From my 2007 journal:
October 23: Today was a difficult day. Went down to Pristina early to meet the DPKO Assistant Secretary General and brief him on the way up for meeting in Mitrovica. I think the briefing -- which I used to broach the perceptions of reality from up here and how they differ from UNHQ Pristina -- and the meetings -- in which he could see and feel the intractable situation we face -- went well. But I have been blindsided before by a polite hearing that hid an already established agenda. Yesterday I saw a "code cable" to New York that was blatantly misleading about Serb "parallel institutions. I had the ASG meet with my whole senior staff so he could hear from them. He encouraged me to put our views down on paper through a cable to NY. I already keep a number of NY people on my email list. He is inviting me to help correct the picture before a Nov 6 meeting to be chaired by the Secretary General. All and all, I'd say we are reaching some internal "cleansing of the spears."
November 5: ... Had an inconclusive meeting with the SRSG this afternoon. He is clueless but not absolutely stupid. He understands that I cannot be run down or over but still doesn't know what to do with me and still doesn't understand the depth of the lake of shit all around us and what we need to do to keep from having it flood the little Potemkin village we live in.
I drafted two code cables per the ASG's suggestion, the first follows below the second will be in the next post. Both were sent.
October 23: Today was a difficult day. Went down to Pristina early to meet the DPKO Assistant Secretary General and brief him on the way up for meeting in Mitrovica. I think the briefing -- which I used to broach the perceptions of reality from up here and how they differ from UNHQ Pristina -- and the meetings -- in which he could see and feel the intractable situation we face -- went well. But I have been blindsided before by a polite hearing that hid an already established agenda. Yesterday I saw a "code cable" to New York that was blatantly misleading about Serb "parallel institutions. I had the ASG meet with my whole senior staff so he could hear from them. He encouraged me to put our views down on paper through a cable to NY. I already keep a number of NY people on my email list. He is inviting me to help correct the picture before a Nov 6 meeting to be chaired by the Secretary General. All and all, I'd say we are reaching some internal "cleansing of the spears."
November 5: ... Had an inconclusive meeting with the SRSG this afternoon. He is clueless but not absolutely stupid. He understands that I cannot be run down or over but still doesn't know what to do with me and still doesn't understand the depth of the lake of shit all around us and what we need to do to keep from having it flood the little Potemkin village we live in.
I drafted two code cables per the ASG's suggestion, the first follows below the second will be in the next post. Both were sent.
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