OBAMA WATCH CENTRAL

U.S. website for U.N. restores flag

Change follows 'scrubbing' of emblem, archives

Posted: September 04, 2009
8:52 pm Eastern
By Stewart Stogel
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

UNITED NATIONS – Less than 48 hours after WND reported that under the Obama administration the website for the United States mission to the United Nations had been scrubbed of its flag emblem and archives, those apparently have been restored. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108708

The new site had brought howls and criticisms from previous US/UN officials.

"I think the loss of the American flag (from the home page) is a very telling symbol, that they still have the U.N. seal up there. They had that flag up there when I arrived (as ambassador). It was there when I got there and to replace it with the U.N. seal I think is more symbolic perhaps than the Obama administration realizes. It says a lot to the American public what their priorities are," former Ambassador John Bolton said.

But the website today exhibited a new – albeit tiny – flag logo in the top left part of the page:


Updated website, with new U.S. flag



The website had been improved to coincide with Washington assuming the monthly presidency of the Security Council and President Barack Obama's first U.N. visit later this month.

But the new and "improved" site was missing some important and traditional features.

The old banner featuring the image of the U.S. flag, taken from a separate web location that had not yet been changed


For one thing, the image of the U.S. flag disappeared from the banner, to be replaced by the United Nations logo.



Old Glory replaced by the U.N. logo

Also, archives disappeared from the site.

Several former ambassadors, including Zalmay Khalilzad and Bolton, expressed "concern" over the US/UN mission's actions.

Bolton was particularly upset over the removal of Old Glory which was replaced with the UN logo.

"It was patriotic, it was there for a reason," explained Bolton.

His sentiments were seconded by other veterans of the US/UN mission.

When WND first reported on the changes, US/UN spokesman Mark Kornblau e-mailed a statement explaining the US flag and archives "would be restored."

Other former US/UN mission staffers said any removal of public documents from the website was a "violation" of State Department operating guidelines.

"Once they are released to the public they are not supposed to be touched. What the mission did was a violation of State Department rules," explained one veteran State Department staffer.

Until the redesign, the statements and position papers of past United States U.N. ambassadors were kept online.

"We had them all. It went back to I can't remember when," confessed the former official.

The site continued to display a button on ambassadors' pages supposedly linking to their statements and speeches.



Archived records of former Ambassador John Bolton, with a button to the left of the photograph that lists his position statements

However, clicking on the button produces a screen that says there are no items archived.



No records appear for Ambassador Bolton

Documents through January 2009 had disappeared.

"I don't know what their motivation was... But one of the advantages of the Internet is that people can get access to the historical record across the U.S. government. It's not only a question of my speeches, but everyone's (at the US/UN mission). History didn't begin (last) January 20. And that is something the administration needs to understand both at the US/UN and across the government as a whole," Bolton added

Today, the tiny U.S. flag was posted, and the archives reappeared.

WND was told by the State Department, however, that under government rules nothing should be placed above the U.S. flag on any federal website.

Furthermore, the restoration of the archives remains incomplete. Still missing from the historical database of statements made by former ambassadors are files from Madeleine K. Albright, Richard Holbrooke, George H.W. Bush, Jeane Kirkpatrick and Andrew Young to name a few.

There was no comment from the US/UN mission.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108924