Comment du Jour

Christmas in New York !

While it's warm this year there still so much Christmas sprit in the City.


Let me wish my worldwide readers a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2016!!!!!

Comment du Jour

It's Christmas Time in the City!!


Mega Tourist Crush with Countdown to Christmas...

Commet du Jour

SS United States Saved from Scrapyard...

Historic Ocean liner saved for now...major donors come through at last minute. 
Over $600,000 was raised to save and repurpose the iconic trans-Atlantic liner. 

The SS United States is presently moored in Philadelphia just across from IKEA.   
Indeed for years friends and supporters of America's Flagship have been striving to save 
the ship from the scrapheap. 

We revisited the United States just last week in Philly.


Do visit SSUSC.org for information on keeping America's flagship afloat. 

Comment du Jour

Acts of Terror and Barbarism have hit Paris!

Again Paris cries and suffers from these forces of hate.

While the world rallies round France, when will we learn that
this war,  may be only at the beginning?

Solidarity with France!

Vive la FRANCE!

Comment du Jour

9 November 1989--Fall of the Berlin Wall!!!!

Today remnants of the infamous Wall in Berlin are eerie reminders of the 
former East German communist regime!!

The fall of the Wall led to German reunification in peace and freedom in October 1990.  

Comment du Jour

United Nations Day

24th October

1945-2015

70th Anniversary!!

Comment du Jour

Syrian Refugee Crisis a Challenge and Threat to Europe

The almost Biblical scenes of  mass humanity surging through Europe from the Balkans to the Baltic have created jarring images as we see a mass movement of displaced Syrians and Iraqis flooding into what they see as a Promised Land, the European Union.  Thus as civil conflicts rage between secular regimes and Islamic radicals, destroying ancient lands with contemporary barbarism, the human “collateral damage” is measured in both the dead and the displaced.  

While the UN General Assembly highlighted the refugee issue during the recent debate, 

few solutions emerged from the political platitudes which echoed in the cavernous hall.  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon conceded, “We face the biggest refugee and migration crisis since WWII.”

One reason for the widening Syrian crisis rests in an absence of credible American power; allowing for a power vacuum as the Obama Administration rhetorically eggs on resistance to Assad’s rule but then does pitifully little to seriously change the military balance between Assad’s authoritarian regime and what’s morphed into a far worse gaggle of Islamic opposition groups ranging from Al Nusra to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).  

As if to redress if not jolt the balance,  hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with  President Barack Obama at the UN, he then blindsided the U.S. by unleashing air attacks on Islamic State and Free Syrian Army targets in Syria.  Putin’s plans are both cynical and calculating; support the Assad regime, and military intervention to break the power and appeal of Islamic State, whose foreign fighters include the International Brigades of thousands of radicalized Russian Muslims as well as Europeans fighting the jihad in Syria today and perhaps at some point Russia tomorrow.   

After enduring the civil war for more than four years, and suffering over 250,000 killed so far, nearly half of Syria’s entire population is now either displaced internally or have become refugees in neighboring lands such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. 

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Turkey hosts half of the four million Syrian refugees.  

It’s from this tragic and seething refugee pool in Turkey where Syrians languish, and gain the false hopes of the migrants being stoked by smugglers who have turned peoples dreams into a vainglorious march to the EU starting first through Greece, then into the Balkans, until reaching the EU’s outer-frontier in Hungary.  

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban spoke bluntly to a UN meeting; “This is not a refugee crisis; this is a mass migration movement.”  He warned that with such large numbers of largely undocumented Syrians, Iraqis, and Afghans flooding into the EU, “Europe will be destabilized.” 

 Orban also alluded to many of the migrants being “victims of human trafficking.”

  

Speaking to correspondents, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijarto stated that the EU must “gain control of its border starting in Greece,” the point where many migrants pour in from Turkey.  Szijarto stated that last year, Hungary became a transit point for 41,000 migrants; this year until October the number as 275,000.  The numbers were nearly 8,000 daily, until a border fence nearly stopped the tide.

Given Hungary’s small population of 10 million versus the USA population being approximately 32 times larger,  these numbers would translate into 240,000 largely undocumented migrants  coming into the USA daily.  The hypothetical number for the year would be nearly 9 million!

While the majority of Syrians wish to settle in Germany or Sweden,  there’s a virtually limitless supply of people from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, who wish to get to Europe for political and economic reasons. Speaking separately Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel stated, “The huge number of refugees is a test of historic proportions.”  Germany has already accepted 721,000 refugees in the first nine months of 2015. 

Turkey’s government has offered a deal whereby the EU would pay large sums to improve the camps in Turkey so that the desire to flee into Europe will lessen.  As part of a wider EU effort, Turkey would strive to prevent further “irregular departures of refugees and migrants from Turkey to the EU; prevent losses of lives at sea by improved search and rescue operations, and to step up the fight against criminal networks involved in the smuggling of migrants.” 

This is a realistic and prudent fist step.  Ban Ki Moon called for managed migration; “We must create more safe and legal channels for refugees.”  Yet, he added forcefully, “We must join forces to eradicate ruthless criminal networks of human traffickers and smugglers.” 

Ban added, “Of course, the best solution for refugees is voluntarily returning home, in dignified and safe conditions.” If only peace would allow for this option.

Comment du Jour

                                                  German Unity Day!!!

                                                   25 Years Since Reunification!


                                                                  1990-2015

                          A piece of the Berlin Wall in the UN Rose Garden 

              

Comment du Jour

Pope Francis at the UN

Address to 70th General Assembly

The address covered a wide range of issues ranging from the Economy to Human Rights and

Global Peace.

The Argentine-born Pope was the fourth Pontiff to speak before the UN General Assembly; Paul VI in 1965, John Paul II in 1979 and 1995, and Benedict XVI in 2008.

  

After the UN address the Pope kept a busy schedule in New York City before going to Philadelphia.

Comment du Jour

UN 70th General Assembly Opens in New York

Dark war clouds swirl from the Middle East,  humanitarian crises worsen in Sub-Saharan Africa, and as refugees pour fourth into the developed world, the UN

General Assembly is set to open in New York.  

The 70th  General Assembly will see an unprecedented gathering of Presidents, Prime Ministers and Kings, as well as the Roman Catholic Pope, to a landmark session of the 193 member states. 

What many delegates had hoped would be a celebratory Assembly commemorating the 70th  anniversary of the UN’s founding, has turned into a reflective session confronting some of the very same problems which bedeviled the world at the end of WWII; refugees and rebuilding.  Yet as compared to 1945 when there was a sense of closure after winning the war against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the impression today is that we may only be at the beginning of  wider global disorders as terrorism and entrenched chaos seem to be spreading.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated, “This year’s session of the General Assembly opens at a time of turmoil and hope.”  He added,  “Turmoil, because conflicts have deepened in so many places, and civilians are paying the price. Hope, because a historic number of world leaders will gather here at the United Nations to forge solutions.”   

Addressing correspondents Secretary General Ban warned, “Brutal conflicts, breakdowns in basic governance, economic despair and other factors have generated displacements of people not seen since the Second World War.  Sixty million people have fled their homes.”

The session will hold a special summit on the widening refugee crisis from places like Syria and Iraq.  Ban praised Germany, Austria and Sweden for their humanitarian efforts in helping fleeing Syrians.  

Syria’s civil war offers a poignant case; its a place where “the combatants are defying all norms of humanity.”  While UN officials and many diplomats agree that Syria must find a political solution to stop the violence and the ensuing hemorrhage of displaced persons, finding common political ground is easier said than done.  

Russia for example, has ramped up weapons deliveries to the Assad regime, officially according to Moscow as a counter the growth of terrorist forces such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al Nusra.  Ban stresses “there is no military solution” and emphases “I’m concerned about the parties arming and providing arms. This kind of a situation will only help the situation growing worse and worse.”  

Over 250,000 people, many of them civilians, have been killed since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.  Half  of  the Syrian population is internally displaced or have fled as refugees.

Thus can there be common ground?  Ban Ki-moon concedes,”First of all, Syrian people are divided among themselves.  The UN, particularly the Security Council, is not able to find unity, particularly among members. The regional powers, they are also divided, depending upon the countries.”  He lamented, “This kind of division really makes this situation unsolvable.”     

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in New York and shall be discussing Syria and Ukraine among other issues with American President Barack Obama as well as scores of other leaders.

I

Amid the Moral outrage over war, suffering, and the refugee plight, the visit of Pope Francis is expected to bring a moral compass to the Assembly.  This is the fifth time a Pontiff  addresses the UN to bring a message of  Peace to a chaotic world.  But is anyone listening?

Comment du Jour

Steuben Day!

There's more...

NYFD Steuben Society

25 Years Since German Reunification!!

And of course Football--Fan Club of FC Bayern Munchen 

                                                Auf Wiedersehen ...Until Next Year!!

Comment du Jour

Steuben Day in New York


Under beautiful sunny September skies, thousands of German and Austrian Americans
marched in New York in the 58th annual Steuben Day Parade.  Marching units from both the
New York ti-state area, as well as groups and bands from Germany and Austria were part of the festivities on Fifth Avenue.



Units from the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) at West Point joined a band from the German Bundeswehr not to mention marchers from the New York City police and Fire Department and
Suffolk County Police.

The parade honors General von Steuben, a Prussian officer who came to colonial America and lent his military services and expertise to the fledgling Colonial Army during the war of Independence.

New York area German Language schools (seen above) also had a noteworthy presence in the parade.

Steuben Day would not be complete without the Brewery and Beer Hall sponsors!

Don't worry...more photos in a few days!!

Comment du Jour

Franco/Russian Deal on Disputed Mistral Ships

St. Nazaire, FRANCE—As the high-speed TGV train from Paris slowed down coming into St. Nazaire passing the sprawling shipyard alongside, a little boy in in the seat in front of us became animated and exclaimed,”Look, Mama, there are the big warships!”  The child was pointing to the two massive grey-hulled Mistral helicopter carriers which had been built in France for the Russian Navy, but because of the ongoing Ukraine crisis,  were still marooned in political limbo and at dockside. 

But back in Paris, amidst the summer heat and suspended political theatrics during the August holidays, French and Russian negotiators had reached a deal on the ships’ fate. They would not be joining Vladimir Putin’s fleet as planned because of the continuing political sanctions over Ukraine.  Rather the French government announced compensation for canceling the delivery of the vessels which were paid for and specially fitted for the Russians.  Moscow would be “fully reimbursed” the presidential office stated in Paris; Russia, added “Moscow considers the Mistral issue completely resolved.” 

The two Mistral-type helicopter carriers would stay in France, at least for now. 

Many months of quiet but often acrimonious negotiations, between Francois Hollande’s socialist government and the Kremlin have reached an accord whereby the French government will reimburse the Russians $1.3 billion for the ships. The French will then subsequently keep or resell the Mistral carriers.  Crisis solved…sort of.  

The newspaper Le Figaro headlined, “Mistral: the real cost of compromise with Russia.”

The Vladivostok, which was finished and supposed to sail to Russia last fall, and the Sevastopol, were built at the huge STX shipyards in St. Nazaire.  The deal going back to 2010, brought extra business to the shipyards and needed jobs in a region still dependent on the maritime industry.

Just last Summer this column reported, the port was hosting over 400 Russian sailors who were training on the vessels and preparing to sail them back to their disputed Black Sea bases in Crimea. 

In the past, these very same St. Nazaire shipyards constructed the most famous of French ocean liners such as the Normandie in the 1930’s and the France in 1962. In recent years Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 was built here as well as a dozen major American cruise ships.  

St. Nazaire has a darker side too; during WWII the port just alongside the shipyard housed 

a Nazi submarine base from where U-boats sailed from the Bay of Biscay deep into the Atlantic. The grey concrete bunker submarine pens which remain to this day stand as an eerie reminder of the port’s past and its connections to history. 

So where do the ships go now?   Short term most likely to the northern naval base at Brest. 

Naturally while such modern and militarily versatile naval vessels are in demand there are a few serious questions to be asked. Will France sell them only to NATO countries?  Or other allies?  Most navies could not even operate such vessels nor integrate them into combined naval operations.  Thus realistically potential buyers are very few. 

Hints that China would be allowed buy such a vessel were quickly squashed.   

Let’s look at the short list.  France can and should bring one of these ships into its fleet. While the French navy has an aircraft carrier, another such smaller and more versatile naval platform would be perfect for operations and contingencies in the Mediterranean.  The French Navy has the expertise and the capacity to operate such vessels but with the declining defense budgets, would the current socialist government be so wise as to make this investment?

For the second vessel, the Sevastopol, which will be finished later this year there are only a few countries which have the credentials and the capacity to operate such a carrier.  The USA would profit from a Mistral without question, and given the U.S. Navy’s expanding role but overstretched number of ships, such a vessel would be perfect for Marine amphibious operations.  I don’t know if the Defense Department would buy (or be politically allowed to purchase), a foreign-built vessel.  Same goes for the British.

Few other NATO navies beyond Canada and Italy are really up to the technical challenge to deploy such a ship.  Beyond the Atlantic Alliance sphere what about Australia?   

The Mistral boasts the capacity to hold twelve attack helicopters, sixty armored vehicles, and 700 Marines, an ideal platform for versatile and rapid force projection. 

Until then, France will be looking for buyers lest the Mistrals becomes the Flying Dutchmen. 

Comment du Jour

Russia Blocks Inquiry on Malaysian Airliner Downing

In a callous but not unexpected move to block an international inquiry on the fate of Malaysian flight #17 which was shot down over Ukraine just a year ago, Russia has vetoed a resolution which would have set up a tribunal to investigate the disaster which killed 298 civilians.  The Malaysian civilian airliner, a Boeing 777, was shot down by a Russian supplied BUK missile  allegedly fired by Russian-backed separatists fighting the Ukraine government.  Moscow blames the Ukrainians for the disaster.

Eleven of the Security Council’ s fifteen members backed the draft resolution which would have set up a international tribunal to investigate the tragedy.  Besides Russia’s veto, China, Angola and  Venezuela predictably abstained on the vote.  

U.S./UN Ambassador Samantha Power stated bluntly, “Russia has callously disregarded the public outcry in the grieving nations.”  

The flight which originated in Amsterdam, was en route in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;  a majority of the people killed were Australian or from the Netherlands.  Last year following the tragedy, the UN Security Council approved a resolution condemning the incident and demanding that those responsible be brought to justice. 

The Malaysian sponsored draft resolution, co-sponsored  by Australia, Germany, the Netherlands among others included a proposed statute for a “International Criminal Tribunal for Malaysian Airlines Fight MH 17.”

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders stated, “our purpose remains to create a timely, depoliticized and credible mechanism to ensure that the perpetrators face justice and are held to account.”  He expressed his “deep disappointment” over the Russian veto to stop the process.    

The MH 17 airliner was flying at 33,000 feet over a rebel held region of eastern Ukraine where both Russian backed separatists and Ukraine government troops were involved in heavy fighting.  

Why Moscow-supported separatists would even have access to or for that matter know how to operate a high altitude surface to air missile is a question. Equally in the midst of a bitter ground battle, why would either side decide to randomly fire upon a civilian airliner passing six miles above?   Though Moscow has accused the Ukrainians, most evidence points to the missile being fired by the rebels.

So here’s the point.  If Moscow is so convinced the Ukraine government forces committed the atrocity, why not then allow an impartial inquiry to gather evidence and try to prove the case?  Russian delegate Vitaly Churkin, in a lengthy rebuttal, asserted, “What are the grounds to be assured of the impartiality of such an investigation?”  He countered, what he called “aggressive propaganda in the media.”  

But by blocking such an impartial investigation the finger of guilt, by default, points to Moscow. 

Still Russia would rather face a lingering media presumption of guilt rather than an internationally established verdict of guilt. 

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully stated that while the Council had pressed for a consensus resolution he lamented that this is not a case “which can be seen in shades of grey; either we follow a path of accountability or there is impunity. ” 

Germany’s delegate Harald Braun put the matter in perspective, “Today this Council has utterly failed the victims, the families and the friends of the 283 passengers and 15 crew members killed, among them 4 German citizens, in the downing of MH 17.  But this does not mean that the perpetrators can triumph and hope for impunity.  We the grieving nations, will not rest until they are held accountable.”  

Ambassador Power warned, “The United States believes firmly that those who carried out this unspeakable crime cannot remain unnamed and unpunished…there cannot and will not be impunity.” 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin added rhetorically; “There can be no reason to oppose this unless you are a perpetrator yourself.” 

Comment du Jour

Iran Deal; Obama’s Tarnished Legacy? 

A rhetorical tsunami followed the signing of the landmark nuclear limitation deal between Iran and six world powers in Vienna.  On the one hand President Barack Obama and his tireless Secretary of State John Kerry presented a technically well-crafted plan which would supposedly keep the Iranian nuclear genie in the bottle but not dismantle the actual atomic program.  On the other, deep bi-partisan skepticism in Washington greeted the deal with the nervous concern that it will not really stop Tehran’s long-term nuclear capabilities.  Now the accord faces a showdown in the U.S. Congress.  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly called the deal a “stunning historical mistake.”  

Announcing the historic accord between the USA and the Islamic Republic of Iran, President Obama used the word “deal” 29 times!   The word deal has a far different nuance and connotation than accord or  agreement.  Deals are often associated with used cars while accords are better linked with diplomacy.  I’m surprised given the linguistic optics, that the State Department would not have opted to use a less edgy term.

But a deal is what we have with Iran’s clerical regime.  The suffocating economic and military sanctions slapped on Iran by both the United Nations Security Council and the United States will soon be lifted allowing for a massive jump-start for the moribund Iranian economy.  Ending an Iranian asset freeze moreover will release over $140 billion into Tehran’s coffers.  This will  help both the average Iranian as well as embolden and enrich the rulers.

Iran’s Foreign  Minister Mohammad Zarif  played a weak hand well, getting  a surprisingly good deal for the clerical regime.

Obama stated carefully that the deal  was “not built on trust but verification.”  Agreed. Yet such verifications are based on outside inspections.  Here’s a glaring problem: international inspections of sites inside Iran are not spontaneous but must be scheduled two weeks ahead. 

Echoes of Iraq in the 1990’s when UN arms inspectors played a cat-and -mouse game with Saddam?   Covering that endless exercise in the UN, I recall the maze that world powers faced   being blindsided by Baghdad despite having the support of seven Security Council resolutions. 

While experts will muse over the accord’s technical parameters, the geopolitical reverberations will be felt throughout the region.  Islamic Iran, a key player in funding terrorism and fueling a number of conventional conflicts such as Iraq and Yemen as well as supporting the Assad regime in Syria will now have more resources to aid its allies, mostly Shiite Moslems who are opposing the majority Sunnis.   We may see a spike in inter-Islamic tensions in the Middle East, as Iran is reinvigorated politically and ideologically.

There’s a deeper concern too.  In a belated quest to battle Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a Sunni Muslim terror movement, the Obama administration has quietly looked to cooperating with Iran’s Shiites as a counterforce.  This empowers Iran regionally and threatens  trust with Washington’s Arab allies, not to mention Israel. 

Sunni Arab state reaction ironically mirrors Israel’s.  Shock and deep concern over the long range implications.  Arab monarchies such as the Saudis and the Gulf states, not to mention secular Egypt, are decidedly nervous. Turkey has been marginalized.   

  

Importantly the deal was not a bilateral negotiation between the U.S. and Islamic Iran but 

what was called the P-5 plus Germany meaning  the permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France,  Russia, United Kingdom the United States and Germany.  

While those countries want to defuse Tehran’s nuclear weapons capacity, at the same time they wish to revive once cosy commercial links with Iran.  

Russia and China want to reopen lucrative trade, and eventual weapons sales with Iran as do   

the Europeans.   French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabuis, who to his credit was particularly tough in negotiations, now is set to visit Iran in the near future.  French economic ties with Iran were traditionally strong until sanctions slashed $4.4 billion in trade in 2004 down to $650 million in 2013.  French commercial delegations will soon head to Tehran to talk business as will the Germans and British! 

Nonetheless, the Islamic Republic of Iran remains one of the world’s most intolerant regimes fostering political and religious repression of its own people. 

Will the U.S. Congress support this deeply flawed deal? No matter how Congress votes, many observers view this accord as securing  Obama’s “political legacy.”  It just might, but not in the way the president wishes.  The Iranian mullahs may have the last laugh.

Comment du Jour

Love Locked in Paris 

Love may not be eternal in the City of Light after all.  In the name of safety, the City of Paris has removed the tens of thousands of Love Locks which have adorned the Pont des Arts.  The reason was not sentimental but ever so practical--these metal locks weight too much and are a danger on the iron railings and grills along the  Walkway/bridge which dates to 1801 but was rebuilt in the 1980's.

This is not a lame municipal excuse nor a nasty bureaucratic diktat but a very sober realization that heavily weighed down bridge panels and railings can very easily collapse into the Seine River below and crash into a boat, barge, or heaven forbid, a heavily laden tourist bateau.   Now the city authorities are planning to place many of the locks along the shoreline.  All kinds of plans are under consideration as not to break the tradition of lovers but at the same time protect people from falling panels weighing hundreds of pounds. 

So where can you still place a shiny brass lock on a storied Parisian bridge and throw away the key?

Just behind the Notre Dame Cathedral there's a small bridge the Pont de l'Archeveche which is glistening with thousands of brass locks most  inscribed, initialed, and glistening in the sun.  That is until the City of Paris swoops down in the name of safety and scoops them away.   

Comment du Jour

Starbucks Expanding in France!


The American premium coffee group Starbucks is expanding its operations throughout France.


Though known for its iconic Cafes, the Seattle-based Starbucks group has made inroads in France since the first Cafe opened in 2004 on Avenue de Opera in Paris.   Over  the past decade Starbucks added about 100 cafes mostly in the Paris region and in the southern city of Lyon.

Now the group is partnering with the French mega supermarket  Geant Casino to add an additional 100 cafes throughout the country.   As in the USA, Starbucks often has outlets in food markets and is expected to be part of a growing French trend of "le snacking" while shopping.  

Starbucks has over 22,000 cafes globally, many of them throughout Europe and Asia.

 

Comment du Jour

Bonjour!

Back in France!

While the world is watching the drama of the Greek Debt Crisis, indeed many of the other European countries are mired in red ink too!    Greek debt stands at a dizzying 177% of GDP.  In Italy the sum has reached 132%.

Debt has dangerously increased in France too where the amount of debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reached 97.5 %!!!    Just twenty years ago in 1995, debt comprised 56% of the French GDP.

In 2014, French debt stood at an unhealthy 95% of GDP, while Great Britain hit 89%, and Germany 75%   The European Union average last year stood at 87%!

May one politely ask, WHO is going to pay for this profligate spending???

Comment du Jour

Will the UN Stand up to "Cultural Cleansing" in Iraq and Syria?

Facing the onslaught of wanton destruction, cultural pillage, and a growing black market for stolen antiquities, both Iraq and Syria are feeling the brunt not only of the ideological violence of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), but the barbaric “cultural cleansing” of antiques dating back millennia.  As the Mid-East confronts the expansion of the ISIL terrorist state, we also face the unintended consequences of both historic destruction and equally the attacks on religious minorities such as the Christians and Yazidis.   

“Present day Iraq, known in classical antiquity as Mesopotamia, was home to the oldest civilizations in the world, “ according to UNESCO, “the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia, as part of the Fertile Crescent, was a significant part of the ancient Near East.  Destruction of this history represents an attack to the ideals of humanism.”   

Ancient and storied Iraqi cities of the Assyrian kingdom such as Ninevah, Nimrud and Hatra have come under ISIL assault and pillage. 

At a UN roundtable on Countering Destruction and Trafficking in Cultural Property, Italian Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi stated, “there has been a recent spike in the barbaric destruction of and terrorist attacks on the cultural heritage of countries affected by armed conflict. This is together  with the unprecedented scale of organized looting and illicit trafficking in cultural objects.” 

Amb. Cardi stressed, “Such crimes seek to erode our collective cultural and historical heritage and are being used to intimidate populations.”   He added the actions “generate income for terrorist groups, to support their recruitment efforts and to strengthen their operational capability to organize and carry out  terrorist attacks.” 

An INTERPOL official openly admitted that ISIL uses such looting of archaeological sites as a “funding source.” 

Thus the shocking media images created by ISIL looting and smashing or cultural artifices such as in Mosul Museum and at storied historic sites, creates a huge demand for the antiquities which are being siphoned off for illicit international art markets and collectors.   

As with Khmer Rouge communist looting of Cambodia’s cultural legacy after 1975, much of the art then slips into the netherworld of lucrative art markets.  

In 1969, Italy became the first country to create a  special police division for cultural heritage and to fight illegal trafficking in stolen art.  Lt. Colonel Antonio Cappola of the Italian Carabinieri, told attendees that organized crime is involved in the trafficking.  The Italians have a special unit in Iraq, to monitor places “suffering the pillage of cultural patrimony.”

Deborah Lehr, Chair of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington University warned of  the widespread “cultural racketeering,”  where ISIL knows “huge profits are to be made.”  She stressed that saving Middle Eastern art “needs political will and champions.”  

As national legislation is usually too slow in most countries, Ms. Lehr suggested cultural Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) between governments to stem the tide, as well as working with auction houses to check on the provence of pieces in inventory.   

Amb. Dina Kawar of the Kingdom of Jordan decried the spread of Islamic State into Syria’s fabled Palmyra and added that the terrorists were mixing “ideological violence with cultural cleansing.” 

So what can be done?  Both the UN Security Council and General Assembly have passed resolutions prohibiting the cross border traffic and  trade in these cultural antiquities. 

UNESCO’s Director Irina Bokova, in a Cairo speech asserted, “The destruction of cultural heritage used as a tactic of war, to intimidate populations, to finance criminal activities, to spread hatred. ..the protection of heritage is far more than a cultural issue; it has become a security imperative.”   

UNESCO recommends a number of steps to stem the trade; to protect cultural zones, to integrate heritage into UN peacekeeping, monitor “cultural cleansing,”  having UN Blue Helmets for heritage sites, and crowd sourcing and reconnaissance drones to get images of the looters.  

Finding and focusing military power to stop ISIL, beyond the rhetoric, is difficult at best. President Barack Obama appears clueless at what to do or not to do.  Just 18 months ago, the President was brushing off ISIL as a “junior varsity” terrorist group.  Later, after stunning IS military successes throughout Iraq, the President was still pondering a lethal American response but conceded “we don’t have a strategy.”  Just last week when asked about a counter offensive, Barack Obama conceded, “we don’t yet have a complete strategy.”  The President’s honesty or simple indifference was stunning. 

The power vacuum created by a vacillating American leadership, combined with a largely incompetent Iraqi military, coupled with Iraq’s deep sectarian divisions in Islam,  have created a self-perpetuating crisis which threatens the cultural heritage, the ancient Christian communities under attack, as well as the majority Muslim populations in Iraq and Syria.  

The people are suffering and the ancient patrimony is at the whim of barbarians inside the gates. 

Comment du Jour

German Life and Architecture in 19th Century New York

A fascinating Exhibit traces the path of German Life and architecture in the 19th century through  engravings and pictures of an early immigrant community.

Compiled by Dr. Ilona Stolken, a German historian and author of the book "Das Deutsche New York" the presentation overviews the cultural, religious and commercial footprint of the once large German community in New York.

By the late 19th century New York hosted the largest group of German immigrants in the USA.

Union Square and the German Savings Bank (since demolished)

Before it became trendy, Union Square, St. Marks Place and Tomkins Square were hubs of German/American activity.

Interestingly the exhibit shows so many places on the Lower East side "Klein Deutschland" .

The German "Vereine" the clubs for singing, sport and gymnastics were a community staple.

While Yorkville on the Upper East Side is probably best known for the German community, this presentation underscores mostly forgotten neighborhoods in the city. 

And there are surprises: The German Hospital on 77th Street later became Lenox Hill Hospital!

T

Brooklyn Breweries 

Once a staple in New York German breweries were in Bushwick.

In recent years Brooklyn breweries have made a big comeback!

Eurichs brewery grounds also had a shaded beer garden, another New York institution.

Serving the growing community of German brewery workers, Most Holy Trinity Church was built in the 1840's just around the block from the brewers row in Williamsburg.  It's still there!

An important theme of the exhibit is the role of the New York City Landmark Law, a vital tool to protect buildings of historic, aesthetic and cultural heritage. Many of the surviving structures have gained Landmark status, but most have been lost to time and the tide of development.

The exhibit is located at the German Consulate General in New York at 871 UN Plaza (First Avenue and 49th Street. The exhibit will be open until June 10.   
Opening hours: Monday-Friday; (9:00-5:00 PM).

Comment du Jour

British Conservatives Sweep Back to Power/Defy Naysayers

Defying dire polls, deflating many media pundits, and derailing a left-wing lurch from the Labor Party, Prime Minister David Cameron Conservative Party swept back into power for a second term with a shock election win and a reinvigorated majority.   Cameron’s victory was all the sweeter as it precluded his party from having to enter the messy business of coalition politics and the political “horse trading” which could have hampered him for weeks.

The resounding victory by Mr. Cameron, comes amid both political kudos and dire warnings.  On the one hand the Conservatives won 331 seats in the 650 seat House of Parliament, a commendable feat in any election.  Yet part of the victory comes by default from the Labor party itself who swerved Leftwards under Ed Miliband and reminded people more of the socialist tub-thumping Old Labor of the 1950’s than of what had become the successful New Labor under Tony Blair in the 1990’s . 

Indeed on economic issues, most voters see the Conservatives as better stewards of  growth and revived prosperity than the statist and socialist Labor. 

But ill winds still blow in Scotland where the separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) swept the table winning all 56 parliamentary seats at the expense of both the Tories and Labor.   Had Labor won, they would have been likely dependent on the graces of a party which wants to dismantle the country.

“The Scottish lion has roared this morning across the country” boasted a key SNP politico. Though Scots resoundingly rejected an independence referendum last September, the political genie is out of the bottle and the issue is hardly resolved. 

Europhobia remains a key challenge for many Conservatives who have a love/hate relationship with the European Union (EU) and especially some of its uber-bureaucratic trappings.  Despite the often nanny state rulings from Brussels, Britain is far better being inside and an active player in Europe than she would be looking across the Channel with an “I told you so” pique.  A referendum on the UK EU membership may be in the cards by 2017.

Britain’s role in the world is no less important.   As a staunch American ally (though the Obama Administration seems not to notice) and as a key player in the United Nations with its permanent seat on the UN Security Council, the UK still punches politically above its weight and size.  Britain proudly remains a major donor of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to needy countries.

The Conservative victory comes on the 70^th anniversary of VE Day, the victory over Nazism in Europe in which a Conservative Prime Minister Winston Churchill played so vital a role.   But that was another era.

Mr. Cameron is heading back to 10 Downing Street after all.  We wish him well, but now he must deliver.   This may be tougher challenge than the election.