107.jpg 160w, https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/692864.jpg 405w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-21009\" src=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/692864-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/692864-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/692864-160x107.jpg 160w, https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/692864.jpg 405w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivers remarks during the special Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) segment. Sept. 20, 2016 (UN Photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The U.N.\u2019s second secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold defined the job\u2019s role as a diplomat who has the ability and courage to navigate a course independent of the major powers and in defense of the world\u2019s population.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe right of the Secretariat to full independence, as laid down in the Charter, is an inalienable right,\u201d Hammarskjold said shortly after his election in 1953. The U.N.\u2019s purpose, he said, was not to submit to the major powers but to seek\u00a0\u201csolutions which approach the common interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite his elite background, his defense of the \u201ccommon interest\u201d distinguished Hammarskjold and alarmed many of the world\u2019s elites who wanted a more pliable secretary-general who would reliably take their side, especially in management of the Third World. After only one year in office, he condemned the U.S.-led coup in Guatemala that overthrew a democratically elected president. No secretary-general since has publicly criticized a CIA covert operation.<\/p>\n<p>Hammarskjold\u2019s\u00a0championing of the common interest of Africans and other colonized people put him at odds with the white rulers of apartheid South Africa as well as colonial Britain and the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe discretion and impartiality required of the Secretary-General may not degenerate into a policy of expedience,\u201d Hammarskjold responded.<\/p>\n<p>When he also angered the Soviet Union, which demanded his resignation, he responded: \u201cIt is very easy to resign. It is not so easy to stay on. It is very easy to bow to the wishes of a Big Power&#8230;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/2017\/01\/03\/requiem-for-a-un-yes-man\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even as much of the world bridled at the U.S. pretensions of \u201cunipolar\u201d power, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon toed Washington\u2019s line and further undercut the U.N.\u2019s supposed evenhandedness, writes Joe Lauria. By Joe Lauria After ten years of almost total obedience to Washington, Ban Ki-moon stepped down Sunday as United Nations Secretary-General, leaving behind [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2524,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-288737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2524"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}