Ambassador Bolton - New York Times: Published: August 2, 2005
If there's a positive side to President Bush's appointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations yesterday, it's that as long as Mr. Bolton is in New York, he will not be wreaking diplomatic havoc anywhere else. Talks with North Korea, for instance, have been looking more productive since Mr. Bolton left the State Department, and it's hard not to think that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's generally positive performance in office is due, in part, to her canniness in dispatching Mr. Bolton out of Washington.
But the appointment is, of course, terrible news for the United Nations, whose diplomats have heard weeks of Senate testimony about Mr. Bolton's lack of respect for their institution and his deeply undiplomatic, bullying style of doing business. Senator George Voinovich, the Ohio Republican who became one of Mr. Bolton's strongest critics, said yesterday that he planned to send the new ambassador a book on how to be an effective manager. It couldn't hurt, but this may be the first time a world superpower has used its top United Nations post as a spot for the remedial training of a troublesome government employee.
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The problem here from the beginning has been that Mr. Bush clearly has little respect for either the United Nations or international diplomacy in general.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Monday, August 01, 2005
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Bush bypasses Senate to install neo-con at UN
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Bush bypasses Senate to install neo-con at UN: "James Sturcke and agencies | Monday August 1, 2005
The US president, George Bush, today bypassed the senate and installed the controversial neo-conservative John Bolton as ambassador to the UN.
Mr Bush took advantage of his power to fill vacancies without senate approval while Congress is in recess. Under the constitution, Mr Bolton's recess appointment during the senators' August break will last until the next session of Congress, which begins in January 2007.
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Mr Bolton's appointment ends a five-month impasse between the administration and Senate Democrats. The battle grabbed headlines in April amid accusations that Mr Bolton abused subordinates and twisted intelligence to shape his conservative ideology. ...
The US president, George Bush, today bypassed the senate and installed the controversial neo-conservative John Bolton as ambassador to the UN.
Mr Bush took advantage of his power to fill vacancies without senate approval while Congress is in recess. Under the constitution, Mr Bolton's recess appointment during the senators' August break will last until the next session of Congress, which begins in January 2007.
...
Mr Bolton's appointment ends a five-month impasse between the administration and Senate Democrats. The battle grabbed headlines in April amid accusations that Mr Bolton abused subordinates and twisted intelligence to shape his conservative ideology. ...