Basically, we have this old boy who has been extremely critical of the UN that dubayah REALLY wanted to make the US embassador to the world body.
He's been unable to get Senate approval TWICE, in part because the govt won't release papers documenting issues in Bolton's past. So the dub pulls
this rare stunt where he bipasses the need for Senate approval, and installs Bolton into the position while the Senators are on summer vacation.
Seriously. I try not to think like a paranoid lefty, but come on, this is so shady.
----
Bolton's Challenge: Pushing Bush Agenda
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Aug 2, 2:47 AM ET
John Bolton's chief challenge as ambassador to the United Nations will be to work with diplomats from 190 nations in a place he's called irrelevant as
he tries to advance President Bush's reform agenda.
The 56-year-old arms control expert with a reputation for brilliance, obstinacy and speaking his mind will arrive at the United Nations just weeks
before a summit in which world leaders will seek to adopt sweeping changes to enable the U.N. to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Bolton will be thrust into intense negotiations on contentious issues ranging from Security Council reform and poverty alleviation to stepping up the
global fight against terrorism and improving U.N. management.
"He will be one of the key players because the United States is the largest contributor and a great power in the Security Council," Germany's U.N.
Ambassador Gunter Pleuger said. "There are conflicting views on nearly every issue that is on our plate for the reform, and the largest player in the
U.N., of course, plays a key role."
Many U.N. diplomats say Bolton will be judged on his performance here, not on his past, which features sharp criticism of the world body and
resistance to his appointment as U.S. ambassador.
"No one should make prejudgments on reputation," said Chile's U.N. Ambassador Heraldo Munoz. "One must do it on the merit of the facts, when we see
what happens here."
The fact that Bolton failed twice to win Senate confirmation forcing Bush to appoint him Monday after Congress adjourned for the summer, was also
unlikely to have an impact, diplomats said.
"He's a colleague like any other and will be received as such," said Denmark's U.N. Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj, who noted that in many countries
no confirmation of ambassadors is required.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters Monday he looks forward to working with Bolton, in the same way that he works with ambassadors from the
other U.N. member states.
Bolton planned to present his credentials to Annan on Tuesday morning.
The Bush administration says a tough-talking Bolton is ideally suited to lead an effort to overhaul the U.N. bureaucracy and make it more accountable.
But Annan cautioned that negotiation and compromise are the key to success at the United Nations.
"I think it is all right for one ambassador to come and push, but an ambassador always has to remember that there are 190 others who will have to be
convinced, or a vast majority of them, for action to take place," Annan said.
Bolton will certainly face antagonism from some countries including North Korea and Iran. In 2003, he said North Korea was led by a "tyrannical
dictator," while he contends Iran is secretly planning to build nuclear weapons.
Bolton's past comments about the United Nations and his intimation that the United States can pull the strings have also not been forgotten, and will
likely make some U.N. members wary.
In 1994, Bolton said it wouldn't make a "bit of difference" if the top 10 floors of the United Nations ? which include the secretary-general's office
? vanished from the 39-story headquarters building.
In the same speech, he said there is "no such thing as the United Nations," just "an international community that occasionally can be led by the only
real power left in the world, and that is the United States."
While Bolton has been highly critical of the United Nations, he is no stranger to its inner workings. He dealt with U.N. affairs in the State
Department from 1989-93, and in his latest post as the department's arms control chief he has had frequent contacts with the Chinese and Russians, and
will find several familiar faces in their delegations and elsewhere.
"Honestly, I'm looking forward to working with him," said Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Baali, whose two-year term on the Security Council ends
in December. "I worked with him several years ago, and I enjoyed working with him."
"He's a very smart guy who can be very constructive, who can be very creative. So I think it will be very interesting to spend a few months with him
in the Security Council," Baali said.
Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Konstantin Dolgov said Bolton was well known in Moscow and "as far as I know he is a negotiator with quite some
background."
Diplomats said Bolton's first test will come very quickly in whether he plays a positive role in helping make the September summit a success.
With just over six weeks left to produce a final document that all 191 U.N. member states support, negotiations are heating up on contentious many
issues: expanding the Security Council, creating a new Peacebuilding Commission, revamping the U.N.'s human rights machinery, defining terrorism,
protecting civilians facing war crimes and genocide, and overhauling the U.N. Secretariat.
"I think this is a time when it is make or break as far as the future relevance of the United Nations is concerned," said Germany's Pleuger.CR83 - 8-2-2005 at 09:41 AM
Seemed pretty shady to me too. I'm so sick of the way our government acts. I'm talking about both sides too. I'm also glad, I'm not an elected
official. Can anyone make a positive change?brooklyn - 8-2-2005 at 10:04 AM
doesn't sound like a acceptable action in nation that screams and shouts about democratic principlesmoron - 8-2-2005 at 10:43 AM
Michael Bolton > John Bolton
I cant believe I told those fudge packers I liked his music.BDx13 - 8-2-2005 at 10:54 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by moron
Michael Bolton > John Bolton
I cant believe I told those fudge packers I liked his music.
We had a chance to meet this young man, and boy that's just a straight shooter with upper management written all over him.defstarsteve - 8-2-2005 at 12:01 PM
um yeah...
yeah, we'll need you to go ahead and come in this weekendmoron - 8-2-2005 at 12:57 PM
to get back on topic... I dont trust anyone who looks like a walrus
hollymaconmovies - 8-2-2005 at 01:46 PM
"I'll be honest with you, I love his music, I do, I'm a Michael Bolton fan. For my money, it doesn't get any better than when he sings "When a Man
Loves a Woman".
Recess appoinments are set forth in the constitution, and were originally intended to allow for continuity in goverment at a time when the Senate was
in session for less than half a year. Now they're used to by pass difficultly in the Senate. But this use, or dare I say abuse, of power is not
exclusive to Bush. Clinton did it, Reagan did it and so on.
As far as Bolton goes, I'm not happy about this. But he's there now so let's just hope he's capable of being an ambassador to the UN despite his past
comments, for what that's even worth.
"Oh, and next Friday... is Hawaiian shirt day... so, you know, if you want to you can go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans."Killthehumans - 8-2-2005 at 01:49 PM
