Surviving the United Nations

Robert B. Adolph

Description

This is the gripping true story of 4 intense years in the life of a US Army Special Forces soldier, who joins the UN and then goes on to an assignment in Iraq at the time of the deadly jihadist bombing attack of the UN headquarters.
Other missions in some of the world's most dangerous countries include murderous child-soldiers; blood diamonds; a double hostage-taking; the rape of innocents; an invasion by brutal guerrillas; an emergency aerial evacuation; a desperate mission to recover hundreds of prisoners; tribal gunfights and unusual kidnappings; refugee camp violence; a deadly jihadist suicide bombing attack; and institutional corruption.
The author has the unusual distinction of being twice fired and twice promoted by the UN. Discovering "why" makes for fascinating reading.

Sujets

• Political Science

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 16 avril 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780578505862
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Praise forSurviving the United Nations

Robert Adolph is the real deal, a Special Forces oïcer, United Nations security expert, and scholar in the most dangerous countries of the world. His life maered in a way that those of the famous often don’t. —Robert Kaplan,New York Timesmultiple best-selling author

No rose-colored glasses here. Bob Adolph lays bare his unique experiences in pursuit of idealistic humanitarian purposes while in some of the toughest places on the planet. Sometimes his most dangerous opponents were in the very organization of which he was a part. To paraphrase from the book,Lone- some Dove, “he survived because he dealt with things as he found them...not as he wished they would be.” —Peter J. Schoomaker, General, US Army (retired), former Chief of Sta of the US Army

Bob Adolph has wrien a dramatic and engaging record of his early years of service with the UN. His recollections of diïcult and dangerous assignments in Sierra Leone, Yemen, and Iraq are vividly portrayed. In fact, he nearly paid with his life while trying to convince senior UN management that their security precautions in Baghdad in 2003 were woefully inadequate. These are wrenching yet illuminating examples of working inside the UN system. The devastating suicide bombing aack in Baghdad—killing 22 and wounding over 150—is painfully yet accurately described and places both

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the author and his often-startling book in categories by them- selves. The very well wrien concluding chapters are a testa- ment to Bob’s refusal to quit until the îght is done. —Gregory Starr, former Director of the US State Department’s Bu- reau of Diplomatic Security, Assistant Secretary of State, and UN Under-Secretary General of the Department of Safety and Security

Colonel Bob Adolph is the epitome of the Special Forces of- îcer: inînitely competent, completely unappable, and ab- solutely loyal. For well over two decades he served in the US Army’s Special Operations and Military Intelligence commu- nities. Following his retirement from the active military he chose yet another service organization, the United Nations. There he made an indelible mark in several of the globe’s most dangerous regions. He evacuated Freetown in Sierra Leone just ahead of invading Revolutionary United Front guerillas; later he consulted successfully on tribal kidnappings in Ye- men; still later, he led the UN’s security establishment in Iraq at the time of a devastating jihadist suicide bombing aack. His memoir often reads like a cracking good adventure novel. But this is no work of îction—it is, instead, history. —Ben Lawton, Associate Professor, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University, and co-editor of the bookRevisioning Terrorism: A Humanistic Approach

Bob Adolph served as a military oïcer with solid training and experience in Special Operations, leading to his designa- tion as one of Robert Kaplan’s “Imperial Grunts” in Yemen. Ex- tensive academic pursuits round out his intellectual creden- tials. His UN-Iraq experience, where I îrst knew him, thrust Bob both under the gun and into the spotlight because of a massive suicide bombing. His actions that day saved many lives, perhaps even my own. He later performed UN Security Advisor duties in Cairo, where I beneîted greatly from his guidance. He went on to serve as the UN Chief of the Middle

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East and North Africa in New York, where he focused heav- ily on the Libya crisis. His extraordinarily insightful book is unusually sensitive, brutally candid, and a must-read for any- one striving to understand the United Nations. —Paul Johnson,former UN security oïcer and survivor of the 19 August 2003 Baghdad suicide bombing aack on the Canal Hotel

In this engrossing tale, Bob Adolph has provided us with a remarkable account of his service with the UN as a senior security advisor in some of the most challenging and dan- gerous countries in the world. I came to appreciate his re- sourcefulness, dedication, and decency while heading up the development and humanitarian work of the UN in Yemen. I also witnessed his courageous actions, which saved lives and were crucial to facilitating our mission. Later, following the tragic aack on our premises in Baghdad, he summoned up a dierent kind of courage by speaking truth to power, tak- ing on a Kaaesque bureaucracy that sought a scapegoat for reasons of political expediency and to cover up the serious shortcomings of senior UN oïcials. A larger than life îgure, Bob’s professionalism, integrity, and commitment to the val- ues and principles of the UN are on display throughout this noteworthy book. —James W. Rawley, former UN Assistant Secretary-General

This is a noteworthy and very personal story of what hap- pened well before, during and after the August 19, 2003 aack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, the Canal Hotel. The actual tale is known only to a few, and there is nobody still alive beer suited to tell it than Bob Adolph. He provided im- mediate leadership in the rubble, saving lives and restoring some semblance of order amidst the chaos and confusion in the wake of the suicide bombing that devastated the UN glob- ally. Bob expertly details a critically important chapter in the larger history of the War of Terror via his narrative. A riveting

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book, Bob’s tenacity, vulnerability, and integrity are at turns heartbreaking and inspiring. —Christopher Ankersen, Clinical Associate Professor, New York University Center for Global Aairs and editor of the bookUnder- standing Global Terror

For many years Bob Adolph has been a trusted colleague and friend. As someone who knows him, allow me to inform his readers that he will not surrender until the truth prevails. During the tragic Baghdad bombings, I was his Chief of Desk at UN Headquarters in New York. Bob’s reections of events before, during, and after these aacks are accurate. He reg- ularly communicated warnings to his superiors in both Iraq and New York concerning UN sta vulnerability in Bagh- dad. Those warnings were ignored. The facts that are înally unveiled in his book are wholly the result of his character: a never-quit nature, professionalism, and ethical standards of conduct. This tragic yet fascinating record of actual events represents his heartfelt aempt to expose the truth to anyone with the eyes to see it. Every UN sta member should read this book. —Annee Leijenaar,Head of Peace Operations and Peacebuilding, Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria Oïce, South Africa

Finally, a book that captures the devastating eects of the massive jihadist vehicular suicide bomb aack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, 2003. Chief Securi- ty Advisor Bob Adolph skillfully details the gripping story behind outrageous institutional failures to exercise its duty of care to protect sta members. As part of the Security Cell in Baghdad leading up to the devastation that left 22 people dead and many more horriîcally injured, I witnessed Bob’s daily gargantuan struggle to convince management that there was a credible threat to the UN in Baghdad. Expert security advice based on detailed risk assessments were consistently

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ignored leading to the single worst preventable tragedy in UN history. Just over a month later we faced another aack that înally drove the us out of Iraq. A must read for all who want an insider view of what transpired during the organization’s darkest days and a good man îghting to do the right thing. Powerfully argued, full of critically important observations and insights, the author takes you through a tumultuous, and at times painful early career stretching from West Africa to the Middle East and more. —Andries Dreyer,former UNICEF Regional Security Oïcer for the Middle East and North Africa and current Global Director of Security Training for World Vision International

As a result of years of practical experience in global conict and defense, Robert Adolph expertly unravels the complexi- ties of the idealistic intentions of the United Nations as well as the dialectical tensions resulting from aempts at their implementation. Through artful narrative, Robert transports readers through the nuances of deep-seated historical con- icts between actors across multiple national boundaries, legal and political systems, linguistic challenges, and vastly diering cultural and organizational assumptions. Readers, both highly informed and desiring to be so, will beneît from the îrsthand lessons sorely won through decades of service while grappling with the multi-faceted organization that is the United Nations. Robert’s book serves to make deeper meaning of the many conicts in which the organization is involved and its aempts to fulîll its mission and keep peace. Any academic interested in gaining greater knowledge of how United Nations’ îeld missions in humanitarian, devel- opment, political, and peacekeeping operations are actually accomplished will gain signiîcant insight. —Elena Tartaglione Steiner, PhD, Center for Strategic Communi- cation, Arizona State University and Steinbeis, Hochschule, Berlin

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Lieutenant Colonel Bob Adolph’s unforgeable and brutally frank history provides graphic meaning to the unaributed quote, “You are either at the table or on the menu.” —William Garrison,Major General, US Army (retired), former Commanding General of the Joint Special Operations Command and the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School

A superb, painfully honest and moving account of a life lived amid the great and lesser crises of our time, this book cap- tures not only stunning violence and grim tragedies on multi- ple continents, but also does a great service by demonstrating what happens when on-the-ground urgency collides with aid bureaucracies. Bob Adolph’s îrst-hand account of UN oper- ations is alternately inspiring, enlightening, and infuriating (the laer when a failed hierarchy grasps about for a scape- goat in Iraq). A former special-operations soldier and globally recognized security expert, the author has given us the best- by-far nuts-and-bolts account of organizations seeking to do good, only to end up mired in a bloodbath. In short, a vital book by a very good man. —Ralph Peters,New York Times best-selling author ofBeyond Terror and Endless War

In addition to his fascinating tours of duty in Sierra Leone and Yemen, former UN Chief Security Advisor Robert Adolph paints a compelling portrait of the stunning lack of Unit- ed Nations security in Baghdad following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. He makes a convincing case that high oï- cials at the UN failed to act on voluminous pressing warnings regarding their vulnerability. The net result, which he portrays in riveting highly personal detail, is the devastating after-eects of a massive jihadist vehicular suicide bombing aack that all but destroyed their headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, 2003.

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The aack killed twenty-two and wounded multiples more. This horrendous bombing—and another over a month lat- er—ultimately compelled the UN to withdraw from Iraq. This book is highly recommended for readability, pacing, and de- tailed narrative description. —L. Paul Bremer III, US Ambassador and former Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq

I was fortunate to serve on active duty with Lieutenant Col- onel Bob Adolph in Special Forces. He is an outstanding US public and international civil servant who dedicated his life îrst to country and then to humanity on a truly global scale. I was enormously impressed with his candor and detailed descriptions of events that changed the world. An excellent rendition of true stories that the public only rarely sees about how real history is made. —Joe E. Kilgore, Colonel, US Army, Special Forces (retired) (PhD)

A riveting account of the challenges and perils faced by UN personnel all over the globe, where humanitarian and de- velopment work are all too often enmeshed in Great Game power-plays and bureaucratic turf bales. Chief Bob Adolph shines a very human light on stories that too often remain in the shadows. —Diarmuid O’Donovan, Director of Emergency Measures, Gov- ernment of Yukon, Canada

This book is compulsory reading for anyone thinking of serv- ing in, currently serving, or has served in multinational orga- nizations with overseas missions and îeld oïces. The com- bination of Bob’s unique personal snapshots in time in some of the most challenging security locations in the world culmi- nating in his tragic account of the Baghdad bombing of the

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Canal Hotel, highlights a UN system where accountability is as nebulous, elusive, and îckle as the peace that it is chartered to achieve. Surviving the United Nations makes for a truly compelling and thought-provoking read. —Christian Shorter,former Head of Global Security, World Bank Group

Bob Adolph was one of the few people I met in Baghdad in the spring of 2003 that unquestionably knew what he was doing. As security chief for the UN mission based out of the Canal Hotel, he adroitly juggled the diïcult task of maintain- ing the UN’s autonomy while working with coalition forces and Iraqis. It was my privilege to work with Bob during this period. His performance, along with that of the sta from the World Food Program, was enough to restore your faith in the UN. The suicide bombing aack on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad came on the heels of his multiple warnings to senior UN managers in both Iraq and New York. What followed was the scapegoating of the one man who had “actually” done his best to prevent the aack. Lesser men would have quit, but Bob went on to serve in yet other conict zones, always doing things right and making it happen. His chronicle is a tale of a remarkable American whose eorts in numerous failed states have made the world a beer place. —Martin N. Stanton, Colonel, US Army (retired), author ofSo- malia on 5$ a DayandRoad to Baghdad

Chief Security Advisor Bob Adolph provides truly remark- able insights into hazardous UN operations in West Africa and Yemen, as well as the tragic event in Iraq that shocked the entire UN community worldwide in 2003. He possesses a unique and valuable perspective that highlights the good- the bad-and the ugly. Bob provides the reader with blow-by- blow accounts of gunîghts, terrorist bombings, kidnappings, emergency evacuations, and so much more. His narrative is a

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gripping read and serves as a true testament to the men and women serving in some of the world’s most dangerous UN duty stations. —Mick LorenZen,former Director of Regional Operations, UN Department of Safety and Security

UN Chief Security Advisor Bob Adolph writes with a sense of both honesty and integrity, two of the commonly found characteristics of former soldiers who know the true meaning of humility and professionalism. Having worked with Bob, I know some of what he has scribed îrst-hand. After reading Surviving the United Nations, I was left with the feeling that he will help some people înd a sense of closure, while pro- viding others with a voice. For me, the book illuminates some of the reasons why I became disillusioned with the organiza- tion for what it was, as opposed to what I had always hoped it would be. For that alone, I commend him for his painstaking hours of reliving some extraordinarily emotionally charged episodes in his life. Above all, everything that he has writ- ten is true! This is something that is sadly lacking in this age of “hero tells all” tales. I only hope this has been a cathartic journey for Bob, as a lesser man would have been broken by some of the disingenuous UN decision makers he so well and loyally served. This book is a “must read” for anyone current- ly serving or considering a career in international service, hu- manitarian aid pursuits, or commercial security. The lessons learned on display are invaluable. —Richard C. Mitchelson, Executive Chairman, AKE International Ltd.

On the afternoon of August 19, 2003, a suicide bomber de- stroyed the UN Headquarters in Baghdad killing twenty-two and wounding over one hundred îfty sta members and vis- itors. Not only was the oïce in ruins, but also the UN eort to demonstrate to the world that it could be an eective player

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in post-war Iraq. The searing events of that day, and the insti- tutional failure of the organization to exercise its duty of care to protect its employees, are ably told by Bob Adolph, who was the UN Security Chief in Baghdad when the aack took place. In describing his service prior to the aack, Bob pro- vides a fascinating account of his experience in Sierra Leone and Yemen, where he demonstrated the bravery and ability which led to his Iraq assignment. This gripping account of Bob’s unjust scapegoating and subsequent bale is inspiring proof that one person can make his voice heard, even within a vast organization. —Richard Manlove, former UN Principal Security Advisor for Iraq

Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Bob Adolph is a friend and broth- er. I knew him when we both served as active duty US Army Special Forces oïcers. Bob chose a “non-standard” path to say the least. He retired from the Army and began working as a Chief Security Oïcer for the United Nations. His excellent book details his early years in Sierra Leone and Yemen, and this portion is riveting reading. It also provides the needed background to understand the key section of the book, which examines in detail the UN debacle in Iraq. Bob took on the Herculean task of trying to convince the international mission in Baghdad to develop adequate security. He was unable to do it, and 22 people died, with another 150 plus humanitarian personnel wounded. This is not an eort to show that others were responsible (they were frankly), but a heartfelt aempt to look at a key incident in the tragedy that was Iraq in 2003– 2004, in order to make sense of it. He never gave up doing his job. He fought as a soldier, and he struggled in a dierent way to protect the lives under his care. It is a sad reminder that regardless of one’s best eorts; sometimes the bureaucra- cy “wins.” The fact that he continued to serve in other conict zones in valuable ways is hugely instructive to most civilians (including many in powerful government positions) that sol-