Yesterday evening, after a week of arm-twisting and secret meetings, the United States government forced the departure of Jose Bustani, director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. As this column predicted last week, this is the first time that the head of an international organisation has been dismissed during his term in office. The tactics the US has deployed in the past few days to oust Bustani offer a fascinating insight into the way its diplomacy works.
On Friday, the US ambassador organised an illegal meeting with American members of the organisation's staff. He explained that he had arrived late as he'd been trying to find a replacement for Mr Bustani (this is also an illegal manouevre). He told the meeting that the US had been encountering "great difficulty finding people of the right calibre" because no one wants "to be associated with a dying organisation". This was news to the staff, who had previously been told by the US that sacking Bustani would revive the OPCW. But the ambassador explained that if the replacement is "like Bustani ... we will say 'screw the organisation'. We'll dismantle our [chemical] weapons independently and monitor them ourselves."
The US had promised that the directorship would pass to another Latin American. But the ambassador was kind enough to note that "Latin Americans are so characterised by sheer incompetence that they won't be able to make up their minds." He warned the meeting "if any of this gets out of this room, I'll kill the person responsible".
On Friday, the US ambassador organised an illegal meeting with American members of the organisation's staff. He explained that he had arrived late as he'd been trying to find a replacement for Mr Bustani (this is also an illegal manouevre). He told the meeting that the US had been encountering "great difficulty finding people of the right calibre" because no one wants "to be associated with a dying organisation". This was news to the staff, who had previously been told by the US that sacking Bustani would revive the OPCW. But the ambassador explained that if the replacement is "like Bustani ... we will say 'screw the organisation'. We'll dismantle our [chemical] weapons independently and monitor them ourselves."
The US had promised that the directorship would pass to another Latin American. But the ambassador was kind enough to note that "Latin Americans are so characterised by sheer incompetence that they won't be able to make up their minds." He warned the meeting "if any of this gets out of this room, I'll kill the person responsible".