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The Wall Street Journal March 8, 2005 POLITICS AND POLICY Bush Taps Critic Of U.N. as Envoy To the World Body By CARLA ANNE ROBBINS and YOCHI J. DREAZEN Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL March 8, 2005; Page A3 WASHINGTON -- President Bush named John Bolton, a senior State Department official and fierce critic of the United Nations, to be the nation's new ambassador to the international body. His nomination comes amid allegations of widespread U.N. mismanagement and corruption in the Iraq oil-for-food program, and U.S. officials said it signaled that the White House wants major reforms of the world body and isn't open to compromise. Mr. Bolton, the administration's top counter-proliferation official, is a leading opponent of U.S. participation in the International Criminal Court. He also strongly opposes offering concessions to North Korea and Iran as a way to block their nuclear ambitions. Mr. Bolton has pushed to refer the Iran issue to the U.N. Security Council, and if Tehran's current talks with the Europeans break down, he would be in a position to lead the drive for U.N. sanctions. At a time when President Bush is trying to repair relations with allies badly strained by the Iraq war, the nomination is a further sign of the power of administration hard-liners and especially of Vice President Dick Cheney, who long has backed Mr. Bolton's career. It also will cheer U.N. critics in Congress, who are increasing in number and outspokenness. Mr. Bolton, 56 years old, has criticized the U.N. as too politicized and too mired in bureaucracy to confront threats such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, a view aides say Mr. Bush shares. He also has argued that international law and organizations could hobble American sovereignty and its ability to defend itself, and has written that the U.S. isn't legally bound to pay its U.N. dues. Both international treaties and the U.N. charter are "simply 'political obligations,' " he wrote in a 1997 article. He has publicly said that if the U.N. headquarters in New York "lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference." Democrats noted those comments, heralding what could be tough confirmation hearings. "I recognize John Bolton's long service to our country, but this is just about the most inexplicable appointment the president could make to represent the United States to the world community," said Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will review the nomination. Mr. Bolton has never shied from a fight at the U.N. He successfully led battles to scuttle a protocol for verifying compliance with the biological-weapons ban and to water down an accord on small-arms trafficking. He recently pushed for ousting International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who aides say he considers far too soft on Iran. But even his critics in the arms-control community give Mr. Bolton high marks for helping create and enlist support for the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led effort to stop the transport of dangerous weapons. That was crafted as a coalition of the willing -- and has pointedly not sought the blessing of the U.N. or international law. Several U.N. experts criticized the nomination, arguing it could make it harder for the U.S. to rally international support on such issues as Iran and Syria. Diplomats in New York said the appointment was sure to escalate tensions within the Security Council over whether to refer war crimes committed in Sudan's Darfur region to the new court. Mr. Bolton had remarkable autonomy in Secretary of State Colin Powell's State Department, the result both of Mr. Bolton's strong ties to Mr. Cheney and Mr. Powell's frequent estrangement from the White House. Soon after becoming secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice made it known through aides that she planned to replace Mr. Bolton with Robert Joseph, a counter-proliferation expert from her National Security Council staff. Announcing Mr. Bolton's nomination in one of the State Department's most ornate rooms, Ms. Rice described him as a "tough-minded diplomat" with a "strong record of success...(and) a proven track record of effective multilateralism." Standing beside Ms. Rice, Mr. Bolton said he had "over the years written critically about the U.N." He made no apology for that, but said "this is a time of opportunity for the U.N., which...requires American leadership to achieve successful reform." -- ----------------- R. A. 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