Cash for Clinton - In The U.N.'s New Haiti Peacekeeping Budget

The United Nations' peacekeeping mission in battered Haiti is one of the most expensive in the world — and it's about to get even more so. One of the reasons being given this time is the need to add support for the U.N.'s special envoy to Haiti, former President Bill Clinton.

The United Nations' peacekeeping mission in battered Haiti is one of the most expensive in the world — and it's about to get even more so. One of the reasons being given this time is the need to add support for the U.N.'s special envoy to Haiti, former President Bill Clinton.

Just exactly how much more expensive, however, the U.N. is not prepared to say. It now claims the situation is too "fluid" for the world organization even to produce a detailed budget covering the next six months — half the period normally covered in its normal financial calculations.

Nevertheless, in a back-of-the-envelope estimate that he has sent to the U.N. General Assembly, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is asking for $380.4 million to cover the period from July 1 to December 31 of this year.

That would be $760.8 million at an annualized rate — roughly double what the U.N. allocated for the mission in its first full year of operations, starting in 2004.

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