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Bush Gets His Man to the United Nations

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

'United Nations Ambassador John Bolton . . ." - after months of Democratic obstructionism in the Senate, that has a nice ring to it.

In a recess appointment announced Monday, President Bush named Bolton to the post for which he was nominated in March. "His mission is now to help the U.N. to reform itself," Bush said.

And the U.N. - as Bolton has trenchantly observed - is in sorry need of reform. Consider only the vast corruption of Iraq's oil-for- food program, the pervasive reports of sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeeping troops in many countries around the world and outdated procedural rules that allow the world's most oppressive regimes to dominate the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

The U.N. has grown creaky in other ways as well, as the political choices that seemed so obvious at its founding no longer reflect the global reality. Sixty years after the end of World War II, does it still make sense to exclude Germany and Japan from the Security Council? And what about emerging economic powerhouses such as India and Brazil?

Someone blunt and straightforward, who can cut through the fog of diplomatic language - and someone who clearly enjoys the confidence of the U.S. president - is just what the sclerotic and ineffective U.N. needs.

The Democrats' dismay is palpable, but they have only themselves to blame for filibustering Bolton's nomination.

Source: Rocky Mountain News

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