Ex-Intel Chief Blasts Bolton at Hearing
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By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON - A former chief of the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research castigated John R. Bolton on Tuesday as a "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy" who abused analysts who disagreed with his views of Cuba's weapons capabilities.
With Bolton's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Democratic attack, Carl W. Ford Jr. appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to support accusations of harassment.
"I have never seen anyone quite like Mr. Bolton," Ford testified under oath. "He abuses his authority with little people."
Sen. Joseph F. Biden, Jr., D-Del., who is leading the fight to block the nomination, responded angrily to the accusation of mistreatment. Anytime a senior official calls in a lower-level one "and reams him a new one," he said, "that's just not acceptable."
But Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record), a moderate Republican whose vote could be critical, noted calmly that analysts criticized by Bolton had "kept their jobs." The Rhode Island Republican has already described himself as inclined to support confirmation.
Ford told the committee he considered himself a loyal Republican, a conservative and a strong supporter of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Ford said he appeared before the committee only after a lot of "soul-searching."
On Monday, Bolton rigorously rejected assertions by Democrats that he tried to sack State Department intelligence officials who challenged his assessment of Cuba's efforts to develop biological weapons and his appraisal of the weapons programs of Iran and other countries.
"I didn't seek to have these people fired. I didn't seek to have them discharged. I said I lost my trust in them," Bolton testified.
Bolton also assured the committee that he supports international law and views the United Nations as "an important component of our diplomacy." The 56-year-old State Department chief of arms control is a hard-liner with a skeptical view of some U.S. arms control treaties and a frequent critic of the value of the United Nations.
Meanwhile, committee Democrats meeting behind closed doors were interviewing Neil Silver, a senior department intelligence offiical, and a CIA agent whose identify the senators sought to conceal.
Bolton's frequent assertions that the United States faced serious dangers often did not sit well with some analysts within the U.S. government. Reflecting their skepticism, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., admonished him, "We can't afford to cry wolf."
His style, Democrats charged, was ill-suited for the U.N. post.
"You have nothing but disdain for the U.N.," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif. "You can dance around it. You can run away from it. You can put perfume on it," she said.
However, with Republicans in the committee majority by 10-8 and the Senate itself by 55-44 plus an independent, Bolton could be on a track to confirmation unless damaging new information about him emerges. The chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., hopes to hold a committee vote Thursday and has no plan to recall Bolton for more testimony.
Nor did any Republican senator, including Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., considered the Republican likeliest to line up with the Democrats, take Bolton on. He said Monday that Democrats had not made a strong case against Bolton, and he remained inclined to support the nomination.
Summing up the view of Republicans amid a relentless Democratic attack, Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record) of Virginia told the embattled undersecretary of state, "You have the knowledge. ... You will bring a credit to the U.N. that they sorely need." |
