Bolton nomination a slap in the face to the U.N.

The Oh Really Factor by MAURICE O. NDOLE

Just when I thought the Bush administration would want to build a better relationship with the United Nations, to gather support for its many military and democratizing endeavors around the world, they have nominated John Bolton, a bitter U.N. critic, to represent the United States in the world governing body.

The irony here is that Bolton’s disdain for the United Nations is not a secret. He is on record as having said if the United Nations headquarters in New York vanished, nobody would notice; at least, he won’t notice. He has refused to disavow a statement he made more than a decade ago that “there is no such thing as the United Nations, only a group of nations the United States can sometimes sway to act in its own interest.”

Allegations about Bolton’s bullying of government intelligence officials also make it difficult to imagine that he would act any differently around strangers at the world’s governing body offices.

His open disdain against the United Nations raises several questions about his nomination: first, why would he want a job in an organization he loathes so much? Second, why would the Bush administration nominate somebody to work in a place he has shown so much contempt for?

I don’t know the answers to these questions for sure, but I have a hypothesis. The Bush administration needs a bomb-thrower in the United Nations. And Bolton, as laughable as it may sound, perfect fits the caricature.

It is obvious that the Bush administration has not really forgiven U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for calling the war in Iraq illegal. They are also unhappy the Oil for Food investigation they launched to oust Annan ended in a fiasco that not only exonerated the secretary general but also gave him the power to say “hell No.” in response to a question from a reporter who asked him if he was willing to resign.

The vendetta against the United Nations and its secretary general is blinding the Bush administration from focusing on the real issues that can win back allies and rebuild a favorable image of the United States to the rest of the world.

The United Nations, just like any large organization, is prone to complex problems. The Oil for Food and the U.N. peacekeepers sex scandals are just a few examples of problems that should be expected when running such an organization. When the problems occur, the solution is not to disband the organization but to hold those responsible accountable.

Unleashing the thick-mustached Bolton to be the face of the United States at the United Nations is like sending a high school bully to a preschool playground.

The choice nomination of Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is an act of bad faith, which is likely to further complicate the bad relationship between the United States and U.N. member countries.