Turd World Socialists Find Home at Trump World Tower

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/7/17/212249.shtml?s=la

Third World Socialists Find Home at Trump World Tower

Stewart Stogel Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Donald Trump represents unbridled capitalism, and his excesses in wealth and

flash would make any socialist from a Third World nation flinch.

Or so one would think.

In fact, officials from an eclectic group of nations are flocking to take

residence in one of the Donald's most extravagant New York residential

buildings.

Welcome to 845 First Ave., home of the Trump World Tower, which soars 70

stories into the Manhattan skyline over the nearby East River.

The building with gleaming black windows trimmed with gold is billed by

Trump as the "tallest" and most prestigious apartment complex in the Big

Apple. A one-bedroom studio suite in the Tower starts at $1.3 million, and

larger condos can exceed $15 million.

It was to be the New York home of multi-billionaire Bill Gates. He

eventually opted to pass on his Trump apartment purchase. No explanation

offered.

But the building has become a mecca for diplomats who work at the United

Nations just two blocks south of the Trump World Tower.

While Trump jealously guards his list of tenants, NewsMax has been able to

piece together an "unofficial" roll call of some folks residing at the World

Tower.

The list looks like a Third World Who's Who.

Topping the list is China's ambassador Wang Guangya. He spends much of his

time "entertaining" New York's movers and shakers on both the social and

financial scenes.

Despite the posh Trump digs, the "People's Republic" has a notorious

reputation of underpaying its own diplomats and staff at the United Nations.

And the Chinese consulate on the Hudson River has had numerous run-ins with

New York City officials over operating conditions within its building.

Worse, China's new U.N. mission on East 35th St. has itself been the subject

of a Federal Court action. As China was constructing its new U.N. mission,

it imported hard hats from China, paying them about $1 an hour - more than

30 times less than the going rate for construction workers in New York City

at the time.

New York City again stepped in, expressing concerns about the working

conditions at the construction site. The Chinese eventually reached an

accommodation with the U.S. after the federal government got involved in the

fracas.

Back to the Trump World Tower roster.

Not to be undone, India decided to place its ambassador, Nirupam Sen, at the

Trump complex - and gave him not one apartment, but two. Well-placed sources

tell NewsMax that the Indians thought the Trump apartments were "too small,"

so India bought two adjoining condos and knocked down the walls separating

them.

Sen's U.N. mission has also had problems with the City of New York.

The Indians built a high-rise edifice above the mission to house many of its

diplomatic staff. But the private apartment house has run afoul of New York

City authorities because there are no taxes being paid on apartment rent,

and no inspections conducted by city safety and health authorities.

That dispute is still working its way through New York government agencies.

Next up, Romania. Ambassador Mihnea Ioan Motoc loves the good life,

especially the sushi and wines served at the restaurants at Trump World

Tower.

All this while his staff struggles to work at a mission building on Third

Avenue that is in sore need of renovations - like air conditioning, which it

does not have.

And last, but not least...Iraq.

While the war-ravaged nation continues to implode and the bite to U.S.

taxpayers reaches $700 billion, Ambassador Hamid al-Bayati sits with his

family in a $22,000-a-month apartment.

However, the Iraqi is in Trump's place only for several months. He is

cooling his heels while his office and Upper East Side townhouse undergo

renovations.

According to U.N. documents obtained by NewsMax, the Iraqi project is

costing $40 million. Where did al-Bayati get the cash? Where else but the

U.N. Security Council.

The U.N. Iraq arms inspectors (UNMOVIC) were recently terminated by the

Security Council. Since the U.S.-British invasion in 2003, the inspectors

had been largely idle.

Their operation was financed by a U.N. levy on Iraqi oil sales, and over the

years UNMOVIC collected $350 million.

The money had "nowhere" to go, say American diplomats. So the U.S. and U.K.

pressured the Council to return the loot to Baghdad.

The final transfer of $60 million was to be returned to Iraq later this

month.

Most of the cash has been deposited into the Development Fund for Iraq. The

DFI, successor to the scandal-plagued U.N. Oil for Food Program, has itself

been wrapped in controversy.

Both Iraqi and State Department sources, speaking on background, tell

NewsMax that the DFI has morphed into a giant slush fund used by a host of

Iraqi "power" factions inside the country.

The $40 million given to al-Bayati's mission is just one example of a much

larger picture, confides one American official.

Al-Bayati refused to answer questions from NewsMax about how he was using

the $40 million turned over by the Security Council.

When quizzed about the apparent wasteful spending by the Iraqi diplomat -

spending approved by the State Department - America's U.N. Ambassador Zalmay

Khalilzad, himself a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, shrugged his shoulders

and told NewsMax that "$40 million isn't a lot of money...It all happened

before I got here (at the UN)...and I prefer not to second-guess my Iraqi

colleague."

Staff representing Senators Joseph Biden and Richard Lugar, the ranking

members on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also refused to comment

on the activities of Iraq's U.N. mission in New York.