John Bolton resigns from the UN

[NelsonJacobsen]

There seems to be some breaking news that Bolton is pulling the plug. Yea.

[Psycho]

Nelson,

 

Does Bolton's resignation come as any surprise to you in light of the Democrats having an upcoming majority in Congress?

 

 

There seems to be some breaking news that Bolton is pulling the plug. Yea.

[BlingBling]

I just reviewing the Congressional Record when I saw your post.

 

Executive nominations received by

the Senate November 9, 2006:

 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

JOHN ROBERT BOLTON, OF MARYLAND, TO BE THE REPRESENTATIVE

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE UNITED NATIONS, WITH THE RANK AND STATUS OF

AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY, AMERICA IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS.

JOHN ROBERT BOLTON, OF MARYLAND, TO BE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE SESSIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS DURING HIS TENURE OF SERVICE AS

REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE UNITED NATIONS.

 

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/ge...mp;position=all

 

You might want to read this:

 

Bolton, the White House's ambassador to the United Nations, who resigned Monday, made his mark on the world organization from the beginning as a hard-working diplomat who cared less about etiquette than about getting the results he wanted.

 

Bolton strongly defended US President George W Bush's policies, including the war in Iraq. He pushed efforts to gain respect for human rights in war-torn Darfur in Sudan and in Myanmar, which is ruled by a military junta.

 

'As a US representative, he has pressed ahead with the instructions that he had been given and tried to work as effectively as he could with the other ambassadors,' UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said upon learning of Bolton's resignation.

 

Annan said he would not single out Bolton or other envoys for failures to reform the UN.

 

'I have always maintained that ambassadors have to work together and understand that they have to make concessions and they need to work with each other for the organization to move ahead,' Annan said.

 

Annan, who is stepping down from the UN leadership on December 31, said he and Bolton will exit the UN headquarters 'together.'

 

Annan's request that ambassadors work together to solve world crises did not always appeal to Bolton, who had a separate agenda - from the White House and the conservative wing of the Republican Party.

 

From the time Bolton arrived at UN headquarters in 2005 as a Congress-recessed appointee, UN diplomats remarked that he had a clear US agenda. He often clashed with other diplomats over the US- led war in Iraq and US efforts to block international conventions like the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court.

 

Bolton led the campaign to prevent the establishment of a UN Human Rights Council, voting against it when the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved it in March.

 

He had first sought a stronger and more accountable Human Rights Council to replace the discredited UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. But he turned against the Human Rights Council when his efforts failed.

 

He had recently criticized the Human Rights Council for its performance below the levels of the previous commission in Geneva.

 

Bolton infuriated the Non-aligned Movement and the so-called Group of 77, both of which hold the majority of votes in the 192-nation assembly, by demanding dozens of amendments to their plans to reform the UN secretariat.

 

Bolton, along with many Western European nations, had demanded more authority for the UN secretary general to hire qualified personnel and draw up policy. The mass of developing nations in the assembly wanted to have the last say in UN programmes and would not relinquish that authority.

 

Annan sided with Bolton in demanding more power to govern the UN, but lost.

 

This year, Bolton cast two vetoes blocking separate resolutions backed by Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority demanding an end to Israeli incursions into Palestinian-held territories. Bolton called the resolutions one-sided.

 

In the UN Security Council, Bolton often clashed with Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin on the nuclear issues in Iran and North Korea. Bolton pushed sanctions, which were opposed by those two ambassadors, to force Iran and North Korea to comply with international demands to abandon their nuclear programmes.

 

Bolton, who loves to banter with reporters covering the UN, never missed cameras set up at the entrance to the UN Security Council chamber and was once scorned by Wang for his media interactions.

 

'John, you talk too much,' Wang once told his counterpart when Bolton was entertaining reporters with seemingly endless statements.

 

Diplomats said Wang and Bolton often clashed during closed-door sessions of the 15-nation council, particularly on human rights issues.

 

When Bolton wanted the council to take up the situation in the Myanmar, Wang opposed. Bolton forced the council to hold a public vote to adopt his idea, but Wang voted against the proposal in a procedural vote usually taken behind closed-doors.

 

Wang said Bolton carried the US agenda at the UN and 'succeeded in some way.'

 

Wang was among the first to express sadness to see Bolton leave.

 

'I regret that he's resigning, he works very hard and has his own style,' Wang said. 'He works hard on issues and I enjoy working with him.'

 

Argentinian UN Ambassador Cesar Mayoral concurred with Wang that Bolton worked hard to change the UN.

 

'I work very well with him,' Mayoral said. But the diplomat said it would be up to the international community to assess Bolton's performance.

 

UN diplomats acknowledged that the UN Security Council has become more transparent and punctual during Bolton's tenure in contrast to the

 

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/usa/fea...rided_by_others

[Luke_Wilbur]

I have attached John Bolon's resignation letter.

 

In a Dec. 1 letter to President Bush, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton wrote that, "after careful consideration," he has decided to resign when his recess appointment expires in a few weeks. "I accept [the resignation]; I'm not happy about it," Bush said yesterday. The president installed Bolton at the United Nations. after his nomination ran into bipartisan opposition on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over a series of complaints, including his efforts to manipulate intelligence, bully subordinates, and demean consensus-building efforts with a brusque and blustering style. Because he was a recess appointee, Bolton's term was set to expire at the end of the current congressional term. Bush resubmitted his nomination on Nov. 9, a few days after the midterm elections.

bolton2006120.pdf