February 25, 2010 4:15 AM
Opinion
Another UN party in Bali
Global environmental crises come and go, but fancy tropical vacations are
forever.
Or, at least, so it must be for the functionaries at the UN Environment
Program: It was barely two years ago that bureaucrats and celebrities alike
convened at a posh Bali beach resort to sip piña coladas and fret about global
warming.
This week, they were back -- the excuse this time being to encourage "the sound
management of hazardous and chemical wastes."
Obviously, to host such a confab in Nairobi, Kenya, where the UNEP is
headquartered -- or, God forbid, by videocon ference -- wouldn't convey nearly
the same sense of crisis.
As to the actual issue of toxic waste -- don't count on much getting done.
The conference bills itself as "an effort to further synergies" between three
separate regulatory bodies -- in other words, a bureaucracy of bureaucracies.
Plus, as UN watchdog Claudia Rosett's reporting on the UN Oil for Food scandal
made clear, nothing is as it seems when it comes to the world body's
self-seeking hangers-on.
Back then, it was grubbing kickbacks to help Saddam
Hussein launder some $20 billion in supposed humanitarian aid.
The Indonesian junkets are probably no more devious than the chance to enjoy
the beach at someone else's expense. But, with the UN, you never can tell for
sure.
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