We Did Nothing: Why The Truth Doesn't Always Come Out When The UN Goes In

by Linda Polman

In recent years our newspapers and televisions have brought us stories of the failure of the UN to keep the peace in the modern world. During the 1990s Linda Polman visited peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Haiti and Rwanda to try and understand how resolutions are made and how the peace is lost.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, War, Africa, Journalism

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Velvetink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Particularly gut wrenching in the last chapter on Rwanda and the author's time there during the massacre. If you discredit the UN then you should read this book and see why they are inaffective - if only western countries like the US pay their fees they might be equipped to have better solutions.


of 20 books for $10.

[Lanier · Rating 5 out of 5]

2-12-12
—Prologue xvi-xx


5—6—How the Big Five [U.S., France, U.K., China and Russia] manipulate votes for or against certain platforms. We have, on many occasions refused billion dollars to some of those temporary 10 countries.

This is exactly what happened in 1991 with Yemen, which abstained on a particular vote, so WE denied a $60 billion, literally killing off their flower exports –as they held so many “checks and balances” that by the time their flowers arrived they were all dead. During this same instance, Colombia chose to agree with the vote so they would receive

6-7—Blue Helmets Empty Show
Watching not doing SHELL GAME, where money goes to countries but not real authority


9-10 Clinton’s asinine “The U.N. must learn to say ‘NO!’”
While Polman claims this is ridiculous since, “The U.N. can’t say NO is the Member States say Yes.”

However, with the big five having more sway, perhaps Clinton was berating HIMSELF? Or putting pressure on those other four.



18-27 Searching Mogadishu for “News”
29-30—Ass Backwards Ops

While Bush approved Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1992 “invasion”, with designs for the UN to replace them [Operation Continue Hope] once they restored hijacked Humanitarian Food deliveries, they refused to truly set these peacemaking efforts since they refused to try to disarm or collect weapons BEFORE leaving. Knowing the UN needed this done first, this became one of their first missions, which failed miserably because the Blue Helmets were NOT TRAINED military, they were coming from all over the world with no uniformed skills for creating a peace once the US military had restored food deliveries.

D’oh!

So Clinton’s “The U.N. must learn to say No,” bullshit in pulling out some of the 20, 000 military which led to mass exodus by others, leaving Somalia worse for ware.

32—Right Clinton, so what, if 3,000 Somalis are dying every day even though U.N. was sending food in. [this, of course BEFORE Clinton was Prez, so quite easy for him to criticize after the fact! Americans are gullible and stupid, not realizing that this was one of the FEW GOOD THINGS, Bush did. Of course, no true “Hand-Off” strategy, like many of his administration’s schemes which have left the world much less stable, more dangerous and all but completely f*&^ed!

Still, Clinton wasn’t any angel!

Ghetto vs. Bel Air Un Quarters

One of the main tenants of the U.N. is equality, while it seems, those developing countries, while sending bodies and aid were living in shanties and slum-like conditions while those from the top 20 were living in the lap of luxury. The inconsistencies and paradoxical natures of the institution reflect how countries will react or respond to the big wigs in the future.


Current updates on Somalia—“Somalia’s Rare Window of Hope”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-afric...
Dec. 13, 2011

—a Profile from BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-afric...
Nov. 21, 2011

Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-afric...
Return to Fun in the Sun—after al-Shabab Ousted from Mogadishu [Nov. 26, 2011]

48-bottom - 53 Pakis, Bengalis and Indians abused

63- “There’s cash in chaos.”

bottom 64-5 “First Blood”ers and Lifers turned Halliburtons

73-4 Mark’s leg and killing David Morris

76 - “The danger money is higher.” - Butch
New Peace Mission are about to be approved, and though Butch, a mercenary-turned-businessman couldn’t tell you exactly where Bosnia is, he’s hoping to be sent there first because he knows the wages are “better than here - [than Somalia].
“The danger money is higher.”

101-4 Screwed the pooch in Rwanda 1993 and a no-brainer to HELP 100s of 1,000s in Haiti under embargoes that do not effect the Morally Corrupt Leaders [forgot the acronym].

103 - dilapidated Haitian “army” “prepares” for U.S. invasion

108-110 Michel Francois and Emmanuel “Toto” Constant

111-12 Locals asking $1.60 for “body” locations, and some upset since they already KNEW of some of these bodies.

136 - Props Required for a Democratic Republic because without first installing a Presidential Palace, the “set will not look real enough.”

It appears all these costly half-assed maneuvers in order to try to convince SOMEONE that Democracy is being established, while more lives are being lost.

144 - ALL
Democracy Facade Crumbling
After his homecoming, little is heard or seen of Aristide. He spends his days aimlessly, surrounded by his American bodyguards, in the suffocating Palace: the air conditioning has been stolen too. There is no money for governing. And probably, once the plumber has been paid to reconnect the water, no money for new air-conditioning.

The hastily assembled American set is starting to wobble. In places it is threatening to collapse before the show has even begun. At the booted feet of a GI lies the body of a Haitian soldier, deposited as an offering by a grateful people.

‘No, no, no! That’s not what we do in a democracy! No, no , no, very bad!’ yells the GI, in an effort to leap the language barrier between him and the lynch mob. To emphasize his point, he waves his forefinger reprovingly under their noses. They look up at him in adoration, their sticks still dripping with blood.

Most Haitians seem not to have grasped the fact that last week’s ‘Fad’. Saddams and Fidels have become this week’s allies in restoring democracy. Still assuming that the US has come to annihilate the Haitian army, the people are spontaneously offering to lend the Liberators a hand. In some places they have been storming barracks and ripping ‘Fad’ soldiers to pieces. In others the army has evaporated, as the Pentagon had predicted. The soldiers have taken off their uniforms and gone to ground.



145 - SAME BS Non-disarming policies with these Army Asshole - doing more harm than good for those following - similar to Somalia 4-11-94 debacle.

146 —¶ 2 to 151 Dan Brown’s Insurance Fraud Investigator
“There’s cash in chaos.” REPEATED sentiment 147


151 Laws Against Zombies + Indian Dismemberment Case

153 — “Somalia Revisited”

155—60 —Max’s Kingdom — US Special Forces’ Hubris in Haiti

162—Max’s Ultimate Arrogance and Ignorance
S.Fs supposedly training new Police Force, however simply another false solution as no real order is being established.

165— bottom — 169 top Mad Max Harbors Criminals from Former Regime
Some of these 75 may have been “victims” like those in London’s One Day Soldiers Came.

175-6 Being “judged”? by a Buffoon
The entire prospects of an old-than-God, Judge in some dilapidated tin shack, the fate of an accused murderer???
The farce of “justice” as the blind, deaf and dumb voice of treason who hadn’t read the accused’s files because he forgot his glasses and he only asked one question, “What’s his name?” three times before pronouncing him GUILTY.

176—top “The crucified hangs with his feet on a skull.”

177 bottom — 178 Investors Flee from Goofy “Marxist” Mayor of Port-au-PRince
“I am a militant. A militant does not need to have plans.”
I know I shouldn’t be surprised with some of these outlandish remarks from some strangely, trust into power people. —178 Mayor

179— Miracles or Cheap Tricks

183-4— Returning to Rwanda Fight to Regain Tourists to Gorilla Reserves
Difficult to get people excited about returning to the Ruwenzori mountains, which border Uganda and Zaire.

192—3 Hutu Refugees burning 1,050 tons of protected woods a day in or near Gorilla Reserves of

193 —¶ 3 The “Wood Mafia”
All aid sent to these refugees ended up in the hands of the worst elements who then ransomed or sold to highest bidder. Remember Saramago’s “Blindness”, where idiots begin stealing anything of value, which was ludicrous since technically they were never getting out, so what would these “new” currencies be good for?

In this Hutu situation, of course, they believe they’ll be returning to to power in ANY country so this flex of muscles seems useful, though totally unnecessary. You could almost understand their motivation for harming the “other”, but this withholding of vitals for their OWN means they desire power over all those they can exert over.

194 -



1-16-12
Though I'm only about halfway through, this book is Eye-Opening! Again, it's the kind of "humanitarian" BS that makes me want to go there and see and do for myself.

[Usha Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Polman provides an eye-opening account of how the UN really works, how powerful nations manipulate it for their own gain, and who pays the price. She was on hand during the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and so many other humanitarian disasters to which the UN tried its best to respond with always mixed results—sometimes just bad results—and so is able to provide first-hand accounts and insightful, boots-on-the-ground reportage. By providing a window on the politics that drive the UN, the reader comes to understand why a well-intentioned UN always seems ineffectual when it's most needed.

This book is singly the most harrowing piece of journalism I've ever read and it indelibly changed my understanding of how the world works. I'd recommend it to anyone who is serious about understanding world affairs.

[Kelly Satara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 229-page book purporting to be a comprehensive and critical analysis of the failures of the United Nations missions in Somalia, Haiti and Rwanda, this work massively fails to live up to my expectations. The author, an inept Dutch reporter who seems to prefer schmoozing with the corrupt upper class of developing countries to actually learning about the situations she's being paid to cover, writes in a disorganized and confusing fashion, failing to provide any sort of historical background to the conflicts in question and demonstrating a shocking lack of compassion for the life-or-death struggles of the local people she encounters in her travels. I don't know why anyone deemed this blather worthy of publishing.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The international good intentions and high expectations when the UN was set up, have been subverted by greed, self interest, disinterest and ideology. When major nations demand action but refuse to fund or resource action - what hope do civilians have.

While it's a brief discussion of the UN, it's members and it's resolutions; it will help the layman understand the processes and diplomatic complexity that must be overcome for anything to occur.

I had a friend who's husband had been part of a UN force overseas and it helped her understand his frustration when he returned home.

[Faith Swords · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a good job of capturing the failure of the United Nations' peacekeeping forces to keep the peace. It also gets into the structural reasons for the failures. Mostly, it's an indictment of the global community for failing to protect innocents.

[Sakina · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are still unclear about what the UN does and how it does it, then this book will open your eyes wide. Front-line reporting mixed with astute observations, this book is a frank, fact-based description of the UN. Although written some time ago, the ideas and themes are the same of the current and past conflicts: they really don't do anything.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scary and disturbing account of the futility of UN Peacekeeping horrors - unimaginable horrors- in places like Rwanda, Unforgettable scenes.

[Rama Thoopal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant scathing book that is part hilarious and mostly devastating. The overwhelming feeling of being utterly helpless as children die brought me to tears.

[Cookiemonsterr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literally just say you want to screw captain max and move on

[Simon Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE GREAT SCAPEGOAT

Written by the Dutch reporter Linda Polman, "We Did Nothing" professes to be a "clear and impassioned" book, it is not. Nor does "it brilliantly expose how these resolutions are made and what they mean in practice". Rather it is a collection of reportage, translated into English by Roy Bland, which details the authors experiences visiting three U.N. missions (Somalia, Haiti and Rwanda) as well as the U.N. headquarters in New York.

Polman quite reasonably identifies that the idea of the U.N. being an independent entity is nonsense, that President Clinton's at the U.N. where he lectured it on the need to learn to say no was shameful and ludicrous. The U.N. is simply an expression of the will of it's member states, in particular the five permanent members. It can do nothing without their say so, and without their resources (military and financial). To suggest otherwise is complete nonsense.

The register her reportage takes conjures up the image of a go-getting member of the middle class being teleported to a war-zone. It quickly irritates. The lack of sympathy and empathy for those in the war zone, or those sent in with blue helmets to achieve the impossible, verges on the derisible. Her apparent hero worship for the U.S. special forces Captain Max ("if they don't cooperate shoot `em") in Haiti who is responsible for "Operation Restore Democracy" in one of that forlorn countries provinces is pathetic, though I was not entirely sure if there was not an element of well-disguised irony about it?

The only exception to this is when Polman is confronted with Hutu refugees on the borders of Rwanda. She actually portrays the Zambian Battalion of blue helmets as human, and as people trying to do, with limited resources, more than the nothing of her title. But even there her callous impatience with a ten-year-old boy whom she deems to be to "plump" for her compassion left this reader feeling more than a little nauseated.

The whole book also appears a bit sloppy; for example the text is interspersed with quotations from newspapers which is fine, except that they are in some cases re-quoted a second and even third (or perhaps it only felt like three times?). I've no idea why anyone bothered to translate this from the Dutch? Perhaps at the time there was deemed to be a demand for writing on the U.N. that couldn't be supplied from English language sources? I suspect that the two quid Oxfam received when I purchased this might be among the better things this book achieved.

[Steve Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

After living in developing countries for bout 20 years the operation of the UN agencies in those environments invites little morse than disgust and disdain. Corrupt, poorly led, inept at almost every level and above all tremendously wasteful it is very difficult to see the organization as a force for good in any way. It seems to exist solely for the self aggrandizement and financial benefit of the masses of UN bureaucrats who spend their time on a "mouse wheel" looking busy, getting nowhere but spending huge sums as avidly as possible as that seems to be the criterion for success; spend the money, no matter what. That they achieve little is manifestly obvious to anyone who has spent time watching them in their "work", and that applies equally to the army of NGO's who hang onto their coat tails. In fact much of the UN's interference, called Aid has a negative impact. Hardly the touchstone for a "force for good in the world."

The only little nagging doubt that might have been hiding in the back of my mind somewhere is the one that says that perhaps the UN Peacekeepers might be different. there were of course those terrible incidents in Bosnia and their failures in other places but.....! Then I read this book that covers the Un's commitments in Somalia, Haiti and Rwanda. Well any reservation is gone. The accounts in this book are almost so unbelievable that they could readily be seen as high farce; that is is the suffering they cause were not so profound. Indeed it seems that the sole purpose of the UN in this regards is to serve the interests of members of the security council and to provide a well oiled source of funds for the militaries if third world countries like, Nepal, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh which are always ready to provide the numbers. Unfortunately they are always employed without the resources or direction to achieve anything and despite the dedication and the courage of the men on the ground, indeed the Un has been complicit in monumental disasters, including the genocide in Rwanda and the introduction of Cholera in Haiti.

The organization of course is never accountable for any of its actions hiding behind diplomatic immunity. I am further encouraged in my view that the organization should simply be disbanded and their luxury offices in New York turned over to Public housing. That at least would do someone some good. The Un seems to me on balance to serve NO useful purpose on behalf of humanity, and that at outrageous expense.

[Lis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una frase in quarta copertina descrive alla perfezione quello che poi si leggerà:

Le risoluzioni dell'ONU - sostiene un diplomatico americano - sono come gli hot dog. Se sai come li fanno ti passa la voglia di mangiarli.

In questo saggio i caschi blu vengono dipinti come un qualcosa tra l'impotente e l'inutile, ma ancora peggio ne escono i paesi "civilizzati": tributi all'ONU non pagati, nessuna volontà di collaborare e al contrario di mettere i bastoni tra le ruote. Politica, soldi e guerra, alla fine i risultati sono sempre gli stessi e le buone intenzioni non possono nulla.
Un duro reportage in particolare sulle missioni dei caschi blu in Ruanda, Somalia e Haiti, una testimonianza di morte, sofferenza e impotenza di fronte a ciò che accade.
Citando l'autrice parlando del genocidio in Ruanda dove i caschi blu non possono intervenire:

Sono testimone del peggiore abuso del principio di non intervento contenuto nella Carta dell'ONU: queste sono le autorità legali.

Meravigliosamente nauseante.

[Sandra Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid reader and former member of the Canadian Forces, I started a Remembrance Day tradition several years back; every year at Remembrance Day I read a book about the military or military service, including UN missions and accounts of civilians in wartime situations.
Linda Polman's account of the multiple failures of the UN to protect civilians in (pre-earthquake) Haiti, Rwanda, and Somalia. Anyone interested in politics, world history, current events should read this; if you read or watch the news, you should read this.

[Gwilym · Rating 4 out of 5]

A liberal attack on the failings of the UN - definitely written with a bias but that is forgiven through the exposure of both the UN and its benefactors. Also a clear salute to those nations who do contribute to the "united" nations like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh - and notably Zambia in their Rwandan role. An easy read which gives good access to the somewhat fickle world of contracting around war, can be appreciated - as far as possible - by the normal reader.

[Olin · Rating 4 out of 5]

To understand the mumbo jumbo of INGO work or the international work, that might look somewhat fancy and contributing, but the fact is, just push more to the tension and aggrevating process of independency.