Taking Flak, Dodging Bullets

In yesterday's UN press briefing, the newshounds were baying about the lastest oil-for-food news bait: An alleged, and previously unreported, meeting between Kofi and Cotecna boss Michael Wilson.

Just for fun, I'll give you a sampling of the spokesperson's answers only:

I have no idea....

I don’t know, I would have to take a look. ... I can ask for you.

No, I am not.

I don’t know.

No, no, don’t twist this around, okay?

I don’t know.

I have no idea. I have no idea.

Now, let’s see what Mr. Volcker’s judgement is before we speculate about what happens next.

I doubt it would have been shredded, but I can look into that for you, yes.

I did not specifically ask that question. I can do so ...

I’d have to look into that. I’m not sure.

You’ll have to ask Mr. Volcker that.

Okay, I will ask that.

Hypothetically, yes.

No, I cannot.

We’ll have to dig into the historical record and see what’s there. I myself don’t know.

I have no idea. That’s up to Mr. Volcker.

I’ll have to ask. I frankly don’t know.

I’ll see. I’m not hopeful.

That’s really up to Mr. Volcker to decide.

I consider that an absurd question, and the answer if you need it is no, of course, he did not.

I just find that somehow questions in this briefing get twisted in a way to attack the Secretary-General, rather than to put on the record reasonable bits of information. Of course, it’s our position that the Secretary-General did not lie. It’s our consistent position throughout.

There you have it, the answer to all your questions. (Mea culpa, the spokesperson did have some informative answers sprinkled in, but if this were a game between the "evasives" and the "informatives," it would have been a blow-out win for the e-team.) I'll check and get back to you, but I believe the "evasives" have an undefeated season going. But I don't know. I have no idea.