The Greatest Threat, Richard Butler
The Greatest Threat, Richard Butler
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The Greatest Threat
Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Growing Crisis of Global Security

Author: Richard Butler

Narrator: Robert Whitfield

Unabridged: 10 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/03/2010


Synopsis

Civilization may face no greater enemy than Saddam Hussein, and yet the major powers allowed Saddam to face them down. Here, Richard Butler tells the inside story of the UNs failed attempt to stop Saddam and explains the terrible cost of that failure. As the head of UNSCOM, the special United Nations commission that was supposed to regularly inspect Iraq for weapons violations, Butler had the authority to shut the Iraqis down if he caught them cheating. But that authority was undermined behind his back. Kofi Annan, in the name of diplomacy, agreed to Husseins outrageous demands. Russias foreign minister took secret payoffs from the Iraqis in exchange for his support. The French, eager to do business with the dictator, undercut American efforts to force Hussein to comply. Butler found himself the target of a major Iraqi and Russian propaganda campaign and, ultimately, alone.

About Richard Butler

Richard Butler was appointed to lead UNSCOM on July 1, 1997. From 1992 to 1997, he was the Australian ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations. In 1994 Butler was elected president of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. In 1995 he chaired the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, and in 1996 Butler led the United Nations to adopt a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Joseph

This is an important historical testimony about the weapons inspections of Iraq in the late 1990's. Butler led UNSCOM for two years and dealt with Iraq's various forms of non-compliance, as well as significant weakness and delusion in the UN. Anyone who thinks that Iraq was complying with the UN nee......more

Goodreads review by Del

I thought this was a pretty good book that documented why Richard Butler thought Saddam's Iraq was such a serious threat to world peace. Although he ended up not being a supporter of the Iraq War, this book clearly shows how deceptive Saddam's government was when it came to the issue of WMD in Iraq,......more

Goodreads review by Hans

Facinating account of what the UN inspectors had to go through when dealing with Iraq and the internal politics of the UN.......more