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Assessing Bolton

The nomination of John Bolton to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has been at least temporarily sidetracked while legitimate and troubling questions over his temperament, judgment and veracity are explored. Over the next weeks about two dozen people who have worked with Bolton will be interviewed by a Senate committee. By the end of that process, it should be clear whether he is fit to be confirmed by the Senate.

The extra time will give senators a chance to get at the truth of the swirling allegations that Bolton sought to exaggerate intelligence assessments to serve his own political goals. In light of the debacle over the faulty intelligence on Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction, the United States cannot afford to have a man known for trying to manipulate intelligence reports as our representative to the United Nations.

President Bush nominated Bolton to challenge the entrenched interests at the United Nations and press for reforms. Bolton is known as an antagonist toward the institution and international treaties in general, which he sees as an erosion of American hegemony. His style is confrontational, not conciliatory, and he is not afraid to make enemies.

At a time when we need the rest of the world to participate in the global fight against terror, Bolton's bullying may not be the best approach. But his overbearing personality is not reason enough to oppose his nomination. Of more significant concern are disturbing allegations about his conduct at the State Department as an undersecretary and in other posts.

Bolton has been accused of browbeating subordinates and trying to get intelligence analysts removed when they failed to reach the politically expedient conclusions he sought. Melody Townsel reports that when she was a leader of a project for the Agency for International Development in 1994, Bolton threw things at her, pounded on her hotel room door and shoved threatening letters under the door after she criticized the work of a subcontractor he was representing.

Allegations also have been raised that Bolton kept information from his bosses at the State Department, including key information on eroding international support for investigating Iran's nuclear program. And there are reports that former Secretary of State Colin Powell has expressed reservations over the nomination.

While Bush continues to support Bolton, more than enough serious questions have been raised to give even Republican senators heartburn. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee prudently postponed its confirmation vote, and its wider review in the next two weeks should clear up whether Bolton is merely unlikeable or clearly unfit to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

[Last modified April 28, 2005, 01:18:21]