Stabbing the World in the Back

In his first term, George W. Bush slapped the United Nations around so much that even an ostrich at a beach would have realized that he has no use for the U.N. unless it’s doing his bidding.

In his second term, however, he’s been courting the U.N. and European nations with fake friendship. If he so wants to work with the U.N. now instead of against it, why ever does he want John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control, to be the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.?

Bolton is a conservative’s conservative who served Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush. He’s said he thinks little of international treaties and international law: “It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law even when it may seem in our short-term interest to do so because, over the long term, the goal of those who think that international law really means anything are those who want to constrict the United States.” If this is how Dubya shows his desire for friendship with the U.N., what will he do to indicate his dislike of an organization? Oh, yeah—he’ll call it part of the axis of evil.

There have been accusations that Bolton tried to intimidate intelligence officials whom the Bush camp thought were soft on Cuba. The man has no diplomacy skills; he’s as blunt as a tire iron. He’s an out-and-out hawk. Here’s a frightening profile of him from the International Relations Center. The New York Times reports that “former government officials have accused Mr. Bolton of improperly circumventing State Department channels to gain access to confidential sensitive intelligence reports” and that “there have been accusations that Mr. Bolton has sought to remove dissenters from their posts or bar them from meetings called to discuss policies. A senior Central Intelligence Agency official has become the second government official to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee that he believes Mr. Bolton sought to remove him from his post after he complained that statements Mr. Bolton made in 2002 about a biological weapons program in Cuba did not reflect the views of intelligence agencies.”

At Diplomats Against Bolton, 67—yes, 67—former U.S. diplomats have signed a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee opposing Bolton's nomination. As the site says, "of these signatories, 50 of 67 served under Republican administrations (28 served in both Republican and Democratic administrations, 22 in only Republican administrations), and 17 in only Democratic administrations."

Diplomats don't want him. Do you want this person in a position where he’s supposed to be working with other nations for world peace? I sure don’t. Get on the phone to your senators and representatives now!

PBU15