 Remember the fuss about John Bolton, how Democrats stalled his confirmation as U.N. ambassador and depicted him as a threat to the world order? Well, his recess appointment is having a salutary impact.
| Comes as a surprise, doesn't it? I know. It floored me, too... |
That's not how it was supposed to turn out, at least according to the Democrats and the media hysterics. Bolton was the tough-talking undersecretary of state who was once so impolitic as to quip that it wouldn't much matter if the top 10 stories of the East River edifice were knocked over. Mix in some rumors about Bolton bullying State Department subordinates — a delicious fantasy, when you think about it — and it was enough for the whole center-left to go ape. These were the people who, unhinged by John Kerry's loss to George W. Bush, preferred the wisdom of European diplocrats to American interests.
| If Bolton had a monocle and a snotty accent they'd have thought he was just ducky... |
For some reason, Bolton's critics felt no need to reform the United Nations, which under the leadership of Secretary-General Kofi Annan has descended into the most intense sort of tragicomedy. The body's vaunted "oil for food" engagement with prewar Iraq came under investigation, prompting many observers to dub it the worst financial scandal in history.  And reports came out of Africa about how U.N. "peacekeepers" were building a sex-slave industry. Did we mention that the U.N.'s human rights commission came under fire for naming to its membership agents of the world's most despotic regimes? Was no reform necessary?
| Tut tut, m'good man! A few minor adjustments here and there and all will be well... |
This week, even though the issue is plenty serious, the scene came almost as comic relief when the usually mild and measured Annan berated a British reporter. The Brit's offense? In a news conference, he inquired about the whereabouts of a Mercedes Benz that Kofi's son Kojo reportedly purchased under a U.N. exemption, possibly with the approval of the secretary-general. Clearly, recent developments have made Annan testy.
| Kofi's going to leave office under a cloud... |
 The biggest factor more than likely was the sight of Bolton checking off the top items on his agenda. Bolton created an international stir — marked by the European Union's formal opposition — when he threatened to block the body's 2006-07 budget unless the U.N. commenced serious self-reform.
| But since the EU showed its usual staunch level of commitment... |
Last week: a successful start. The 191-member General Assembly approved a resolution for a two-year, $3.8 billion administrative budget. Attached to the resolution was a spending cap at $950 million, enough for the first half of next year. Look for Annan in June to request more money to pay U.N. personnel. Some countries — among them Egypt, India and Jamaica — deny the emergency budget was tied to any reforms.
| I also deny that I've put on blubber in the past few years. My bones are getting bigger. And my clothes shrank in the wash... |
But Bolton, calling the vote a victory for the U.S., said the resolution implies the General Assembly must approve, according to Reuters, "a new human rights body, new international accounting standards, a review of programs older than five years and a stronger internal watchdog office." Remind us: Just why did the Democrats oppose this guy? |