It sounds to me as though John Bolton’s nomination to be Ambassador to the United Nations is almost dead. Colin Powell, Bolton’s former boss, has been consulted by Hagel and Chafee, and he did not give a ringing endorsement:
Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell is emerging as a behind-the-scenes player in the battle over John R. Bolton’s nomination as ambassador to the United Nations, privately telling at least two key Republican lawmakers that Bolton is a smart but very problematic government official, according to Republican sources.
Powell spoke in recent days with Sens. Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.), two of three GOP senators on the Foreign Relations Committee who have raised concerns about Bolton’s confirmation, the sources said. Powell did not advise the senators to oppose Bolton, but offered a frank assessment of the nominee as a man who was challenging to work with on personnel and policy matters, according to two people familiar with the conversations.
Wash Post: Free Reg:::More Below:::
Some job referrals are luke-warm, and others are overtly hostile. In this case, we have both:
Those who know Powell best said two recent events provide insight into his thinking. Powell did not sign a letter from seven other former U.S. secretaries of state or defense supporting Bolton, and his former chief of staff, Lawrence B. Wilkerson, recently told the New York Times that Bolton would be an “abysmal ambassador.”
Wilkerson doesn’t pull any punches. He clearly hates Bolton. So, it’s understandable that Chafee is wavering. Bolton’s former bosses characterize him as difficult to work with and an abysmal candidate for the job. What could be clearer?
Chafee told reporters Wednesday he is “much less likely” to support Bolton because of questions about his credibility.
Yes. In addition to being a pain in the ass, and a terrible nominee, he lied to the committee. It should be clear to all Americans, the Senate, and the White House, that it is time to pull Bolton’s nomination. But, apparently, it isn’t.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on the Senate floor that Bolton’s temper should not disqualify him. “I believe John Bolton could provide the medicine the United Nations needs,” he said.
MSNBC just said the senate foreign relations committee has set May 12 as the date to vote on Bolton. Isn’t that rather a long way off? About three weeks.
They are going into recess for a week right before that Susan.
Also, I was so happy to see powell finally do some speaking out about this out of control administration. Never in my life did I imagine one could get promoted for being a liar and a bully. Wonder what Bolton was like as a kid? probably the playground bully.
Probably tortured animals like his buddy George.
“Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on the Senate floor that Bolton’s temper should not disqualify him. “I believe John Bolton could provide the medicine the United Nations needs,” he said.”
McCain really wants to get the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, doesn’t he? Is there any GOP faction McCain hasn’t kissed-up to in the last 10 days?
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Just before the planned invasion of Iraq – no matter what!
I recall the talks between North and South Korea. The latter as our allies were more upset with the “bulldog” attitude of Undersecretary Bolton, than the North Koreans. They saw no other option but to build the nuclear bombs.
February 18, 2003 — US Undersecretary of State John Bolton has told Israeli officials that “it will be necessary to deal with threats from Syria, Iran and North Korea” after Gulf War Redux, Ha’aretz Daily reported yesterday.
John Bolton is a real neoconservative’s neoconservative. In January 2001 Jesse Helms endorsed Bolton, saying “John Bolton is the kind of man with whom I would want to stand at Armageddon, if it should be my lot to be on hand for what is forecast to be the final battle between good and evil in this world.” He represents the epitome of the Wolfowitz Axis, the American government officials who believe it is America’s Manifest Destiny to dominate the world for its own protection.
Despite Bolton’s far-right neoconservative stand, however, he’s mainstream Administration in all but one of his stands — he disagrees with the White House’s long-standing “one-China” policy. In 1994 Bolton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee “I believe that the United States should support the efforts of the Republic of China on Taiwan to become a full member of the United Nations.” Otherwise, though, his views neatly represent the Administration — and he’s warning us that Iraq will not be the end.
The idea here is to implement Wolfowitz’s “Reverse Domino Theory” that I discuss in the first of my five cross-blog debate answers. The theory is that if we remake Iraq into a democracy that we can then cause a “domino effect” democratization of the rest of the Middle East. That’s why Syria and Iran are next.
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité
While nothing he can do now or in future will redemm Colin Powell for his abject cowardice in continuing to serve as George Bush’s lackey and for acting as his enabler to war, I’m glad to see these reports. It makes me think that perhaps the old soldier still has some small shred of integrity left somewhere on his person.
It seems pretty clear that the neocons wanted Bolton in place ASAP in order to facilitate their planned attack(s) on Iran. Will this delay or derailing stall or cancel their plans? I am not holding my breath.
I am sounding grouchy and cynical, but it has been a long week, a long month, year, too many years of truly terrible news, and my outrage meter blew a gasket long ago.