Move Along Folks, Nothing to See Here

I don't even think John Kerry could explain away this flip-flop...

The government of Niger has cancelled at the last minute a special ceremony during which at least 7,000 slaves were to be granted their freedom.

A spokesman for the government's human rights commission, which had helped to organise the event, said this was because slavery did not exist.

It is not clear why the government, which was also a co-sponsor of the ceremony, changed its position.

(hat tip: Powerline) There's something really Orwellian about this entire sorry episode. It would be entirely humorous if it didn't represent such a monstrous evil. Of course, we should all remember that the government of Niger can't be evil, because they're clearly concerned with human rights. Heck, they were a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights as recently as 2001. And we all know the United Nations would never make excuses for evil.