Bolton brouhaha bruises Bush
AFP
Date: 05-13-05
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The pitched battle over the nomination of blustery diplomat John Bolton as UN ambassador has highlighted the difficult ties between George W. Bush's White House and a Congress still controlled by his Republicans.
The move Thursday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to send the nomination to the full chamber without an endorsement was a new setback for Bush, already facing sagging popularity ratings and a truculent Democratic opposition.
Bolton, criticized for his unabashed anti-UN statements and an abrasive management style, came under harsh attack Thursday from even Republican senators on the committe where they hold a slim 10-8 majority.
"(He) is the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be," said George Voinovich, who represents the midwestern state of Ohio.
The math is more favorable for the Republicans in the full Senate, where they control 55 of the 100 seats. But even if he is confirmed, Bolton will leave for New York as damaged political goods.
The White House insists that Bolton, currently undersecretary of state for arms control, is the perfect choice to help reform a United Nations plagued by scandal and management problems.
Many Republicans have never forgiven the world body for refusing to provide diplomatic cover for Bush's decision to invade Iraq in March 2003.
John McCain, a Republican senator from the southwestern state of Arizona, said Friday that Bolton's prickly personality was irrelevant.
"I don't believe, like me, that he'll win Miss Congeniality again this year. But I do believe that he might be the right kind of guy for an organization that has Zimbabwe, Libya and Cuba on their human rights commission," McCain told MSNBC television.
A New York Times editorial took the opposite view.
"It's not hard to imagine that the next UN ambassador will be called upon to defend American policy on Iran and North Korea and to present the United States' intelligence on their nuclear programs to a highly sceptical world," the Times said.
"It is hard to imagine a worse choice for that than Mr. Bolton."
Many of Bolton's diplomatic colleagues have little love for him. Several accuse him of exaggerating intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that were used to justify the US invasion but never found. He is also considered an unrepentant unilateralist.
If Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has staunchly supported Bolton as her personal choice for UN envoy, persistent reports have circulated that she was more intent on keeping him out of her hair in Washington.
The Times quoted Voinovich as saying Rice had promised him that Bolton would be closely supervised at the United Nations. But the assurance raised new questions.
"Rice's eagerness to get Mr. Bolton out of town is understandable," the Times wrote. "But, as Mr. Voinovich put it so well, 'Why in the world would you want to send somebody up to the UN that has to be supervised?"
The Senate's reticence on Bolton is only the latest example of tensions between the legislature and the White House, which is laboring to win passage of several initiatives in the president's second term.
Bush's energy plan has been stalled for four years. His hope to revamp Social Security has received little more than lukewarm support and Republicans and Democrats are locked in a death struggle over his nominations for federal judgeships.
Source
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
|