- The United Nations inspection mission in Iraq has been
fully-prepared for controversy over chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Instead, the first crisis it faces concerns sado-masochism, pansexuality
and leather fetishes. Senior officials were trying to explain yesterday
how such a crucial mission came to include an American former Secret Service
officer who has no specialised degree in any of the relevant sciences,
but considerable expertise in unusual sexual practices.
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- Harvey John "Jack" McGeorge was nominated for
the mission by the United States government. The revelation of his personal
details has also led to the disclosure that no background checks have been
made on any of the monitors.
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- Mr McGeorge, who once served in the US Marines, is waiting
in New York to join the Unmovic (UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection
Commission) in Baghdad.
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- He runs a business offering seminars on "weaponisation
of chemical and biological agents" at $595 (£380) a session,
and advertises his services as a "certified United Nations inspector".
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- An internet search has also revealed that Mr McGeorge
offers training seminars of a different kind involving "various acts
conducted with knives and ropes".
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- This relates to his role as co-founder of Black Rose,
a "pansexual S&M group" based in Washington, and also as
a founder of Leather Leadership Conference IN, which "produces training
sessions for current and potential leaders of the sadomasochistic/ leather/fetish
community". Mr McGeorge said a State Department official invited him
to apply for a job with the UN team, and neither the Americans nor the
United Nations asked about his S&M background. He was interviewed by
Hans Blix, the chief inspector, and trained with Unmovic in February 2001.
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- He told The Washington Post: "I have been very upfront
with people in the past about what I do, and it has never prevented me
from getting a job or doing a service. I am who I am. I am not ashamed
of who I am -- not one bit." He added that he was now considering
resigning his UN post.
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- Iraqi officials, who have always claimed that American
members of the team may not be what they seem, were still digesting the
news. A Foreign Ministry official said: "It is very disturbing that
the Americans have put forward someone like this. Apart from his strange
sexual life, he does not have the academic qualification for these complex
issues. And he is also a former member of their Secret Service. How many
other of these types are they getting into the UN mission?"
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- A UN official said in Baghdad: "It is very difficult.
We are hoping the man will now resign, and we can draw a veil over this."
Ewen Buchanan, an Unmovic spokesman, said: "As the UN, with people
applying from many countries, we do not have the capacity to carry out
background checks. I believe Mr McGeorge is technically very competent.
He knows his subject, which is weapons."
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- A State Department official confirmed that Mr McGeorge
was recommended to Unmovic, and that no background checks were made. The
Bush administration has been accused of undermining the Iraq mission, and
US officials have claimed that Mr Blix had chosen an inexperienced team,
leaving out inspectors with previous experience of working in Iraq who
were deemed to be too aggressive in pursuing their task. There have also
been complaints from Washington that not enough American and British personnel
were chosen for the teams.
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- "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send
these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden
door."- Emma Lazarus
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