Trouble for the United States at the UN

Bush Picks Critic of U.N. to Serve as Ambassador to It
Oh, you've got to be kidding me - John Bolton as UN Ambassador? Jethro Foot-in-Mouth? The Mustache That Walks Like A Man? Mr. F*ck-Them-All? That John Bolton?
The NYT quoted Condi Rice saying "The president and I have asked John to do this work because he knows how to get things done."
Well, if they want to start a war with Cuba and North Korea and Iran, plus piss off Japan and China so maybe they'll start selling off their dollars, plus make sure the UN Security Council won't support a single US initiative, well, I guess Bolton can do that job just fine.
I think Rumsfeld and Cheney convinced Bush that Bolton will be able to bully the Security Council into supporting sanctions against Iran. They think the rest of the world is populated with stupid, weak-willed schmucks -- we're all Old Europe now -- and so we'll just roll over and play dead as soon as Mr. Moustache tells us to.
Well, we'll see how that works out, eh? You know how it goes, fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, shame on me again.
Here are some top quotes from the Bolton hit parade:
- “It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law even when it may seem in our short-term interest to do so – because, over the long term, the goal of those who think that international law really means anything are those who want to constrict the United States.” *
- ". . . the Europeans can be sure that America's days as a well-bred doormat for EU political and military protection are coming to an end." *
- "Why was the 1998 [Pentagon] report on Cuba so unbalanced? Why did it underplay the threat Cuba posed to the United States?" he asked, replying "A major reason is Cuba's aggressive intelligence operations against the United States."*
- Bolton mocked supporters of the test-ban treaty as "misguided individuals following a timid and neo-pacifist line of thought." In an interview with Arms Control magazine, after taking office, Bolton caused a stir by seeming to back off the 'no first use' of nuclear weapons doctrine that has been the underpinning of the non-proliferation treaty.*
- "I believe that the United States should support the efforts of the Republic of China on Taiwan to become a full member of the United Nations: and "diplomatic recognition of Taiwan would be just the kind of demonstration of U.S. leadership that the region needs and that many of its people hope for… The notion that China would actually respond with force is a fantasy, albeit one the Communist leaders welcome and encourage in the West." The article containing these quotes also notes that in April, 2001, the Washington Post reported that Bolton was paid a total of $30,000 by the government of Taiwan for "research papers on UN membership issues involving Taiwan."
Oh, may you live in interesting times!