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Commentary :: Peace

The Sinner who Refuses to Repent: John Bolton

On Tuesday, Bolton's conduct toward colleagues in the State Department was probed. Witnesses reported that the Undersecretary attempted to fire experts who doubted his assertions about Cuban bio-weapons. This is the last hour to email committee members.
THE SINNER WHO REFUSES TO REPENT

UN-enemy Bolton could be the UN ambassador of the US. Hearing in the Senate

By Knut Mellenthin

[This article published in: Junge Welte 4/14/2005 is translated from the German on the World Wide Web, www.jungewelt.de/2005/04-14/005.php.]


Since Monday the Foreign Relations committee of the US Senate has interrogated John Bolton who should become UN ambassador according to the will of the administration in Washington. Bolton belonging to the neo-conservatives and currently Undersecretary for arms control in the State Department has often attracted attention with anti-Un statements. Therefore 56 former US ambassadors protested against Bolton’s nomination in an open letter. [http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/04/315416.shtml]

The formal nomination requires the approval of the Senate where republicans have a majority of 55 to 45. First of all, the Foreign Relations committee must agree. Ten republicans and eight democrats are represented there. In all probability all the democrats will vote against Bolton. If only one of the republicans joins them, there will be a deadlock in the committee. Then the procedure would be blocke4d. Attention focuses on republican senator Lincoln Chafee. According to his statement, he inclines to vote for Bolton but is not a hundred-percent decided.

On Monday, Bolton was questioned by the democratic committee members about his remarks against the UN. Among other things, he said the world organization doesn’t really exist and if the UN skyscraper in New York lost ten stories, that wouldn’t make any difference. Bolton did not deny or relativize any of the remarks attributed to him. As ambassador to the UN, he said he would loyally hold to the official line of the US government.

On Tuesday, Bolton’s conduct toward colleagues in the State Department was probed. Witnesses reported that the Undersecretary attempted to fire experts who doubted his assertions about Cuban bio-weapons.

Further questions revealed that Bolton at the beginning of the 1990s as a colleague of the American Enterprise Institute, a neo-conservative think tank, spoke in favor of Taiwan’s UN membership and wrote paid articles for the Taiwanese president. That contradicted official US policy. Bolton declared before the committee that he still had this opinion today but would keep to the line of the government.

The formal vote in the committee on Bolton’s nomination was originally planned for last Thursday. Whether he will be approved by the committee seems open.
 
 

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