| LAWLESS WORLD America and the Making and Breaking of Global Rules from FDR's Atlantic Charter to George W. Bush's Illegal War Philippe Sands New York: Viking Books, October 2005 |
Rating: 5.0 High |
|||
| ISBN-13 978-0-670-03452-9 | ||||
| ISBN-10 0-670-03452-5 | 324pp. | HC | $25.95 | |
| Page 14: | Angel Breard |
| The name is not indexed on this page. |
| Page 36: | Amnesty International Charity Ltd. (AICL) |
| AICL is not found in the list of abbreviations. |
| Page 64: | "These states have undertaken not to surrender any American national to the ICC without the consent of the United States, under any circumstances. In return the United States gives no undertaking to investigate or prosecute any American who may have been involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide." |
| As written, this is very one-sided. I believe it is a simple mistake: S/B "gives an undertaking". |
| Page 106: | "The old GATT rules were incorporated into the new WTO, but nevertheless they remain its core." |
| Missing word: S/B "were not incorporated". |
| Page 122: | methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) |
| This chemical is indexed only on page 122, but I'm sure it appears earlier in the book. |
| Page 143: | "Others showed men, also in orange jumpsuits, in the hold of an aircraft, bound and hooded, or wearing blacked-out goggles." |
| So, the men wearing blacked-out goggles were not bound? Unlikely. Misplaced comma: S/B "bound, and hooded or wearing blacked-out goggles". |
| Page 145: | "These rules are known as the jus in bello, or international humanitarian law." |
| Anyone familiar with Latin will know this is a mistranslation: S/B "jus in bello, or laws of war". |
| Page 145: | "By this logic, neither category is entitled as of right to any of the protections under the third Geneva Convention of 1949, which protects POWs, or indeed any other treaties." |
| Missing word: S/B "or indeed under any other treaties". |
| Page 151: | "The charter identified one of the United Nations' basic purposes as the promotion of 'respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.' " |
| Inconsistent capitalization of this word, which here refers to the United Nations Charter. |
| Page 158: | "The U.S. originally paid an annual rent of just 2,000 gold dollars, later adjusted to US$4,085, although Cuba has apparently never cashed the check." |
| The Cuba referred to has to be Castro's Cuba. He'd refuse as a point of pride, or defiance. I can't conceive of his predecessor Fulgencio Batista showing such scruples. Still, an explicit identification would be helpful. |
| Pages 184-5: | "The resolution directed Hans Blix (the head of the UN inspectors) and Mohammed ElBaradei (the head of the IAEA) to report to the Security Council any failure by Iraq to comply. On receipt of a report the council would then convene 'to consider the situation and the need for full compliance with all of the relevant Council resolutions.' " |
| Inconsistent capitalization of "Council". |
| Page 224: | "Not everybody takes a rosy view of the onward march of international law or the international organizations that are charged with promulgating and enforcing them." |
| Number error: S/B "it". |
| Page 225: | "...a document of the kind that Roosevelt and Churchill sprang on the world in the summer of 1941..." |
| Incorrect tense: S/B "sprung". |
To contact Chris Winter, send email to this address.