Bolton to the UN

With summer baseball season and work commitments, it has been a while...

Predictably, President Bush has tendered John Bolton a recess appointment to the United Nations. The static coming from Europe is also predictable.

An article in der Spiegel sums up the German response.

Europeans still believe in the idea of the UN as an independent world
player, an institution that can and will act independently from the US, he said.
"For Europeans, the UN is a body that can function as an antagonist to the
United States. What Bush is saying is that is not true. He's saying the UN is
not a real power and cannot replace the power or influence of the US." He's also
showing his disdain for international diplomacy in general, Frank Unger
said.

This is just it; the Europeans see the UN as their stick of sorts to be used mainly for poking into the eye of the United States. Once again, Bush is not saying anything in particular about the UN other than it must be reformed. Who do Germans think should be the US ambassador to the UN? Of course the answer is somebody who is agreeable to the European point of view. I think it is the Europeans in this case that cannot seem to grasp the notion of agreeing to disagree. We just don't see the UN in the same light; plain and simple.

But others disagree, pointing out the UN's many scandals and its inability to
act quickly enough to stop the genocides of the 1990s in the Balkans and Rwanda.
The UN, they say, is in desperate need of serious reforms.

Who is "others?" Is there anyone on the face of the earth who looks at the performance of the UN as an organization in the last 15 years who thinks it is NOT in need of reform? One difference in style between America and Europe is that we are willing to call a spade a spade, and make difficult decisions aimed at fixes; not useless rhetoric.

"The reason why Bolton was nominated is because Bush needs a tough guy at the
UN, and wants bottom up reforms," said Jan-Friedrich Kallmorgen of the German
Council on Foreign Relations. "Bush is committed to reform, that'swhy he put
someone like that in there. I don't agree with some analysts who say it's a
punishment of the Senate or because he's anti-democratic or all that ... He
chose Bolton because he needs someone tough enough to take on the bureaucracy."

One who regularly reads der Spiegel can guess the headline of the story... "Some Europeans Angered by Bush's Summer Surprise." Given the above-referenced quote, would the title "Some Europeans Agree with Bush's Summer Surprise." be worthy of consideration? Of course we know that this is a rhetorical question, and that the latter headline would fail to sell newspapers.

Much of the transatlantic snivelling we hear sounds like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum because his parents did not offer him the proper amount of consultation about hiring a nanny. Well, perhaps daddy knows best!