The mud
UN headquarters in New York has finally decided to increase security measures by erecting a two-metre high fence at the entrance of the building. You will be thinking that a fence two metres high is really nothing in the face of a terrorist attack. But in fact it is not so much that type of threat that is hanging over the UN right now. The threat that is undermining our headquarters is a weapon which is very difficult to fight against: slander.
Not one day, not even one hour, passes without local media launching an avalanche of accusations all more or less imaginary against the UN and against our Secretary-General. What is new is that certain of these media are even asking for his resignation. They stress that the true terrorist organization is the UN and that if a fence has been erected it is more to protect New York from the dangers of the UN than the other way around.
The principle of these attacks can be summarized by this famous sentence: « If you throw enough mud around, some of it will stick! » Such practices are very fashionable during election campaigns, but what is new is that it has become a new way of negotiating in international forums.
One thing is clear – it is not a person which is at stake, nor an administration, but the very existence of the Organization is being put into question. One of the most serious newspapers over there concluded one of its articles by saying: "A good international cooperation is better than a forced multilateralism » In other words we prefer to discuss face to face rather than participate in the UN which does not obey our orders [do what we tell it] and even, through its Secretary-General, criticizes us.
This is the time to close ranks. Shouting with the wolves only feeds the polemic and risks, in the very near future, destroying our Organization which, even though it may not be perfect, is our employer and the unique hope of billions of people throughout the world who do not have powerful media to defend their cause.