Now, some might think it a tad odd that Dubbya has nominated a fellow to be our representative to the U.N. who’s fond of pronouncements such as a 1994 speech in which he declared, “The United Nations does not exist.” Some wags have suggested that nominating John Bolton to be the ambassador to the U.N. is like nominating Michael Moore to be the secretary of defense.
Still, in a Congress with a Republican majority, including a 10-8 Republican majority on the committee responsible for screening Bolton’s nomination, most folks figured Bolton would skate through — until stories began to surface about Bolton’s, shall we say, somewhat unusual management style.
It seems that our candidate for this most major of diplomatic posts doesn’t take all that well to being told he’s wrong, even when he is. Take, for example, the story of Christian P. Westermann. Westermann was a low-level intelligence analyst in the State Department at a time when Bolton was the department’s arms-control guru. Seems that Bolton wanted to give a speech in which he would state that the United States believed that Cuba was developing an offensive biological warfare program. Westermann started pointing out that there wasn’t any real evidence to back this up.
Now, your average Bushista getting ready to make a speech about weapons of mass destruction and confronted with the possibility that his intelligence about said WMD was non-existent would just go ahead and give the speech anyway. But not ol’ Wild John Bolton. He reportedly cornered the analyst and, as they say, tore him a new one.
He then went to Carl Ford, Westermann’s supervisor, and left Ford feeling like, in his words, he’d “been asked for the first time to fire an intelligence analyst for what he had said and done.” (Just so you know, Ford identified himself at Bolton’s confirmation hearing as a conservative Republican and a supporter of Bush’s policies).
The flap eventually went all the way to the desk of Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had to take the extraordinary step of assuring the intelligence section that they wouldn’t be fired for telling the truth. Powell, of course, is now gone, while Bolton’s star is on the rise. This one fact should tell you all you need to know about the Bush administration.
Then another story surfaced that suggested that Bolton might be not just a bully, but completely bat-crazy. Melody Townsel of Texas was working as a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (hopefully on a project to bring the country more vowels). Bolton, at the time, was working as chief legal counsel for another contractor. When disputes arose between the companies, Townsel wrote a note to USAID about it while on a visit to Moscow.
Enter Wild John Bolton. “Mr. Bolton proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel, throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door, and generally behaving like a madman,” Townsel wrote in an e-mail to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
It should be noted that there are those who dispute Townsel’s story. It should also be noted that, rather than call Townsel to the stand to see if she was telling the truth, Committee Chairman Richard “the Pistol” Lugar announced that he didn’t think new evidence would sway the committee’s decision and tried, over the objections of Democratic Committee members, to push the matter to a vote.
But in a surprising turn of fate, Ohio Republican Senator John Voinovich declared that he “didn’t feel comfortable” voting for Bolton. With this stunning defection, and the prospect of a 9-9 tie, the committee put the vote on Bolton’s nomination off.
Let’s take stock. Here’s a guy who has contempt for the U.N., makes false allegations about WMDs, abuses and bullies those who refuse to back those up, and who may just be as crazy as a rat in a coffee can.
Heck, I’m just amazed that Dubbya didn’t nominate Wild John for secretary of state. This guy is the living embodiment of the administration’s foreign policy. He may still get confirmed. But it’s looking like even Dubbya’s own party is starting to grow a spine. Good for them, and hopefully, good for the country.
Dusty Rhoades lives, writes, and practices law in Carthage.
