Tower of Babble: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos

Refreshingly free of the usual conspiratorial tone taken by books critical of the UN. Gold, the former Israeli ambassador, argues - quite convincingly, I think - that the UN contributes to a lot of turmoil, not because of any malicious grand strategy, but rather because of a misbegotten idea that it must maintain neutrality at any cost.

I daren't read it before I go to sleep, too upsetting. At first I thought/hoped Gold was biased (against everyone who is not pro-Israel), but the evidence he provides is consistent: the UN fails to protect the weak against the strong.

Still have half the book to read, having only read about Rwanda and Srebernica so far....Another illusion gone.

A very nice compendium of damning facts. For those unaware of the collected information, this book can be quite the eye-opender. For those who are, this book can serve as excellent reference. For those who don't care, and still think the UN holds any value to mankind, a pox on you. Gold offers something of a solution to the problem that is the UN, but honestly, it's quite grim.

Tower of Babble. How the United Nations has Fueled Global Chaos. Dore Gold. Crown Forum, NY, 2004.

Half the Babbling Story…. July 12, 2006

Dore Gold tells the story of the corruption and failure of the dream of world organization and peace. Created in the aftermath of World War II, “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,” the United Nations, the Allies against the fascist powers, has been infiltrated and hamstrung by despotic, racist, authoritarian regimes to the point of not being a mere irrelevancy but an active irritant and cause of international disorder.

Given Gold’s background as an Israeli diplomat, much of his focus and concern is on the anti-Semitism of the Arab and Third World block during the last few show more decades and its continual usurpation and undermining of the human rights machinery of the United Nations. While many observers might argue with the details of Gold’s critique, alleging perhaps that he hates the United Nations, distorts the facts, and so forth, I must say his animus runs deeper. The UN has failed to live up to the ideals of its Founding Fathers, and subsequent leaders, in the West and East, have failed to work diligently enough to develop the UN into a sufficiently humane and democratic system of international cooperation and governance. Without such strenuous efforts at developing the UN into something other than an instrument or tool of national policies, the UN shouldn’t entirely be blamed alone for its miserable results. In any event, there is plenty of blame to go around. Mr. Gold never recognizes that Western powers must bear their part of the load.

However, I agree fully with him in this regard:

“It is time to recognize that it has utterly failed to achieve its founders’ goals to halt aggression and assure world order” (238).

Reinvigorating the UN, as he says, may indeed be a long way off but it is the task that lies at hand. The Allies must summon the will to do it or create another international coalition worthy of their ideals. The sooner, the better.

Frederick Glaysher
http://www.fglaysher.com show less

NO OF PAGES: 328 SUB CAT I: Terrorism SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: A United Nations insider exposes how anti-American and antidemocratic forces have hijacked the UN and put America and its allies at risk
Politicians and pundits are imploring the United States to give the UN a major role in American foreign policy. But as bestselling author Dore Gold reveals in Tower of Babble, it is absurd to look to the UN to fight aggression, combat terrorism, and preserve global order. The UN is an abject failure?a fatally flawed organization that has actually accelerated and spread global chaos. And it is dominated by anti-Western forces, dictatorships, state sponsors of terrorism, and America's worst enemies.

In his New York Times show more bestseller Hatred's Kingdom, Gold blew the lid off Saudi support for terrorism, and now he uncovers an even more important story. As a former UN ambassador, he has a unique insider's perspective on why the UN fails to address?or in many cases exacerbates?the very problems it was created to solve. He shows how President Franklin Roosevelt's great vision has been corrupted beyond recognition.

Using internal UN documents and classified cables, Gold presents stark evidence of how the UN ignores mass murder, emboldens terrorists, props up dictators, and otherwise betrays its mission to protect the world's security. Tower of Babble reveals:

? Why America can?and indeed must?go outside the UN to address the most serious threats to national security

? How the UN jeopardizes the success of the war on terror?and how terrorist groups have actually penetrated UN organizations

? How, in the space of a year, the UN turned a blind eye to two horrifying episodes of mass murder?and why the slaughters could have been prevented

? How the oil-for-food scandal only hints at the UN's repeated failures to deal with Saddam Hussein's Iraq

? How the UN's new international criminal court threatens America's sovereignty

? How the UN's startling record of failure has led Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton, and George W. Bush to bypass the UN Security Council

As this hard-hitting book reveals, it is, quite simply, a myth that the United Nations is a positive force for world order or the "sole source of international legitimacy." And unless the United States and its allies recognize this now, they will continue to put themselves at risk.NOTES: Purchased from the Amazon MarketPlace. SUBTITLE: How the United Nations has Fueled Global Chaos show less