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washingtonpost.com

Bolton Faces Tough Questions on Hill During Confirmation Hearing, the U.N. Ambassador
Nominee Answers Questions on Past Anti-U.N. Comments
By William BraniginWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, April 11, 2005; 4:00 PM
President Bush's nominee to be the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations ran into tough questioning in a confirmation hearing today from Senate Democrats who criticized what they said was his disdain for the world body and his efforts to remove two intelligence analysts in a dispute over an assessment on Cuba.
John R. Bolton, currently undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he is committed to building a closer U.S. partnership with the United Nations.
"The United States is committed to the success of the United Nations, and we view the U.N. as an important component of our diplomacy," Bolton, 56, told the committee. "If confirmed, I look forward to working closely with this committee to forge a stronger relationship between the United States and the United Nations, which depends critically on American leadership."
Bolton added that he also plans to work with U.N. agencies "to enable them to contribute further to the growth of democratic institutions in countries freed from the bonds of oppression."
His remarks, however, appeared to fall short of allaying the concerns of the committee's Democrats, who repeatedly cited past statements in which the nominee sharply criticized the United Nations.
Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee have indicated they plan to vote against confirming Bolton, but with the committee membership favoring the majority Republicans by 10 to 8, they would need at least one Republican to join them in order to block the nomination from going forward.
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, noted in opening remarks that Bolton had once said there was "no such thing as the United Nations" and that if 10 stories were removed from the 38-story U.N. headquarters, "it wouldn't make a bit of difference."
Biden said Bolton's views seem to be "contradictory and contrary to the direction the president and [Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] now want to take this administration."
The United Nations needs "lots of" reform, and Americans "need a strong voice in New York who knows the U.N. and who can advance our reform agenda," Biden said. "But we don't need a voice which people may not be inclined to listen to. And I fear that, knowing your reputation . . . people will be inclined to tune you out."
Biden added, "Some have said that sending you to New York would be like sending Nixon to China. I'm concerned it will be more like sending the bull into a China shop."
In answers to questions from Biden and other senators, Bolton said some of his past remarks about the United Nations had been "quoted out of context." He said he had been trying to make the point that the United Nations is not a disembodied entity, but reflects the will of its member governments, and that his remark about lopping off 10 stories from U.N. headquarters was meant to convey that the world body's 51,000-member bureaucracy could be made a lot leaner and more efficient.
"I think a reduction in personnel is something that every manager . . . should strive for," he said.
Some of the sharpest questioning challenged Bolton's efforts to remove two career intelligence analysts from their posts, allegedly because they had objected to language that Bolton wanted to include in a May 2002 speech on the existence of a secret biological weapons program in Cuba. One official, Christian Westermann, the chief bioweapons analyst at the State Department, refused to clear the speech because the proposed language went beyond current intelligence assessments, Democrats said. The other official allegedly targeted by Bolton was an unidentified analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency's National Intelligence Council.
Bolton denied that he sought to have Westermann and the other official fired from their jobs, but he acknowledged under questioning that he had complained to their superiors that he found their conduct "unprofessional."
He said this was not because of any dispute over the substance of the intelligence but because they had tried to go behind his back with their concerns and he had lost confidence in them.
Bolton said he requested that Westermann be removed from his "portfolio" and transferred to another post.
Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) dismissed the significance of the dispute, saying that "I think we ought to focus on the big picture." He said Bolton has the experience, knowledge and background to head the U.S. mission to the United Nations and that President Bush selected the "perfect person" for the job.
U.S. taxpayers care less about an internal State Department dispute than they do about getting a return for U.S. investment in the United Nations, Allen said. He said Bolton's appointment at this juncture is "an opportunity to eliminate waste" in the institution.
But Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) told Bolton that in view of the "massive intelligence failure" that preceded the U.S. invasion of Iraq, senior administration officials should not be retaliating against subordinates whose intelligence assessments turn out to be accurate.
"I think the American people deserve to have people who are correct not be fired, but rewarded," Kerry said.
At one point in the session, the hearing was briefly disrupted by protesters who chanted slogans and held up banners protesting the nomination before security guards escorted them out of the room. "No Bolton, Yes U.N.," one banner said.

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Monday, April 11, 2005