FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Backpedaling Boltonaa
Hearings in the Senate yesterday produced a stunning portrait of John Bolton
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/politics/12bolton-full-text.html) , the man
Bush has nominated to be ambassador to the United Nations. Principally, Bolton
-- who as ambassador to the United Nations would be play a large role
communicating the nation's views on intelligence to the world -- repeatedly
sought to express views about United States intelligence that others believed
were inaccurate or misleading. When Bolton caught wind of any dissent, he lashed
out at those responsible. At a time when U.S. credibility in the world on
intelligence issues is waning, President Bush wants to send an ambassador to the
United Nations who " appeared to have tried to tailor intelligence assessments
to his political purposes
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-bolton12apr12,0,1764081.story?coll=la-home-headlines)
."
BOLTON RETALIATED AGAINST ANALYSTS WHO DISAGREED: In 2002, as undersecretary of
state for arms control, Bolton wanted to make an announcement "that Cuba had a
secret bioweapons program
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43504-2005Apr11.html) ."
Christian Westermann, the State Department's chief bioweapons analyst, believed
Bolton's speech was inaccurate, "refused to approve the language and recommended
changes." Bolton told Sen. Joe Biden that " I in no sense sought to have any
discipline imposed on Mr. Westermann.
(http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/04/11/news/bolton.html)
" Bolton admitted, however, that he did go to Westermann's boss and ask that he
be removed from his job, which most people would consider a form of discipline.
At the time, Bolton referred to Westermann to a colleague at the State
Department as "a midlevel ... munchkin analyst." Bolton also "sought removal of
another official, the national intelligence officer responsible for Latin
America, also as a result of his Cuba speech."
BOLTON'S BOGUS EXPLANATION: Bolton claims he asked for Westermann to be
reassigned because he "lost trust and confidence in him." In Slate, Fred Kaplan
notes that " neither analyst worked under Bolton, so it's irrelevant that he
lost confidence in them (http://www.slate.com/id/2116567/) ." Bolton also
claimed that Westermann engaged in "unprofessional conduct" because he consulted
another analyst about the Cuba speech "behind my back." Sharing proposed
revisions with other analysts, however, is "standard procedure for official
speeches mentioning intelligence." Tell your senator to oppose John Bolton
(http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/lookup.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=474653) .
SEA NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL: Yesterday, Sen. Paul Sarbanes asked Bolton about his
views on the Law of the Sea (http://www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm) Treaty,
one of the bulwarks of international law. Bolton responded, "I haven't
personally read the Law of the Sea Treaty. I don't think I've ever read it, to
be honest with you." Yet, in a essay Bolton wrote in 2000 for a book called
"Understanding Unilateralism in American Foreign Relations," Bolton said that
the Law of the Sea Treaty was "not only undesirable as a policy, but also
illegitimate methods of forcing fundamental policy changes on the United States
outside the customary political process." Bolton said he now supported the
treaty because concerns about undersea mining issues were remedied during the
Clinton years. Sarbanes noted that Bolton wrote the article after Clinton left
office. Bolton replied, "I have not independently gone back into that because
I've been busy with other things, frankly."
THE CONFIRMATION CONVERSION: Bolton's views on the United Nations changed
dramatically, just in time for his confirmation hearings. Bolton dismissed his
earlier comments about the U.N. -- like the time he said, "If the U.N. secretary
building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference" --
as simply an effort to get the "attention" of his audience. Now, Bolton says,
the United States is "committed to the success of the United Nations, and we
view the U.N. as an important component of our diplomacy." |
