UN official's ties to Kerry campaign

Yet another of the hurdles in the way of UN reform is the apparently close connection between top American staff of the UN Secretariat and other key UN agencies, such as the United Nations Development Program, and the US Democratic Party. The NY Sun reports, here (thanks BOTW), on the complaint filed by senior UNDP staff about Justin Leites, the agency's internal communications chief, who took a leave of absence to work on the Kerry campaign. The complaint says that such partisanship puts UNDP staff at risk from terrorists and hostage-takers, and moreover compromises the appearance of agency impartiality in weak or failed states, where development is closely linked to improvements in governance.

(Of course, it is not as if Secretary General Annan didn't do what he could, in exquisitely timed press conferences and other meetings condemning the Iraq war as illegal, to push American voters toward Kerry.)