U.N.'s 'Broken Promises'

[Shammu]

U.N.'s 'Broken Promises'
Washington Times, Sept. 23, 2005

The 60th anniversary of the United Nations has been heavily overshadowed by Hurricane Katrina and Judge John Roberts' Supreme Court nomination. Nonetheless, a Hollywood actor and writer and a Washington insider are hoping their documentary on the United Nations will focus attention on how badly the "world's workshop for peace" has failed to live up to expectations. 

Actor Ron Silver, who transferred his celebrity from the left to right wings with a fiery speech at last year's Republican National Convention, was in Washington Tuesday night for the premiere of "Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60."   

The Citizens United Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, put up $500,000 to make the 65-minute film in just four months. After the screening at Georgetown's Loews 14 theater, the group sponsored a reception at the Sequoia restaurant in nearby Washington Harbour.   

Mr. Silver, who narrated and co-executive produced the film, said he had been wanting to do a project on the United Nations for years.   

"I grew up in New York and used to drive by the building all the time. It represented a much larger world for me," he said.   

As his interest in public policy grew, Mr. Silver said he came to see an "unbelievably yawning chasm between the ideals of [the United Nation's] charter and how it operated in reality. When you see its lack of effectiveness with genocides, and its corruption ... it's not simply that they were ineffective, it's that in many cases they were abetting the injustices."

He approached Citizens United President David Bossie, who once served as chief investigator into President Clinton's Whitewater dealings for the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. 

The movie was written, co-produced and directed by Hollywood writer Kevin Knoblock, who also directed Mr. Bossie's last film, "Celsius 41.11," a response to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."   

"This is a nonpartisan issue. Criticism of the U.N. is a no-brainer," said Mr. Knoblock, who added that he went out of his way to end the movie with constructive criticism and not just the opinions of "naysayers."   

"Broken Promises" is being released straight to DVD. Copies were given to each member of Congress this week.

Mr. Bossie, a Montgomery County volunteer firefighter in his spare time, said his upcoming projects include films on illegal immigration, U.S.-Iranian foreign policy and Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

U.N.'s 'Broken Promises' & Watch the trailer, link I just found It opens with javascript pop-up

My note; I plan on renting this movie, to see whats up.

[Soldier4Christ]

I would like to see this movie myself. In regards to the title "UN's Broken Promises", is there any promises they have made that they did keep?

[Shammu]

I would like to see this movie myself. In regards to the title "UN's Broken Promises", is there any promises they have made that they did keep?

For tens of thousands of refugees who have been waiting a decade for the United Nations to hold a referendum on the independence of Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara, the right to choose their fate is disappearing.

On a North African tour this week, France's president, Jacques Chirac, delighted Morocco by naming Western Sahara “the southern provinces of Morocco”. Most Saharawis expect nothing better of the French, Morocco's protector. It is more worrying for them that the United States, which used to act as a counterbalance, now appears to be jumping on board. Last month two oil companies, one French, one American, signed deals to prospect for oil in Western Saharan waters.
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The Sudan had a history of talks forestalled and promises not kept.
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Iranian President Mohammed Khatami complained last year, (2004) that of the $32 million in pledges, only about $17 million have actually been disbursed so far.

Iraq and Chechnya's 2003 appeals were both 91 percent funded, while Cote d'Ivoire only received 54 percent, Liberia 45 percent in 2003, and Mozambique only 15 percent of what was requested.

"This added up to 40 dollars in aid for each beneficiary in Chechnya, and 40 cents in Mozambique."
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Victims of the Bam earthquake a (2005) ago "are still living in tents because aid, has not materialised in the amounts pledged."
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Jan Egeland, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, raised a hornet's nest in 2005 by accusing rich nations of being "stingy" because most of them have failed to meet the U.N. target of 0.7 percent of gross national product (GNP) as official development assistance (ODA) to the world's poorer nations.

The United States took strong exception to his criticism even though he did not identify any countries by name. "The United States has given more aid in the last four years than any other nation or combination of nations in the world," Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters.

The United States gave 2.0 percent of its national income to rebuild Europe after World War II.