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172 of 192 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A solid primer of how the U. N. actually works and a good explanation of the Oil-for-Food scandals, May 5, 2006
This review is from: The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World (Hardcover)
Conservatives have had problems with the United Nations since it was Wilson's League of Nations. The reasons are many and during the Cold War an extreme wing saw in this organization the vehicle for the totalitarian subjugation of the United States. Nearly everyone, including the vast majority of conservatives rejects such notions, but the problems with this international organization remain. Why? This fine book will show you in a clear and timely fashion what is going on at the United Nations and it will make your blood boil. You will likely see why many have wondered why we continue to spend billions per year supporting such a dysfunctional and, well, corrupt group of bureaucrats who work for various forms of kleptocrats (klepping as many American aid dollars as they can - after all YOU can afford to have some of your tax dollars going to Swiss bank accounts for various foreign ministers, right?). Eric Shawn does a great job of reporting. He starts off by taking us through the looking glass into what he calls U. N. World. It is a place of privilege, unaccountability, and inverted incentives (where it pays to fail at ones goals - in order to get more funding in order to continue the failure more expensively). Shawn then shows us how the press corps that is supposed to cover the U. N. really does all it can to aid and abet those in power. It is really an odd experience for anyone used to reading the American press tearing into those in power here. Next, the author shows us how the members of the U.N. are really quite united behind the concept of anti-Americanism. This is so because the majority of the member nations are not democracies and resent any idea that their governments should become more open. Then there is the strange dance that has developed over decades that involves blaming America in a way that ends up with getting more American funding in order to appease the accusations of guilt. Given the power of the United States, it is natural that people would unite in a way to maximize their ability to balance this power. Even among the five permanent members of the Security Council, it has evolved that America and Britain are opposed by France (our SUPPOSED ally), Russia (our supposed new ally), and China (our supposed trading partner). Shawn lays all this out clearly and understandably. I love Shawn's quote from Hosni Mubarak that foreign aid is taking money from the poor of rich countries and giving it to the rich of poor countries. Perfect! The second half of the book takes us through the Oil for Food scandal bureaucrat by bureaucrat and nation by nation. Shawn shows us how nakedly corrupt the U. N. was in this affair and why those who opposed us toppling the regime in Iraq did so. They were all doing business with Iraq in ways that violated the sanctions and were on Saddam's payroll, more or less. We see things like a $174 million dollar missile system delivered as a boiler system and much, much more. Many of those who were pushing for the sanctions to be lifted were being more or less paid to do so. The worst was the constant chorus of those complaining of the tens of thousands of deaths caused by the sanctions. In fact, there were billions upon billions of dollars diverted from food and medicines to save those people (however, the number of deaths were also vastly inflated - Saddam accumulated the bodies of dead babies to re-used for photo-ops) and instead went for the dictator's palaces, proscribed purchases of weapons systems, and bribes and payoffs to foreign officials to look the other way and to argue Saddam's case on the world stage. A fine and interesting book that will provide you with information you won't easily get from the popular media.
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55 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A blot on humanity, June 12, 2006
This review is from: The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World (Hardcover)
In this eye-opening book, the author reveals how the UN has descended into a mire of hypocrisy, incompetence, corruption and criminality. The organization has utterly betrayed its noble founding mission to prevent wars and promote world peace and co-operation. It has in essence been transformed into a criminal gang that, amongst other activities, supports oppressive regimes, accepts bribes, enables terrorism, ignores the continued sexual exploitation of women by its so-called peacekeepers, failed to prevent the Rwandan genocide in 1994 or the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, scapegoats Israel and blames the USA for everything. The author examines the Oil for Food scandal in great detail, also discussing its implications for the future. He exposes the sympathetic relationship of the media covering it with the bureaucrats of the world body and how reluctant these journalists are to report on scandals like the aforementioned Oil for Food fraud. Ambassadors to the UN, even those from dirt-poor countries, live in opulent style, are exempt from sales tax and enjoy diplomatic immunity. This lifestyle is really funded by the American taxpayer since the US provides 22% of the UN budget. When its failures and corruption are made public the organization ducks and dives and does everything possible to escape accountability and avoid reform. It is a complete disgrace and a blot on humanity. Other books that confirm Shawn's revelations and provide further evidence are Global Deception by Joseph Klein, Tower Of Babble by Dore Gold, Inside The Asylum by Jed Babbin and The UN Gang by Juan Sanpedro. I highly recommend all of them to gain a comprehensive understanding of this loathsome and dangerous organization.
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26 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
where's the liberal outrage?, June 3, 2006
This review is from: The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World (Hardcover)
Eric Shawn has written a solidly researched book which informs and enlightens as it profoundly disturbs. It offers example after example (each one documented) of the hypocrisy, dysfunction and corruption that seems to have overtaken the World Body. As someone who considers herself liberal, I found myself aghast as Shawn's book describes the blatant hypocrisy inherant in the lives of self-indulgent excess that diplomats from even the poorest countries seem to enjoy under the UN auspices, even as as their fellow countrymen starve. Shawn's book raises interesting questions about the Iraqi war, which he interestingly points out might very well been avoided had the Security Council enforced its resolutions. One also has to ask oneself how France and Russia might have voted re. multi-lateral military action had they not been bribed by Sadaam. The book also makes the irrefutable argument that the UN has been utterly inept it dealing with some of most horrific international events of recent years ( (Bosnia,Rwanda, Darfur are but a few examples). And a hard-to-argue-with point Shawn makes is that in showing that it is either unwilling or incapable in dealing with international threats to security, the UN has ironically made the world a more dangerous place by empowering those would threaten it. As Shawn's book details, under the UN supervised Oil for Food program, billions of dollars in aid for the needy of Iraq were diverted to corrupt businessmen and corporations, as Sadamm essentially bribed the Security Council. Never mind the traditional well-worn argument that the UN cannot be blamed for the behavior of its member states. The undeniable fact remains that the program was run by the UN, and as such, the UN was responsbile for administering it in an efficient and ethical way. In this, it failed miserably, and the ensuing graft took food and medicine from needy children to further enrich corrupt businessmen and corporations. Where's the liberal outrage over this??? I wonder if those those readers who label Shawn anti-UN or "right wing" have perhaps not read the book in its entirety. Shawn concedes that there are many at the UN who still do their jobs with dedication and integrity... indeed part of his dedication is to those UN workers (and for the reviewer who takes exception to the quality of Shawn's reasoning and grammar, let me argue that indeed, one can work within an organization and not necessarily be synonymous with its beaurocracy.) Shawn also makes it clear that he believes there is a need for a world body, and that he is against-- not the UN or its founding ideals -- but a corrupt and inept UN. Hard to argue with, regardless of one's political affiliation I would think. He concludes the book by, possibly overly optimistically, holding out hope that aggressive reform will perhaps salvage the UN's relevance on the world stage. And to the reviewer/"reader" who states, I believe for the second time but this time with an added star(!), that in his television work Shawn shows bias and doesn't ever interview anyone, allow me to say that is hardly the case. Whenever I have had occasion to catch him on air, I have always found Shawn measured and solid in his broadcasting and I have personally seen him interview many key players in this UN saga, including Kofi Anaan, Benan Sevan and Paul Volker. As for broadcasting from outside the UN on First Avenue, my guess is that he probably goes live from a satellite truck, as I have seen many television reporters do. Perhaps instead of being so vested in unconditional, politically correct support of a clearly failing institution, people should read this book in its entirety and consider what it eloquently puts forth. And maybe, if, as Shawn hopes, reform is undertaken in a serious enough manner, the UN will actually survive all this to one day reclaim some form of relevance in the world forum. An important book that sounds a clarion call to action!
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