Well, it did not take long.
John Bolton was appointed by Bush as US Ambassador to the UN on 1 August during the congressional recess.
Bush said the job at the United Nations was “too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform.”
Here’s what was so important and urgent, Bush needed to throw a spanner in the works:
(after the flip)
As you know, there is a major reform initiative in the works at the UN. Diplomats from the various UN missions have toiled and negotiated over a draft document for the last six months with the objective to have it approved in conjunction with the opening of the 60th General Assembly in late September.
Reuters tells the story:
Bolton’s letter, circulated to the other 190 ambassadors, at the United Nations comes a week after the United States submitted more than 500 amendments to a draft document diplomats have been negotiating for six months, causing some envoys to panic that agreement might not be reached.
(snip)
The U.S. amendments, obtained by Reuters would eliminate reference to Millennium Development Goals approved by world leaders five years ago. They set deadlines to reduce extreme poverty, AIDS and raise education levels around the world.The U.S. amendments also oppose further action on climate change, new pledges for foreign aid, and call for nuclear powers to accelerate the reduction of their arsenals.
Instead:
the United States wants stronger action against terrorism
(more illegal wars to fight?)
a new and stronger human rights body
(while refusing to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court)
Is there no end to the bullshit from this administration (stupid rhetorical question).
Even disciplined UN-staffers could not hide their frustration and displeasure when Bolton took on his new duties – check the link to the Countdown-video at C&L.
Spread the word!
Crossposted at European Tribune (apparently promoted to the front page as I post this comment) and My Left Wing.
I’m on a mailing list where a snipped of the Reuters article was mentioned and felt compelled to make an entry. I’m at a loss for words. This is bad news.
So to Bush it’s important appoint Bolton a controversial figure to say the least – and then go on the longest vacation.
And why this hasn’t hit the press is beyond me.
Bush should be “burning the midnight oil” no pun intended, to resolve this war. Not reading the History of Salt on a 5 week long vacation. It’s beyond disgusting.
Ask, e-mail me immediately.
Thanks for the link to the draft document with all the proposed amendments. Printed the 40 pages and will take a closer look when I get home.
The story is on top of the frontpage at The Huffington Post. Lots of comments – many trollish ones…
You have nailed it ask.Bolton will do more to destry our relations with the UN or should I say what is left of it. But honestly, I think that is just what this administration wants. They continue to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. We are in deep shit folks.
Sad, infuriating, disgusting, but not surprising. The John Bircher kind of people who have supported BushCo for years want to destroy the UN and have the US safe and secure behind huge walls of national borders–while at the same time waging illegal wars of international aggression.
How hard is it to immigrate to Norway? Emigrate? Whatever. If I could think of any place on this poor planet that was not at risk from the idiocies and evil of this maladministration, I’d be there in a flash.
Booman is right. Impeachment. Barring that, constant forms of protest.
Boycott their traditional form of politics: don’t give to either fucking party unless you’re sure of the candidate.
.
True – the hunger of millions across the globe should be a daily presence in government and the media in the West. Not just for a few days, when Tony Blair chairs the G8 in Gleneagles, Scotland. There is another diary by ask covering the false statements made by Blair and the introduction of Bush | Bolton policy at the UN for the coming years.
The neocon heritage will haunt the globe for many years to come. The battle should therefore be on ALL FRONTS, none to be neglected. Fortunately, in parts of the European Union a Human Rights and Aid Development policy is established and will not be changed at the whim of a fool in the White House and Congress on the Hill in Washington DC.
John R. Bolton, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control gestures during a news conference after his address to the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday Nov. 19, 2001. The United States identified Iraq and five other countries, as states that are developing germ warfare programs but refused to say whether any may have assisted Osama bin Laden in his quest for biological weapons.
Jose Bustani a “man with merit”
An official British document, disclosed last month, said Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed in April 2002 to join in an eventual U.S. attack on Iraq. Two weeks later, Bustani was ousted, with British help.
A former Bolton deputy says the U.S. undersecretary of state felt Jose Bustani “had to go”, particularly because the Brazilian was trying to send chemical weapons inspectors to Baghdad. That might have helped defuse the crisis over alleged Iraqi weapons and undermined a U.S. rationale for war.
Bustani, who got a “menacing” phone call from Bolton at one point, was removed by a vote of just one-third of member nations at an unusual special session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The United States cited alleged mismanagement in calling for his ouster.
The UN’s highest administrative tribunal later condemned the action as an “unacceptable violation” of principles protecting international civil servants. The OPCW session’s Swiss chairman now calls it an “unfortunate precedent” and Bustani a “man with merit”.
~ Cross-posted from 60 Minutes Niger story that never aired
… Let’s get it aired! ~
~~~
I still don’t quite understand how this appointment was allowed to sneak in without a huge uproar in Congress and the Senate.
This situation depresses me no end. I wish there was something we could do to make Bolton miserable.
Well, it was widely speculated in June/July that exactly this would happen. Shocking as it was, it wasn’t really a surprise.
As to your points about uproar and Bolton’s misery; don’t expect much from the corporate media – it is up to us and likeminded to spread and reinforce the word, otherwise, it will soon be forgotten. I have e-mailed links to the story to family, friends and colleagues. Maybe they’ll bring it further to a few more…