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Despite proclaiming a few years ago that "if [the UN Secretariat building] lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference," President Bush is once again nominating John Bolton to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. John Bolton has spent his life undermining the work of the United Nations, and he has continued that work in New York. At yesterday's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Bolton spent 3 ½ hours explaining away his poor performance. John Bolton was not the right man for the job when first nominated and he is not the right man for the job now. President Bush first nominated John Bolton to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 2005, but the Senate refused to approve his nomination. Twice, in fact. Bush then temporarily appointed Bolton UN Ambassador while Congress was on vacation, permitting Bolton to stay in office until the end of 2006. Since being named ambassador, Bolton has managed to alienate many of our closest allies with abrasive, uncompromising, "go-it-alone" actions. The New York Times reported that "many diplomats say they see Mr. Bolton as a stand-in for the arrogance of the administration itself." At a time when the United States should be repairing its alliances and cooperating with other countries to solve the Middle East Crisis, the nuclear aspirations of Iran and North Korea and other challenges, Bolton has managed drive even friendly countries away. Despite declaring that United Nations reform and creating an effective Human Rights Council would be his top priorities, Bolton has failed to achieve these goals. He has been unable to organize the world community to stop genocide in Darfur or to persuade Iran and North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons plans or refrain from provocative missile tests. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be the first to consider Bolton's nomination. Please write your senator's office to urge him or her to speak out and vote against Bolton's nomination. Contacting Senators on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is particularly important. Tell them that John Bolton should be fired. |