UN Expects US To Pay Up

From today's UN press briefing, Kofi Annan's spokesperson:

And a follow-up from yesterday’s briefing. We were asked for reaction about US Senate developments on peacekeeping funding. While we won’t have an official reaction on an ongoing legislative process, we would just like to say that the United Nations expects all Member States to pay their dues as they have agreed.

And we expect accountability. Call in the diplomats.

The Senate's action was big news at yesterday's press briefing, leading off the Q&A period, and quickly being silenced by the spokesperson:

Question: The United States Senate has voted to cut United Nations peacekeeping funds ... [inaudible]. Do you have a reaction to that?

Associate Spokesperson: I don’t have anything on that as of now. I think I saw that in the press reports, as well. I’ll look into that for you after the briefing. [She later told the correspondent that we would not have an official reaction while the legislative process is ongoing.]

So today's statement was not an "official reaction." Maybe they don't officially expect us to pay up. It's also fun to speculate on what that [inaudible] was.
"... the bastards."
"... as if you deserve it."
"... no more kiddy rapes, huh?"