• John Bolton : Newsweek article John Bolton : Newsweek article Chicago Tribune, May 13, 2005 If the U.S. Senate confirms John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, he can serve a long term there and likely never meet
• John Bolton : Newsweek article
John Bolton : Newsweek article
Chicago Tribune, May 13, 2005
If the U.S. Senate confirms John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, he can serve a long term there and likely never meet more hostility than he has this spring on Capitol Hill. …Some of the opposition to Bolton comes from Democrats who dislike the muscular Bush foreign policy that Bolton advocates. The list of senators most opposed to his nomination includes some who see themselves as better presidential material than the man who holds the office.
But much of the opposition traces to actions by Bolton himself. Some people who have worked for him say he’s a bully who wants intelligence findings twisted to his point of view.…Bolton’s defenders say he’s being faulted for demanding the best available intelligence about a potentially dangerous regime: As we learned on Sept. 11, 2001, getting intel wrong can be a matter of life or many deaths. It’s been intriguing to watch Democratic senators who spent 2004 railing against U.S. intel failures before Sept. 11, and also in Iraq, now lambaste Bolton for doubting that same intel establishment.…
If Bolton approaches a UN posting not as a provocateur but as a jerk, he’ll disappoint his Senate supporters and embarrass the White House.
If, though, he displays the same aplomb he’s shown while under attack in the Senate, he can frustrate his critics—and also be the change agent that a fast-sinking UN desperately needs. Bahrain Tribune, May 18, 2005
Newsweek’s retraction of its story that U.S. investigators found evidence interrogators at Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Holy Quran has put a big question mark on the credibility (if any) of media giants. Responsibility, honesty and fairplay are necessary pillars for sensible journalism. If any of these elements is missing in the profession, the results may be disastrous — for the public and the country. …
Although it would be premature to conclude that Newsweek has lost all its dependability, it would not be unwise to demand that the publication do more to repair damage caused by the article.…
Condoleezza Rice said “it has also done a lot of harm to America’s efforts” to demonstrate tolerance and breed goodwill in the Muslim world.
Need one remind her of the torture skills some Bay soldiers brazenly demonstrated in the past? The world would never have known, if the media had not exposed the systematic torture and humiliation faced by Bay detainees.…With these horror stories still fresh in mind, one looks at the Newsweek episode with suspicion. Was the whole story a drama pre-planned as part of an attempt to improve U.S. image in the Muslim world? Was it stage-managed to make it look like real?
- Provided by the Associated Press.
