Republicans attack UN over poor record on disaster relief

Daily Telegraph ^ | 02/01/05 | James Langton

[hoosierham]

The ordinary people need to see Westerners in our own uniforms as the source of relief NOT the FALSE idea of the UN actually doing something useful.The UN is nothing but a tool of the petty tyrants and socialists and ought to be disbanded.

[o_zarkman44]

Exactly my sentiments. And furthermore........ Kofi Annan's skiing trip to the affluent ski resort called Jacksons Hole, Wyoming was kept hush hush because he didn't want to look like a rich capitalist to the poor nations he claims he represents by "knowing their pain".

UN= United Nothings UN= Ungrateful Nobodys

[o_zarkman44]

By limiting American and other western identity and exposure the UN can indeed take credit for the aid. Further a slap in the face to the nations that financially support most of the uN operations. How long will we continue to throw money into a corrupt UN?

I think we are doing the right thing by making our presence known and showing our ability to move while the UN shows it is totally UN-prepared and UN-co-ordinated to handle anything but the smallest disaster.

And where was the UN when Florida was hit by the hurricanes? They stayed home because they knew they couldn't run the show, but continued to criticize Americans for not "doing enough".

Kofi....while skiing...why didn't you support the reforestation effort in America by personally meeting a tree??? hehehe

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

Our people in uniform are the "good guys." God Bless them all.

[MEG33]

http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/
another good discussion on the UN.

[bboop]

"As far as the Aussies going blue, it isn't going to happen." We LOVE you spunky Aussies.

[Ginifer]

I think a lot of people have forgotten this article....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-323208,00.html

[First_Salute]

Rangoon

[Chgogal]

"In fact, it was revealled that, Mr Annan spent Christmas at the holiday home of James Wolfensohn, the president of the World Bank and a critic of the Bush administration, who owns a 160-acre ranch in the resort of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Only a handful of Mr Annan's most trusted advisers were allowed to know his location. One official said: "He did not want to be seen frolicking in the snow. It wouldn't look good." So anxious were UN staff that his first interview, which was with the CNN cable news channel almost three days after the tsunami struck, was conducted by telephone, via the UN's headquarters, and producers of the show were not told where Mr Annan was speaking from.

Last week Washington officials were angered when Jan Egeland, one of the first UN officials to comment on the disaster, declared the initial US aid contribution of $35 million (£18 million) to be "stingy". On Friday the White House announced that the American donation would rise to $350 million."

...........plus real live physical assets such as aircraft carriers, Navy Ships that make potable drinking water (90,000 gallons per day per ship that is 360,000 gallons per day), helicopters, C130s and private donations that are totaling tens of million.

Ahhh, may the UN RIP one day.

[Elsiejay]

I cannot quibble with the content of Frum's opinion, but I do wonder how he came to be the "Voice of Republicans" on this issue. Valid though his view may be, he does not speak for the RNC or the Bush administration.

[FreedomCalls]

From "Winds of Change."

The Toyota Taliban

by Joe Katzman at January 2, 2005 05:12 AM

I've often seen the term "Toyota Taliban" used to refer to non-governmental 'aid' agencies and U.N. bureaucrats. I've even used it myself on occasion. What does it mean, and where does it come from? Here's an excerpt from U.N. Insider's June 04 summary:

In a letter from Kabul, British satirical biweekly Private Eye reported on the private life of international community members in the Afghan capital. It claims that only 16% of the $4.5 billion pledged at the Tokyo conference goes to the government; the rest in the hands of NGO; a term used to refer to "the well heeled" international staff of the U.N. and aid organizations who reportedly spend time shopping for wide screen tvs and laptops at a new Sony Centre. "Most other shopkeepers only ever glimpse them as they are driven past in one of the $75,000 Toyota Landcruisers most of them owned by the U.N. -- known here as the Toyota Taliban," the letter says, adding that the cruisers ferried them from office to restaurant to guest house. It continues: "There's a swimming pool at a central U.N. compound and regular parties and barbecues. Memories of a party held by the DHL courier group last November, when an opium pipe was passed around by U.N. staff, are still fresh. If boredom strikes, aid workers might also sign up for Tai Chi and Argentinean tango lessons."

Additional on-the-scene reports from Instapundit's Afghanistan correspondent Professor John Robert Kelly of Boston University, Congressional Chief of Staff Joseph Eule, and a Roger L. Simon commenter with 18 years experience in Afghanistan add further depth to the picture, in both positive and negative ways. This excerpt from John's comment is especially instructive:

"My experience with the UN over the past 18 years is in Afghanistan. Here's what I've seen since 9/11...sorry for the garritous length.

....An enormous and highly profitable international aid apparatus has assembled in Kabul and has largely ignored the input of the Afghan people or their largely American liberators; the latter stand by in disbelief as taxpayers contributions to Afghanistan disappear into outfitting the extravagant needs of European aid community. The UN pays $400 a day (more than a year’s pay for an average Afghan ) plus a generous per diem. This enormous aid infestation has fostered rightful resentment. The UN and associated NGOs ran through years of aid funding in a matter of months. Now when money cannot be found for reconstruction, the UN issues reports criticizing the parsimonious Americans. Meanwhile, the UN and NGOs live like pashas. Hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for Afghans have been transformed into fleets of top-of the-line Toyota Landcruisers, villas and estates to house their workers complete with swimming pools, an endless supply of underpaid servants, luxurious furnishings (accented with looted antiquities,) the latest laptops, video equipment, cases of Johnny Walker Blue and the bling bling ...perks that might even seem excessive to Ken Lay are justifiable expenses charged off to the US. No accountability, no oversight. They don’t bother cooking the books, they don’t even keep the books!

Afghan citizens fear that vocal objections to this patronizing treatment will result in economic reprisals by the UN...."

Amazingly, the story gets worse as one continues. To say that John is upset about all this is a massive understatement.

Perhaps this should not be surprising with respect to the U.N., whose makeup and structure nearly guarantees this sort of behaviour. What is clear, however, is that non-governmental NGO "do-gooders" and international bodies deserve closer scrutiny than they usually receive, and require rigorous accountability mechanisms that include the threat of public exposure.