Bolton Has A Fan In Me

John Bolton, the United States ambassador to the UN, has been called many things, such as “rude”, “undiplomatic” or “blunt” and also been accused of spinning intelligence to support his political views. After the recent Democratic victories in the mid term elections, President Bush has pushed once again for Bolton’s appointment to the UN in the hopes of pushing it through the lame duck Congress. Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee, a long time critic of Bolton who was recently defeated in his re-election bid, has stated he will not support Bolton's confirmation in the upcoming lame duck session. It looks like his appointment is all but dead at this point.

Call him what you will, but there is one area in which I must applaud Mr. Bolton and that is his defense of Israel in the UN, an international body not known for its positive treatment of the Jewish State. On Saturday, the United States vetoed (yet another) Security Council resolution on Saturday that condemned Israel for its military actions in Gaza and called for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area. The original draft of the resolution, introduced by Qatar, made no mention of Palestinian rocket strikes into Israel and accused Israel of conducting a “massacre” of civilians in its attack at Beit Hanun on Wednesday that killed 18 civilians. Four countries abstained form the vote — Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia — while ten were in favor — Argentina, China, Congo, France, Ghana, Greece, Peru, Russia, Qatar and Tanzania.

In other words, it was another one sided UN resolution against Israel.

Bolton vetoed the resolution, saying it “does not display an even-handed characterization of the recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace.” Even after there were attempts at amendments, Bolton said the resolution remained “in many places biased against Israel and politically motivated.”

It’s nice to see in a world full of hate for Israel, one person and one nation stand up for the little guy. What ever you think of their politics (and I have much to criticize, but we’ll save that for another time), I do have to say many, many thanks to Bolton and Bush for their continued support of Israel in the face of such hypocritical, duplicitous and venomous hate.