U.N. Chief Admits He Removed Saudi Arabia From Child-Killer List Due to Extortion

[sugartitty]

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon publicly acknowledged Thursday that he removed the Saudi-led coalition currently bombing Yemen from a blacklist of child killers - 72 hours after it was published - due to a financial threat to defund United Nations programs.

The secretary-general didn’t name the source of the threat, but news reports have

Comments

[chaya]

This isn't what the child abuse tag normally has, but I think adding that tag would make sense.

[sugartitty]

ia and done.

[tabaqui]

For fuck's sake. I'm glad he publicly announced this but fuck SA and their bullshite. I wish the US would stop treating them like 'friends'.

[mimblexwimble]

The US treats numerous terrible countries like friends, and more than friends, so I doubt that'll ever happen...

[soleiltropiques]

IAC. What they're doing in Yemen is just horrible.

Canada's liberal government has also (rightly) come under fire recently for selling arms to Saudi Arabia, so it's not just the U.S., but I agree.

'Canadian government 'lied' over $12bn arms sale to Saudi Arabia': https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/canadian-government-lied-over-12bn-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia

[tabaqui]

Jayzus.
It's like we're deliberately setting fire to parts of the world and then pretending we don't have gasoline on our hands, and to what end? Violence and upheaval doesn't just 'stop' when we want it to stop, and we *are* a global community now - consequences and repercussions don't stop at imaginary borders we drew on a map (see-the drug war, see-refugees all over Europe and Africa, see-the effects of radiation from Chernobyl and Fukushima.....)

It's a wonder the human race has survived this long. If we don't start evolving our empathy, compassion and fucking common sense soon, we're not going to make it to Mars or the damn 22nd century.

[mimblexwimble]

I also had to consider the very real prospect that millions of other children would suffer grievously if, as was suggested to me, countries would defund many U.N. programs. Children already at risk in Palestine, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and so many other places would fall further into despair.

So, multiple countries threatened to defund?

[sugartitty]

I'm sure Saudi Arabia would have exerted pressure on other countries to defund, as well, if they didn't get what they wanted.

[soleiltropiques]

This is just horrible -what they're doing in Yemen is just horrible.

There is a tiny bit of good news though, as it appears that the U.S. government has decided to "'hold' further transfers of CBU-105 cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia".

I hope this lasts. (https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/06/06/cluster-munitions-tentative-step-toward-sanity)

[mimblexwimble]

And maybe someday we'll also stop manufacturing them.

[sugartitty]

I read that, too. It's a step forward, at least.

[lightframes]

It's sad, but I'll take any good news at this point. That's how low my standards are.

[eldvno]

“It is not in our style, it is not in our genes, it is not in our culture to use threats and intimidation,” he concluded.

D E A D ! ! !

That is EXACTLY your style, SA.