Goodbye To All That: Bolton Era At UN Is Over
By Rick Moran Posted in Foreign Affairs | Spotlight Blogs — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
The world has become a tiny bit more dangerous today. John Bolton is resigning his post as United Nations Ambassador:
Unable to win Senate confirmation, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his temporary appointment expires within weeks, the White House said Monday.
Bolton's nomination has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for more than a year, blocked by Democrats and several Republicans. Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record), a moderate Republican who lost in the midterm elections Nov. 7 that swept Democrats to power in both houses of Congress, was adamantly opposed to Bolton.
Critics have questioned Bolton's brusque style and whether he could be an effective public servant who could help bring reform to the U.N.
His "brusque" style? HIS BRUSQUE STYLE?
Read on . . .
Lebanon is in agony. Iraq is bleeding. Iran is blustering. Syria is plotting. Russia is swaggering. Hamas is stewing. Al Qaeda is growing. North Korea is disintegrating. Darfur is screaming.
And we're worried about "style?"
I've said it before. The UN is not a serious place. It is a place of make believe, a gigantic fraud upon the human race. It's charter is honored in the breach. Its ideals promoted as a cynical flim flam used by thugs and radicals to advance agendas that are the antithesis of the spirit that animated the post-war west to create it in the first place. It is a place where deadly serious matters go to be buried by little men with small minds and gigantic egos. And unless it is reformed drastically, it may prove to be the death of us all.
Bolton's "style" was confrontational. He discomfited the comfortable. In an age when business as usual at the UN could get a lot of Americans killed, he said the things that needed to be said, that needed to be heard by those who see anti-Americanism as some kind of gigantic game where tweaking the tail of the lion is considered great sport - a sport that wins support back home amongst the ignorant, the paranoid, the easily misled masses seething under the jackboot of dictatorship and authoritarianism. Blaming America for one's troubles is so much easier than assigning fault for the poverty, oppression, and murderous, thuggish, brutish government most people in the world live under.
Ton Blair saw this as something of a mental disorder:
For us in Europe and for you, this alliance is central. And I want to speak plainly here. I do not always agree with the US.
"Sometimes they can be difficult friends to have. But the strain of, frankly, anti-American feeling in parts of European politics is madness when set against the long-term interests of the world we believe in.
"The danger with America today is not that they are too much involved. The danger is that they decide to pull up the drawbridge and disengage. We need them involved. We want them engaged."
If true in Europe, then the United Nations should be considered the world's most prestigious insane asylum.
Bolton's reformation project at the UN barely got started. Basically, he was bulldogging an effort to reform the organization from the top down. And this got him into immediate trouble with the most powerful and influential elements at the UN - the wonks who work in the UN Secretariat.
It's budget is a shambles. It's departments a mish mash of overlap and duplication. No one knows who's in charge of what because there is no clear delineation of lines of authority. And riding herd on this bunch of kingdom carving bureaucrats was supposed to be the Secretary-General - except even he was not master in his own house.
No one knows how much money is spent by the UN Secretariat's more than 18,000 employees. A recent survey on integrity initiated by the SG among the Secretariat's employees found the following:
The results, summed up in a cover letter by Mr. Annan, suggest that the Secretariat's own employees believe they inhabit a snake pit. Highlights, as Mr. Annan cites them, include such failings as: "integrity and ethical behavior are not taken sufficiently into account in selection, promotion and assessment processes" and "staff believe that not enough action is taken to investigate and address instances of unethical behavior, and that those who expose such breaches may put themselves at risk of reprisal."
More directly to the point, the report itself, on page 11, notes that "staff members feel unprotected from reprisals for reporting violations of the codes of conduct. This is not a perception confined to a few staff in remote locales and/or dangerous circumstances. Forty-six percent (46%) gave unfavourable response to this item, while only 12% gave favourable responses."
What was the SG's response to this shocking news?
Mr. Annan says that most of the problems are now (and forever?) being fixed: "Many of the actions proposed can be linked to actions or processes already under way." He goes on to propose another action or process, this plan being to convene yet another group "to guide the process of follow-up to the survey." This bunch--let's skip the full names of the U.N. agencies and just zip through the acronyms--will include the Deputy Secretary-General and senior U.N. officials from the DPKO, DGACM, DESA, DM, OHRM, UNODC, UNEP and ECLAC, all to be supported by "a consultative group consisting of a wide cross-section of staff at different levels both from New York and from offices away from headquarters."
In other words, having gone so far as to discover that Secretariat staff don't trust the top management and are afraid to speak out for fear of reprisals, Mr. Annan's response will be to convene a group of top managers and invite staff members to speak out. At some point they'll probably issue another report, and then everyone can do it all again.
For this kind of stupidity, you don't need a diplomat. You need a bull terrier. And that's what John Bolton was. The sad fact is, the institution of the United Nations desperately needed John Bolton. He was the one of the only diplomats up there who was actually interested in making the UN a place of action a place where true collective security could be advanced rather than a place of daydreams and denial.
I can understand why some traditional UN supporters bristled at Bolton's "style." But if you really believe in style over substance (or worse; that style is substance) then you also aren't paying very close attention to what is happening on our happy little planet. The world is in big trouble. And if there was ever a reason for the existence of the United Nations, it is now. But none of the mortal dangers facing the planet - rogue nuclear states, nations that coddle and support terrorists, even (if you think it important_ global warming will be solved or settled by the self-important, strutting peacocks who pretend to address the issues of the day but instead search desperately for ways to sweep them under the rug with platitudinous nonsense and wink and a nod at the brutes and thugs who threaten to destroy us all.
Rumor has it that George Mitchell is on the short list to replace Bolton. We could do worse. Mitchell is tough as nails and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. I don't have a link but look for the Atlantic article from a couple of years ago on how Mitchell got the Irish to accept peace. He's not above bashing heads together to achieve a diplomatic goal. And he has served this country honorably for his entire adult life.
John Bolton tried to reform an institution so resistant to change that they would rather wallow in their own filth and corruption than take even the simplest steps into the light. And when all is said and done, he will have the satisfaction of knowing that he was in the right and that his critics - superficial and shallow as they are - were wrong.
Spoke truth to corruption and mismanagement and incompetence and hypocrisy which pervade Turtle Bay's Fever Swamp of the two-digit IQ brigades.
That said, every broken clock is right twice.....yadda, yadda. In some peacekeeping situations, catastrophes like Darfur, genocides like Rwanda, the UN can be useful despite its robin's-egg hats raping and extorting from the local populations. UNICEF also comes to mind.
Annan messed up on Rwanda, covered it up, and then messed up on Darfur, which he won't have time to cover up.....
This imbecile's Nobel ranks with that of Arafat's and Baradei's and Jimmy Carter's as the Four Worst on Record. Baradei is head of a UN organization actively conniving to get Iran a nuclear weapon. Annan is a feckless incompetent.
To keep these witless twits from twittering endlessly about US shortcomings, George Mitchell is going to have to risk his reputation for impeccable good manners and classy style.
A lot of these UN Ambassadors would be flipping burgers in the USA, but the job came with the family connections or political payback. Chavez is typical of the clowns these ambassadors represent, and Ahmedinejad is worse than a clown and must be handled inside the UN system or outside.
I actually used to work in the IO/UNP office in the State Dept and personally wrote the very first draft of what became UNIFIL UNSC Res 425, which instituted the peacekeeping force in Lebanon. I'm ashamed to say that UNIFIL has become an arm of Hezbollah, or was before the new infusion of western personnel. The terrorist-wannabes were actually broadcasting Israeli positions in the clear to help the terrorists fight. And UNIFIL didn't mind Hezbollah digging in right beside their UN outposts and thus avoiding Israeli retaliatory fire. Annan is again responsible, and I hope he can do no more harm after he leaves Turtle Bay.
John Bolton was an honest man, a clear thinker, and did not suffer fools well. His career had to end as the sanest man in a pit of fools. Let's wish George Mitchell good luck.
wether its even worth it. Bolton clearly proved all of his skeptics wrong in his two years. The problems is, Democratic foriegn policy bigwigs like Biden & Co. enjoy the back slapping, looke-the-other way diplomacy that works in the UN. Leave everyone alone, nobody gets embarassed, and their is "peace,"
The key to the Bush Doctrine is shinning the light on evil around the world, and that is VERY unpopular to the countries who rule the UN, because they are built on it. Just look at China and Russia!
Hopefully George W. Bush can make an equally powerful statement by sending a man like Rick Santorum to the UN.
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"As nations can not be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this."
- George Mason
Soon-to-be-ex. Senator Chafee is no "moderate"!
I am extremely disappointed that Bush didn't put up a fight of some sort - it may have been usel ess, but he is at his best when he is most plain-spoken - and the UN could use a lot of plain-speaking right now.
There is no better time for it - and there may never be another chance.
As I see it, most Americans would rather see the UN blown off the American shores - the sooner the better, and our money confiscated from their precious treasuries. And tell them where they can go and what to do with their opinions of America.
And pass laws about criminalizing any American who donates to UN "charities" - slush funds for Socialist and/or Islamic dictators.
I think I'll vote for John Bolton for President in '08.
Let's NOT forget the person who really screwed this up originally, George Voinovich, whose pathetic teary speech, and his willingness to believe phony accusations against Bolton made by a Dem partisan who used to work with him allowed the Dems to sit back and watch the GOP shoot itself in the foot. WHEN we get bck into the majority, I hope we have learned something about how to exercise power in Congress.
So, if you have a few idle minutes today, give Voinovich's office a call, and leave a message of thanks for his fine efforts in depriving the US of its most effective voice at the UN since Jean Kirkpatrick.
seems to be what Bolton's opponents found most offensive.
To dream, of course, of a UN ambassador who would look after American interests instead of sitting around nodding his head to the drumbeat of petty little henchmen tooting their horns about how "evil" and "menacing" the United States has been, all while living off of whatever portion of our taxes goes into 50% of this motley crew's income. But I guess that Mr Bolton saw the tea leaves in how the President was reacting to the Left's regaining power in the Congress and decided that this was as far as he could go.
This goes back to what the old "G-Man" (G Gordon Liddy) had been advocating ever since I first listened to him some 4 or 5 years back... "Get the US out of the UN and the UN out of the US." We need a new organization exclusively comprised of countries with stable governments that operate under truly benevolent means, not the country club for dictatorships, terrorists and basket-case states that occupies Turtle Bay now.
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"Straight Talk Express"? My bum feet! -- Me, on Senator McCain and other "moderates"
Bolton deserved at least a hearing so our elitist Senators could tell him where he went wrong and specifically how he was screwing up America's reputation around the world. I would've loved to see Senators go on record w/ specific reasons why they would not support Bolton. This was a big cut and run by the home team. I am very disappointed that he/Bush Admin backed down. Why not make the Dems send him packing. Reps tee me off when they are quick to fold when encountering political resistance. If Boltons resignation is part of a bigger strategy I don't know what it could be. I doubt it is.
If you always find yourself arguing the exceptions rather than the rule you just might be rapidly sliding down your own slippery slope to irrelevance. -CommonCents
Bush has lots of room to nominate someone strong. Laurence Silberman, Mary Ann Glendon, Santorum, Jim Talent, Carl Gershman, and James Woolsey would all be excellent choices. And the Democrats wouldn't dare to turn down any one of them.
All of those choices would be turned down by the Democrats! The political left wants everything to go their way no matter what, and with the Democrats in the political majority again, the left will reject all conservative choices for any political openings for as long as the Democrats remain in the political majority!
the opposition to Bolton was explained to me by way of calling him a jerk (not in so many words, however: I'm not sure if the term for a male donkey is generally acceptable around these parts, though). I'm not really sure why being 'nice' is a qualification for anything other than customer service, especially when being nice has been demonstrably problematic. (I further wonder at those who seem to think that the purpose of a UN rep is to carry the UN's opinions back to _us_. Surely the UN has enough paid bureaucrats to do that much themselves. Surely other UN members do not see things that way. Some of them are obviously not troubled by such a point of view.)
With respect to the UN, I wonder if we aren't rapidly passing the point of useful diplomacy, anyway. Or usefulness entirely.
But, then, I'm at the point anything that upsets Kofi Annan & Co. looks like something that ought to be given pretty serious consideration.