CHAPTER 12
TED TURNER AND THE UNITED NATIONS
TED TURNER (www.tbs.org )
Cable News Network CEO Ted Turner
definitely isn't afraid to speak his mind. Starting from humble beginnings with
a small
Turner, who is president of his own foundation,
the flamboyant owner of the Atlanta Braves, a major western landowner, creator
of the Goodwill Games a famous yachtsman, and maybe even a presidential
candidate, gave some $25 million to grassroots environmental groups last year.
The Turner Foundation also started the Turner Endangered Species Fund to
involve private landowners in conserving imperiled species, including desert
bighorn sheep, Mexican wolves, California condors, and black-tailed prairie
dogs. According to the Foundation's executive director, Peter Bahouth, "There are 450 groups being funded by the
foundation now." Turner really made news a year ago when he announced
plans to start a foundation dedicated to helping the United Nations, with an
initial donation of $1 billion, paid over 10 years. The funds are reserved for
population and women's projects, and for programs
directly helping the environment and children.
Ted Turner says you have to "walk the walk
and talk the talk." That's why he donated $1 billion to the United Nations
to support environmental and other programs.
Turner
Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS,
Inc.), a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., is a major producer of news and
entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming
for the basic cable industry. TBS, Inc. also has interests in professional
sports and real estate and employs more than 10,000 people worldwide. Terence F. McGuirk oversees TBS, Inc. as
chairman and CEO.
Many are familiar with TBS, Inc.'s
groundbreaking network, CNN, one of the world's most respected and trusted
sources for news and information. Since its launch more than 20 years ago,
CNN's reach has extended to 14 cable and satellite television networks; three
private, place-based networks; two radio networks; 14 Web sites; CNN Mobile;
and CNN Newsource, the world's most extensively
syndicated news service.
TBS, Inc. is also home to familiar
entertainment networks such as TBS Superstation, TNT,
Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies as well as specialized networks such
as Turner South and Boomerang.
In the sports arena, TBS, Inc. recently added
the Atlanta Thrashers to its roster of great sports teams: the Atlanta Braves,
winner of the 1995 World Championship, and the Atlanta Hawks, a team that has
made the NBA playoffs seven of the last eight seasons.
TBS, Inc. has grown at a phenomenal pace and
now consists of the following networks and businesses: TBS Superstation,
Turner Network Television (TNT), Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM),
Turner South, Boomerang, TNT Europe, Cartoon Network Europe, TNT Latin America,
Cartoon Network Latin America, TNT & Cartoon Network/Asia Pacific, Atlanta
Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers, World Championship Wrestling,
Goodwill Games, Cartoon Network Japan, Cable News Network (CNN), CNN Headline
News, CNN International, CNNfn, CNN/Sports
Illustrated, CNN en Espanol, CNN Airport Network, CNNRadio Noticias, CNN
Interactive, CNN Newsource, CNN+, and CNN Turk.
Ted Turner
Attacks Christianity At U.N. "Peace Summit" NEW YORK, NY -- Presenting the keynote address before 1,000
international delegates attending the World Peace Summit in the U.N. General
Assembly Hall, American media mogul Ted Turner denounced his childhood
Christian faith. Turner, whose Better World Fund underwrote much of the
meeting's expenses, told how he had been "very religious" as a little
boy. "I was going to be a man of the cloth. I was going to be a
missionary."
"But the thing that disturbed me is that
my religious Christian sect was very intolerant ... because it taught we were
the only ones going to heaven. It just confused the devil out of me because I
said heaven is going to be a might empty place with nobody else there."
Turner praised "indigenous" religious
faiths and then listed all the things humans have in common - "culture,
language, love of birds, butterflies, wives and flowers."
In his spiritual search, Turner said, he
finally realized that there was one God and multiple ways he manifests himself
and that it makes little difference which one is chosen.
"Now I believe there may be one God who
manifests himself in different ways to different people ... And I can't believe
God wants us to blow ourselves to kingdom come. He wants us to love each other
and live in peace," said Turner.
Ted Turner, United Nations Foundation Announce
Emergency $1 Million Grant For UN Relief Efforts In
The Kosovo Region
R. E. "Ted" Turner, Chair of the
United Nations Foundation (UNF), announced today the Foundation's award of an
emergency $1 million grant to support relief efforts in Kosovo region.
"United Nations relief workers are playing
a leading role in addressing the massive humanitarian tragedy that is unfolding
in the Kosovo region. The United Nations Foundation is providing $1 million to
support UN relief efforts and applauds the tremendous sacrifices and efforts
that are being made by UN staff," Turner said.
UNF's grant will support the efforts of the UN High Commission
for Refugees, which acts as the lead agency for UN humanitarian activities in
the region. Specifically, UNF funding will assist in the provision of basic
human needs for refugees, including shelter, blankets, and other necessities.
More than 400,000 refugees have fled Kosovo in the past two weeks.
UN experts estimate that more than $70 million
is urgently needed by the UN to meet initial humanitarian needs in the Kosovo
crisis. The UN is appealing to government and private sector donors, as well as
the general public for additional assistance.
TED TURNER’S UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION: MAKING
THE UN A PAWN FOR TAX-EXEMPT SPECIAL INTERESTS
March 1999
by Cliff Kincaid **Copyright 1999** All Rights Reserved as
posted: http://www.capitalresearch.org/fw/fw-0399a.html
Almost 18 months after Time-Warner
vice-chairman Ted Turner announced he would give $1 billion to the United
Nations, serious questions remain about the nature and influence of his
"gift."
One concern is technical and legal: Turner’s
money is being channeled to the UN through a private foundation and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. But the UN is strictly prohibited by its own
charter from accepting contributions not from member nations. Questions raised
about this practice have not been fully answered by the UN.
Another concern is legislative and
constitutional: Turner’s United Nations Foundation has very close ties to the
The final concern is political: Turner’s
financial support for UN activities threatens to exert undue influence over UN
policy and international relations. As is typical for the outspoken
billionaire, the activities funded by Turner’s foundation are controversial and
even raise serious human rights concerns. Moreover, in some cases, they ignore
official
No Surprises
When Turner announced his $1 billion donation
last September, the media described the gift in glowing terms. Turner would
help the UN with much-needed funds to take care of children, women and the
environment.
UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan called Turner a "world citizen extra-ordinaire." The New York Times described the proposal
as "probably the single largest charitable donation in history." And
it earned Turner a cover story in Newsweek, which quoted him as saying he was
"putting the rich on notice" to follow his lead. There was even talk
that Turner might be awarded the Nobel Prize.
But when Foundation Watch took a closer look at
Turner’s plans in December 1997, we characterized Turner’s gift as "an
opportunity to pursue his liberal social agenda through a powerful association
of national governments." The UN Foundation was never intended to serve
the UN members’ interests or needs, but to expand UN programs on population
control, environmental regulation and other personal interests of Turner’s.
The media mogul’s leftist political views are
well-known. He is one of many who slept in the
However, Turner’s personal politics may not be
the only driving force behind the UN Foundation. Certainly the timing of his
gift fueled the battle in Congress over
Indeed, Turner announced his gift at a dinner
sponsored by the United Nations Association of the
Elaborate Structure
The UN Foundation’s first year of operation has
provided clues to its structure and relationship with the UN, but many
questions remain unanswered.
Turner’s gift, it turns out, is not as generous
as described in media reports. An amount of up to $1 billion will be donated in
the form of Time-Warner stock in ten annual installments. The cost to Turner
could be significantly less than $1 billion if he takes advantage of tax
write-offs, tax deductions and ways to avoid estate taxes. Amazingly,
Moreover, the donation will be made not to the
UN directly, but to Turner’s private UN Foundation. The foundation is
tax-exempt under
The UN and the UN Foundation have completed a
20-page agreement governing the use of foundation grants. According to the
agreement, UN Secretary-General Annan will review
grant applications before asking for approval from the UN Foundation board. But
foundation grants will be disbursed by UN officials.
Annan has created his own bureaucracy to manage the money. The
UN Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) is led by Miles Stoby of
The Better World Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit under the same leadership and trustees as the
UN Foundation, will coordinate "public education" on behalf of the
UN. It aims to create "a broader constituency of citizens, organizations
and businesses with a deeper commitment to international cooperation through
the United Nations."
The agreement was signed by Hans Corell, UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, and
UN Foundation President Timothy Wirth.
The agreement offers no clues about the UN’s
justification for accepting private foundation funds, which is a violation of
the UN Charter. Article 17, Section 2 of the charter states
that UN expenses "shall be borne by the Members as apportioned by the
General Assembly." This requirement is supposed to prevent private
interests like the UN Foundation from exercising undue influence over the world
body.
This author has repeatedly asked UN officials
and members of Congress to provide a legal justification for the UN’s
acceptance of UN Foundation grants. Concerns about the foundation’s activities
were first expressed in an October 1997 letter to Joe Sills, then director of
the UN Information Office in
"The UN Charter says the expenses of the
organization shall be borne by the member-states. How, then, can the UN accept
any money from a source outside of the member-states, such as a foundation,
business or individual?
"What is the tax status of the UN in the
No answers have been provided, although the
UN’s legal department is supposedly studying the matter. However, it is known
that contributions to the UN are not tax-deductible in the U.S. — thus Turner’s
elaborate setup to funnel $1 billion to the UN through a tax-exempt foundation.
Radical Leaders
The UN Foundation’s trustees share a globalist outlook, and most of them have a long association
with the UN. The board includes Turner as chairman and Timothy Wirth as
president.
Wirth is a former
The involvement of UN Foundation trustee
Maurice Strong, long regarded as a possible candidate for UN Secretary-General,
is also significant. The Canadian, a longtime friend of Turner and Wirth, has
been involved in UN activities for more than 30 years. In 1997, Strong served
as Executive Coordinator for UN Reform under Annan,
and his deputy was UNFIP director Miles Stoby. He
also chaired the 1992 Earth
During the early 1990s, Strong was a key member
of the independent Commission on Global Governance, an international
organization funded by the MacArthur Foundation. The
Commission published the 1995 report Our Global Neighborhood, calling for a
vast expansion of UN resources and activities through the imposition of a
global tax. (See Foundation Watch, September 1996.)
A wealthy Canadian who lived in
Interestingly, Strong’s
activities in Colorado also included formation of a group called the North
American Institute to encourage passage of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA). One of those involved
in the effort was John Wirth, brother of Timothy.
Other UN Foundation trustees include Brazilian
first lady Ruth Cardoso, an international AIDS
activist and a participant in the UN’s 1996 Habitat II conference; Graca Machel, the former first
lady of Mozambique and a UN-designated children’s rights advocate; Emma
Rothschild, a British associate of Strong who champions environment and
disarmament causes; Andrew Young, U.S. ambassador to the UN during the Carter
administration; and Pakistani Muhammad Yunus, an
economist who has accused financial institutions of shortchanging the poor.
Target: Human Race
The first round of 22 UN Foundation grants was
announced on
Two UN agencies received more than 50 percent
of the first-year grants: the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) received
almost $12.2 million, and $18.6 million went to the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF). Both agencies are involved in controversial projects to
encourage and assist abortions and other population control measures.
Another big recipient of UN Foundation funds is
the World Health Organization (WHO), which is linked to UNICEF and UNFPA
through a "Coordinating Committee on Health." Last year, WHO received
two UN Foundation grants totalling almost $9 million. An additional grant worth $2.8 million was awarded
jointly to WHO and UNICEF.
It is no surprise that a sizeable portion of
the UN Foundation’s grants support UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO. These agencies have
been criticized for their population control activities and complacency
regarding human rights abuses, and from the outset Turner announced that his
foundation would support population control.
Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon asked in a May 5, 1998 Wall Street Journal column
whether the UN was being manipulated by Turner and his associates to maintain
an aggressive campaign to reduce the human population "by any means
possible." see The Timeline of Population Control
Examples of UN Foundation grants supporting
population control include UNFPA grants for "the delivery of family
planning services" to reduce high fertility rates in
Turner has a long history of support for
population control activities. Turner and wife Jane Fonda served as "Goodwill
Ambassadors" for UNFPA. Fonda now leads a Georgia campaign against teen pregnancy, partly funded by a private condom maker.
According to Nicholas Eberstadt,
a population expert with the American Enterprise Institute in
Once honored as "Humanist of the
Year" by the American Humanist Association, Turner’s stridency on
population control has earned him a reputation as an anti-Christian bigot. In
remarks last October to the Society of Environmental Journalists, he complained
that the Judeo-Christian tradition emphasizes "dominion over everything"
and "increase and multiply." Turner once told a
Wirth also is no stranger to population control
efforts. In addition to his Planned Parenthood work in
At the urging of Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ),
chairman of the House Subcommittee on International Operations and Human
Rights, Congress has cut off federal funds for UNFPA because the agency has
been accused of compliance with the brutal Chinese population control program
of one-child-per-family. Congressional hearings have disclosed that the Chinese
government has forced many women to have abortions when they exceeded their
one-child limit. Some women have testified that they were physically assaulted
and forced to undergo abortions when they tried to carry a second child to
term. In some cases, baby girls were allegedly abandoned or starved to death in
government-run orphanages because of
Congressman Smith says UNFPA also has supplied
abortion devices and drugs to refugees, displaced persons and "other poor
and vulnerable women around the world."
UNICEF has been under increasing scrutiny since
the
Lack of Funds?
Many UN Foundation grants to UNFPA and UNICEF
do not reflect an aggressive population control agenda. For example, some
grants support UNICEF for "the eradication of polio" and for
distributing "vitamin supplements to save mothers’ lives." WHO was
granted almost $5.2 million as part of the UN Foundation program "Global
Health Leadership for the 21st Century." This is
described as a partnership between the Rockefeller Foundation and the UN
Foundation to support WHO director-general Gro Brundtland "in her efforts to revitalize the
organization," which has been plagued by scandal and corruption.
But critics complain that such grants, even
when they support laudable efforts, still help underwrite population control
activities. Indeed, when the
The likelihood of shifting such funds increases
if there are severe budget constraints, as UNICEF and UNFPA leaders claim.
Shortly after Turner’s announcement of his $1 billion gift, officials of these
two agencies and the UN Development Program (UNDP) issued a statement saluting
Turner’s "extremely generous and socially conscious decision." They
claimed the funds would arrive at a "crucial moment" for the UN as it
grapples with "dwindling resources to meet a growing array of vital
needs." The implication was that Turner’s private funds might fill the gap
created by a failure or reluctance of UN member governments to fund those
agencies.
The alleged funding gap may also explain the
A recent encounter suggests the relationship is
worthy of investigation. At a January 15 press conference on population matters
in Washington, D.C., Wirth associate Ellen Marshall appeared with Frank E. Loy,
Wirth’s successor as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. Marshall, who
is responsible for women’s issues at the UN Foundation, left the Clinton State
Department with Wirth.
At the press conference, Marshall described the
UN Foundation’s $1.1 million grant for an NGO and Youth forum held the previous
month in The Hague, Netherlands to review the platform of the controversial
1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in
Cairo. The grant was meant to enable the NGOs to review the ICPD platform and
work on strategies to implement the
But
According to
It is clear that when the UN Foundation
supported the
Greening the Earth
The UN Foundation is also using its grants to
assist UN efforts to secure compliance with the global warming treaty, also
known as the
Last year, the foundation granted $1 million to
the UN Industrial Development Organization and more than $1.2 million to the UN
Conference on Trade and Development. The grants support creation of an
emissions-trading system, a concept backed by the White House as part of the
global warming treaty. The system would allow
The UN Foundation has committed another
$900,000 for "Post-Kyoto Climate Change Policies" in
There is a serious political problem with the
UN Foundation’s grants: they support the implementation of a treaty that has
not been ratified by — or even submitted to — the
Other UN Foundation grants for environmental
projects are less controversial. A $650,000 grant to the UN Environment Program
(UNEP) supports efforts to reduce the impact of El Nino-related emergencies,
and a $2.4 million grant helps African cities to develop better water
management systems. But what can be expected from a $350,000 grant to let young
people assess the state of the global environment?
Controversial Grants
Turner has never been afraid to leap into controversy, and the UN Foundation has followed his lead.
While many of the 1998 foundation grants support worthy projects — like
eradicating Guinea Worm disease in
For example, a 1998 grant made jointly to WHO and UNICEF supports their efforts to promote
"long-term strategies" to ensure "tobacco-free children and
youth." No doubt the
On the other hand, another UN Foundation grant
is promising despite some controversy. The grant provides more than $3 million
over two years to UNICEF for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of
HIV/AIDS in
Since last June, UNICEF has launched pilot projects
in
Thus UNICEF and the UN Foundation seem to be
moving in a direction encouraged by groups like the Foundation for Democracy in
Conclusion
Ted Turner’s dedication to the UN is
well-known. He flies the UN flag over
But while Turner’s money could prove successful
in revitalizing controversial UN agencies, it could also lead to increasing
private involvement in the affairs of the world organization. Indeed, some have
suggested using private funds to alleviate all the UN’s financial problems,
including the so-called
For political reasons, Secretary-General Annan has ruled that out, saying that UN Foundation grants
will not offset
Private funding for the UN makes congressional
attempts to de-fund the UN or its agencies almost irrelevant. This might cheer
supporters of privatization or implacable opponents of the UN. But is also
undercuts those who hope
Cliff Kincaid is a freelance journalist and
president of America’s Survival, a public policy nonprofit.