UN: Hot on Lebanon Investigation

Update: Must-read on this subject at Double Toothpicks.

The following exchange took place at today's UN press briefing:

Question: On Lebanon, Fred. Yesterday [Kofi] said that, with regard to his report on the assassination of Hariri, he is expecting to produce something on that within the week. Do you know what exactly he was referring to?

Spokesman: Well, the Security Council has asked the Secretary-General to conduct an investigation. And he is looking now for a leader of that investigation. He wants to move quickly, because the evidence goes cold quickly. So, you might expect an announcement very soon. On the other hand, he wants a senior and a high-level person, and those people very often have commitments and it’s difficult to shake them loose from their current engagements.

But he’s doing his best to get a senior, responsible person to take on this assignment right away.

Let's see. The assassination was the 15th, and maybe by the 18th ... or possibly by the 25th or so, maybe later, Kofi will have named someone to investigate. With fanfare, the UN bureaucrat will fly to Beirut, pose for photo ops, dine with VIPs, take time away from investigators that are well ahead of him and have jurisdiction (which he doesn't), then fly home for a press conference and a report no one will read.

Gee, it's great to be an American, the UN's biggest financial supporter.