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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, August 2, 2005

New U.N. appointee already a lame duck


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President Bush's decision yesterday to appoint John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is likely to serve little good for the United States or for the international organization he now joins.

Bolton's appointment is tainted by politics, both from the White House and from the Democrats in the U.S. Senate who objected to his nomination from the start.

The president insisted that Bolton deserved an "up or down" vote in the Senate. When that was denied, he named Bolton as an interim "recess" appointment, which means he can serve until a newly elected Congress takes over in 2007.

That may seem a long time off, but in effect Bolton arrives as a lame duck ambassador. He has two choices:

He can either continue to advance his vigorous, often blatantly negative views of the United Nations and its activities or he can temper himself in hopes of settling in to a point where he might receive formal confirmation by the next Congress.

Neither option makes a lot of sense. Bolton is entitled to his opinions, of course. But his frequent and public criticism of the United Nations, some of which arguably is deserved, makes him a poor choice to represent the United States as a U.N. ambassador.

He will not "reform" the agency by aggressive rhetoric alone.

That point was made forcefully by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who noted that ... "it is all right for one ambassador to come and push, but an ambassador always has to remember that there are 190 others who will have to be convinced, or a vast majority of them, for action to take place."

If Bolton chooses to keep his head down and his profile low for political and practical reasons, then why have him there in the first place?

The best hope is for Bolton to recognize that this job is bigger than his personal agenda and the internal political ideas of the White House. Indeed, the United States is an important part of the United Nations and that role and mission must be taken seriously, particularly during this climate of terrorism and debate on U.N. reform.

For his part, Bolton says he will seek a "stronger and more effective organization, true to the ideals of its founders and agile enough to act in the 21st century."

If he can accomplish that, then Democrats owe him a regular vote of confirmation. If he doesn't, then more than a year-and-a-half of important work time at the United Nations will have been wasted.