Delay Is Sought in Vote on U.N. Nominee (NYT update on Bolton)

[Nothing Without Hope]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/politics/19bolton.html?th&emc=th

Delay Is Sought in Vote on U.N. Nominee

By DOUGLAS JEHL and STEVEN R. WEISMAN

Published: April 19, 2005

(snip)

"Under Secretary Bolton was never the formidable power that people are insinuating he was in terms of foreign policy, or blocking the policies that Secretary Powell wished to pursue," Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Mr. Powell's chief of staff, said in a telephone interview.

"But do I think John Bolton would make a good ambassador to the United Nations? Absolutely not," Mr. Wilkerson said. "He is incapable of listening to people and taking into account their views. He would be an abysmal ambassador."

(snip)

Democratic Congressional officials said that when the committee meets on Tuesday, Mr. Biden would seek to delay a vote and would outline at least five allegations of what they call abusive behavior by of Mr. Bolton, including his efforts to seek the removal of three government officials from their posts during his service as an under secretary of state.

The officials said the committee was still reviewing three additional allegations, but declined to discuss them, saying that the committee had yet to verify them. "Senator Biden thinks we need to take more time to review the allegations that have been raised, and he hopes the majority will agree with that," an aide to Mr. Biden said Monday.

(snip)

Edited to add: much more information on allegations against Bolton, especially those by Dallas businesswoman Melody Townsel, is available in the OP and throughout the replies in this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1727593

[SKKY]

1. Well, I believe Mr. Wilkerson has the requisit ethos on this subject.

[LatePeriduct]

2. Pretty flat out disgusting...

Hopefully Senator Biden reviews the Melody allegations testimony carefully, to be certain it is all credible.

That personal horror story, in the country of Russia is pretty dispicable. John Bolton sounds like a very reich-wing unwell man chosen by the dominionists to represent the new U.N. pilgrimage.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. So why did Powell and others keep this guy around?

How the heck did he become a top level official to begin with? Makes you wonder about the other people in Bush's government.

[salin]

6. One word:

Cheney.

Read www.warandpiece.com and the latest posts (last several days) - and the links between Cheney and Bolton are illuminated. As well as other tidbits such as his lying/suppressing intel from TWO secretaries of state (powell - and in her brief tenure - rice) per intel about iran. Read about his chief of staff that kept his job at the CIA in the group that bought and brought us the curveball intel - this guy ran between bolton at state and the cia (a very unusual situation). Rice has cut him out of Iran discussions... even though his position at State makes him a key person on the issue. Only reason he appears to be kept around... and promoted... seems to be a sort of sponsorship by... Dick Cheney.

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. Along these lines - see yesterday's WaPo story on him blocking information

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61304-2005Apr17.html?nav=hcmodule

Bolton Often Blocked Information, Officials Say

Iran, IAEA Matters Were Allegedly Kept From Rice, Powell
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 18, 2005; Page A04

John R. Bolton -- who is seeking confirmation as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations -- often blocked then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and, on one occasion, his successor, Condoleezza Rice, from receiving information vital to U.S. strategies on Iran, according to current and former officials who have worked with Bolton.

In some cases, career officials found back channels to Powell or his deputy, Richard L. Armitage, who encouraged assistant secretaries to bring information directly to him. In other cases, the information was delayed for weeks or simply did not get through. The officials, who would discuss the incidents only on the condition of anonymity because some continue to deal with Bolton on other issues, cited a dozen examples of memos or information that Bolton refused to forward during his four years as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.

Two officials described a memo that had been prepared for Powell at the end of October 2003, ahead of a critical international meeting on Iran, informing him that the United States was losing support for efforts to have the U.N. Security Council investigate Iran's nuclear program. Bolton allegedly argued that it would be premature to throw in the towel. "When Armitage's staff asked for information about what other countries were thinking, Bolton said that information couldn't be collected," according to one official with firsthand knowledge of the exchange.

Intra-agency tensions are common in Washington, and as the undersecretary of state in charge of nuclear issues, Bolton had a lot of latitude to decide what needed to go to the secretary. But career officials said they often felt that his decisions, and policy views, left the department's top diplomat uninformed and fed the long-running struggles inside the agency.

(snip)

[salin]

11. and yet... it appears the senate committee repubs

will pass him from committee off to the whole senate. A man who lies and suppresses vital info to his superiors. Guess the republicans in the senate were never that concerned with the abuse of power, lying to congress, obstruction of justice, and breaking of law (based on laws passed on congress to stop any support for the contras in nicaragua) that was disclosed in Iran Contra... as Bolton clearly would do any and all of the same things. Ya, we know you will lie to us in the future, we know you will slant intelligence, we know that you will suppress intelligence that doesn't support your ideology and we know that all others in the UN will know the same thing about you... but because bush nominated you... we will vote to put you as the US chief rep to the UN.

Disgusting.

[Kagemusha]

8. It wasn't Powell's choice.

Bolton's JOB was to undermine Powell, and Bolton did that very, very well.

[flordehinojos]

4. When Powell's chief of staff asks himself the question,

"But do I think John Bolton would make a good ambassador to the United Nations? Absolutely not," Mr. Wilkerson said.

Then added, "He is incapable of listening to people and taking into account their views. He would be an abysmal ambassador."


MY GOSH, DOESN'T GEORGE WALKER BUSH SUFFER FROM THE SAME INABILITY TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE? DOESN'T HE MAKE AN ABYSMAL pRESIDENT? SHOULDN'T MR. WILKERSON, AND POWELL, ET ALL BY THE FIRST ONES TO ASK FOR BUSH'S IMPEACHMENT?

wHY IS IT THAT THEY CAN SEE IT IN BOLTON BUT SAY NOTHING ABOUT BUSH?

Edited to add: May Bolton NOT be confirmed!

[Nothing Without Hope]

5. Because Bush is the naked emperor and they all have to admire his new

clothes. This is an administration with room only for toadies. I suspect also that Wilkerson himself realy detests Bolton and is willing to pay a price to have the pleasure to speak his mind about him. But don't expect him to point out the emperor's nakedness. That would produce a one-way trip out the door, and he's got to think about his career, right?

wHY IS IT THAT THEY CAN SEE IT IN BOLTON BUT SAY NOTHING ABOUT BUSH?

[flordehinojos]

7. oh, i have to say i love your signature line!

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes revolutionary"... there, i just quoted from memory.

It goes so well with the last line of Bev Conover's Blog entry posted yesterday 4/18/05 ... it goes this way,

"To borrow the words of Dylan Thomas, we will “not go gentle into that good night,” but we shall continue to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”"

Is America entering into a slow gathering new revolutionary age? Truth could be the patriots most powerful weapon!



P.S. is Wilkerson still employed in the service of the government?
I thought he too might have gone into the private sector after Powell left.

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. Glad you like it. I changed around for a while, but this one feels right

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

So true. We have to remember that the truth is on our side, and that is a very potent weapon indeed.

[MiniMe]

12. I misread the headline, I wondered why Tom DeLay would be.....

sought in vote on U.N. Nominee. Unless it is to tell him that Bolten isn't making it out of committee. This will be interesting.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Yes, everyone searching for DeLay is going to turn up this article

But by LBN forum rules, I have to use the exact wording of the article title as the thread title, though I can add extra info in parentheses. If I hadn't done that, the confusion would have been even greater, especially if someone looks at it pre-coffee.
:hangover:

[0007]

13. Tis all about junior and want he wants, isn't it?

"Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, plans to urge the panel to vote in favor of Mr. Bolton. "I do not think the concerns raised about Secretary Bolton warrant our rejection of the president's selection for his own representative to the U.N.," Mr. Lugar said in a statement."

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. Exactly. Whatever Bush wants is right. This CARTOON puts it very nicely.

Just like this: A Wash Post editorial said, "So far, there is no compelling case for denying Mr Bush his choice"....except that this duck is much worse than merely Daffy.

[A Simple Game]

19. Stupid me.

All this time I thought the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. was "OUR" representative!

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. Yeah, you obviously didn't get the Bush update! Bet you still think it's

your government too! Bush, a noted literary connoisseur (My Pet Goat!) since taking the throne, takes the Orwellian view of democracy cited in Animal Farm: "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others."

[A Simple Game]

23. Is I learning, yes I is.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. kick n/t

[On the Road]

17. "Delay is Sought" ???

Oh, for a minute there I thought Tom Delay had fled the Capitol.

[Nothing Without Hope]

18. Yeah, sorry for the letdown. It's a funny title wordingwhen DeLay's

antics have been getting so much attention.

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. CARTOON: Bolton's first day at the UN

[0007]

22. bttft

[Nothing Without Hope]

24. kick n/t