Syria announced that it will stop all cooperation with the United States on Bush’s War on Terror. Just in time for the Senate to confirm John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador to show us his proven diplomatic skills.
“This is actually the state of the affairs. Today, we are not cooperating with the United States,” [Syrian Ambassador] Moustapha told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
At the same time, Syria is still willing to work with the United States on security issues, he said.
“We’re not saying we will not do this anymore,” Moustapha said. “We are saying that this is not happening today because of this state of affairs between us and the United States.”
He added, “We are trying to tell the United States we are willing to engage with you constructively. We want a good relationship with you, but you have to stop this unfair media campaign against Syria, because we think it is unfair and it is unconstructive.”
There is a lot of debate about whether or not the Senate Dems should filibuster the nomination of John Bolton. Given the recent nuclear fallout with the judicial nomination process, I’m not sure it’s wise to block Bolton given that the U.N. assignment isn’t lifetime like a judgeship. (Note that I said block. I feel strongly that all Dems should vote No)
I believe we are entering a critical point with respect to international diplomacy. The global situation is volatile, at best. Iran is hell-bent on starting its nuclear power program, North Korea is testing missiles, Afghanistan and Iraq are a mess, and now Syria has given the middle finger directly to the U.S. John Bolton is the person Bush wants to send to the table?
Thankfully we have a Republican voice in the Senate actively opposing Bolton’s nomination. Let’s see if some of the so-called moderate Republicans will join a unified Democratic caucus and defeat this joker. Bolton must not be confirmed. I would rather send a signal to Bush that he has failed in his judgement of an acceptable ambassador to the United Nations than advocate Bolton’s approval to “see what happens”. In my opinion (humbly of course), our global situation is too unstable to roll the dice with this one.
