There Are Many Reasons
Why John Bolton is the right man for the job of ambassador the the UN. This is one of them;
Speaking at the Centre for Policy Studies in London, Mr Bolton assailed Mark Malloch Brown, the British Deputy UN Secretary-General, for the disparaging remarks he made about the American public this week. “Mark Malloch Brown has a sentence in his speech where he says the role of the UN is a mystery in Middle America,” he said.
“Maybe it is fashionable in some circles to look down on Middle America, to say they don’t get the complexities of the world and they don’t have the benefit of continental education and they are deficient in so many ways,” Mr Bolton added. “It is illegitimate for an international civil servant to criticise what he thinks are the inadequacies of citizens of a member government.”
The tough-talking US envoy reiterated that the dispute could harm important reforms to the international body. He also hinted that the US Congress, which controls American government spending, might reconsider US funding to the UN, which accounts for 22 per cent of the organisation’s annual budget. “Congress has the power of the purse and they feel quite strongly on a bipartisan basis that America has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent, even people from Middle America,” he said, with a note of sarcasm. “I don’t think we have seen the end of it.” Before Mr Bolton arrived in London, Kofi Annan, the UN chief, tried to play down the controversy. “I think the message that was intended is that the US needs the UN, and the UN needs the US, and we need to support each other,” Mr Annan said. “I think the speech by my deputy should be read in the right spirit and let’s put it behind us and move on.”
I posted yesterday about the complete disinformation the UN press office put out about Brown's speech. Sadly, I suspect it will come as a rude surprise to Mr. Brown and to Mr. Annan that folks in middle America can actually read. Americans, even us poor benighted folks huddling in the Midwest, also pretty well understand elitist contempt when they hear it. They know how to make their elected representatives aware of how they feel about being insulted, too.
Bolton's quite right, the UN is in danger of a funding cut unless Mr. Brown makes an apology. Mr. Annan is clueless. That's a surprise, isn't it? But this is even more than it seemed at first, as the Times reports - this will surprise you:
Mr Annan, under fire from Republicans, began a UN reform drive and sought advice from his American friends, predominantly Democrats. After a secret meeting at the home of the Clinton Administration’s UN Ambassador, Richard Holbrooke, Mr Annan named Mr Malloch Brown as his chief of staff in January last year.
The appointment raised eyebrows when it was reported that Mr Malloch Brown was renting a house on George Soros’s estate for $2,500 a month less than the previous occupant. Even before Mr Bolton was named US Ambassador, he seemed destined to clash with Mr Malloch Brown. Mr Soros, Mr Malloch Brown’s landlord and old friend, helped to fund the Stop Bolton campaign, aimed at stopping him from getting the post.
Mr Malloch Brown has been criticised by dissident UN staff for aligning the world body too closely with Democrats in US domestic politics. They accuse him of allowing a UN staffer, Justin Leites, to play a leading role in the 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, violating staff rules. It is a charge that he denies. “I don’t consider myself aligned with any American political establishment,” he said. “I am British. I have worked in the UN and in international jobs all of my life.”
Well, we know what master Brown serves now, don't we?
By Don Surber, Friday, 9 June , 2006 @ 6:46 am
Bolton nailed it
By Gaius, Friday, 9 June , 2006 @ 6:57 am
Heck, yes. I really like him.
By Blogo, Friday, 9 June , 2006 @ 7:08 am
The bomber of the UN in Iraq was killed in Iraq, maybe the UN wants to be payed?
By The Ugly American, Friday, 9 June , 2006 @ 1:06 pm
You have to read the transcript of his interview on Fox News with Chris Wallace a couple of months back. he sounds like two different guys.
here
By Gaius, Friday, 9 June , 2006 @ 1:09 pm
I rather think he was just doing as he was told at this point.