Bolton's Middle East Mess
John Prados
August 02, 2006
But the United States is already isolated at the U.N., and Bolton is a notably unsympathetic figure. There is already outrage at the Israeli actions in Lebanon. The Qana bombing intensified demands for an immediate ceasefire, opposed by Bolton, who argued that a quick Security Council resolution contained “conclusionary language about the nature of the incident and language that attempted to foreshadow the political solution.”
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Worse, President Bush’s stalling on Lebanon, and Rice’s lackadaisical mediation, to afford Israel maximum opportunity to achieve its aims on the ground have created a highly negative perception of the United States in the Middle East and elsewhere. Meanwhile, Bolton’s predilection for extravagant and inflammatory rhetoric makes him absolutely the worst spokesman for the U.S. to have at an international forum like the United Nations at this time.
Bolton told the Senate last week that terrorism, not national or group goals, is the “root cause” of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict; that the United States has “no confidence” that Hezbollah would observe a cease-fire, indeed, that an immediate cease-fire would be a “stop gap” measure; and—here are shades of Iraq—that Iran’s nuclear ambitions pose a “grave and direct threat” to international peace and security.
Bolton told the Security Council itself, when it was first considering a Lebanon cease-fire resolution on July 13, that the initiative was unbalanced, would “undermine the credibility of the Security Council,” and was “untimely” and outmoded. Instead, it is inaction that threatens U.N. credibility. Two weeks later, with the U.S. having stalled action, Annan felt obliged to tell the Security Council’s members after the Qana bombing, “The authority and standing of this council are at stake.”
In short, with crisis in the Middle East, the need for Bush’s representative at the United Nations to bargain in a real way to overcome U.S. isolation at the world body, and very negative perceptions of the American role, John R. Bolton is a disaster waiting to happen—or perhaps already in progress.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/08/02/boltons_middle_east_mess.phpGOP Senator Opposes Ambassador Nominee
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER
WASHINGTON - A Republican senator is planning to vote against President Bush's nominee for ambassador to Armenia because the nominee has refused to refer to the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.
"I continue to be troubled by our policy that refuses to recognize what was a historical reality," Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
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While other senators have raised concerns about Hoagland's nomination, Coleman is the first to say publicly that he will vote against it, according to the Armenian National Committee of America.
http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2006/08/02/ap/politics/d8j8i5m80.txt
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