Every time I think it just can't possibly get any worse, it does.
Yesterday I wrote about our double standard when it comes to nuclear weapons. Several weeks ago I posted about what a complete atrocity of a human being John Bolton is.
Today, how wonderful, the two become intertwined.
Mr. Bolton, set to be voted on tomorrow (and there's still no guarantee that he'll pass the test, especially after this bombshell- no pun intended), wants to be a bigger player in the diplomatic chess game that is the UN. What is his current job? Undersecretary of State for arms control. Which would mean that he should have quite a bit to do with that nonproliferation conference going on in New York right now, right? Well... it would if he had any interest in actually doing his job. Why would he want to do that....
This, from Newsweek, via TruthOut:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051105W.shtml
There is a loophole in the current non-proliferation treaty that allows countries (like Iran) to enrich uranium for energy purposes. That loophole needs to be closed, according to Bush in a Feb 2004 Speech, and backed up a month later by Bolton himself in a speech to congress.
"But if the NPT needed so much fixing under US leadership, why was the United States so shockingly unprepared when the treaty came up for its five-year review at a major conference in New York this month, in the view of many delegates? And why has the United States been losing control of the conference's agenda this week to Iran and other countries--a potentially serious setback to US efforts to isolate Tehran?"
"Since last fall Bolton, Bush's embattled nominee to be America's ambassador to the United Nations, has aggressively lobbied for a senior job in the second Bush administration. During that time, Bolton did almost no diplomatic groundwork for the NPT conference, these officials say.
"John was absent without leave" when it came to implementing the agenda that the president laid out in his February 2004 speech, a former senior Bush official declares flatly. Another former government official with experience in nonproliferation agrees. "Everyone knew the conference was coming and that it would be contentious. But Bolton stopped all diplomacy on this six months ago," this official said. "The White House and the National Security Council started worrying, wondering what was going on. So a few months ago the NSC had to step in and get things going themselves."
Why does this man deserve a government job AT ALL, more or less the top diplomatic position in our government? He apparently has no interest in doing his current job, so does that really merrit what is basically a promotion? Let's see...
"Bolton, for instance, often takes and is given credit for the administration's Proliferation Security Initiative--an agreement to interdict suspected WMD shipments on the high seas--and the deal to dismantle Libya's nuclear program (a deal that Bolton had sought to block). But the former senior Bush official who criticized Bolton's performance on the NPT conference says that in fact Bolton's successor, Robert Joseph, deserves most of the credit for those achievements. This official adds that it was Joseph, who was in charge of counterproliferation at the NSC, who had to pitch in when Bolton fumbled preparations for the NPT conference, as well. Bush, in his February 2004 speech, also sought to give new powers to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which enforces the treaty. But Bolton, says the former Bush official, "focused much more time and attention trying to deny Mohammed elBaradei a third term" as head of the IAEA. The effort failed, and it was considered another international humiliation for the United States. (Ironically, elBaradei has been one of Washington's chief allies at the NPT conference, pushing for parts of the Bush agenda.)"
If you have not already, it is calling and writing time. Bolton's vote is tomorrow. If we send in this man to be our representative to the WORLD GOVERNMENTS we will all suffer humiliation, failed diplomacy in a time when we are sorely in need of some international support, and most frighteningly, we run the risk of further nuclear proliferation. That's something Bush himself SAYS he won't tolerate. Let's make sure he doesn't have to, eh?
thanks
http://screamingme.blogspot.com/