The Moose praises our UN Ambassador.
One of the Moose's heroes was the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Senator Moynihan was a true American bi-partisan patriot who was never fearful of speaking truth to power.
One of his greatest moments as United Nations Ambassador he stood tall against the prevailing international wind when that institution passed the "Zionism is Racism" resolution.At that time, Senator Moynihan declared,
''The United States declares that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act."
Many years later, John Bolton, as assistant secretary of state for international organizations, was instrumental in pressuring the UN to repeal the Zionism as Racism resolution. Bolton never acquiesced and Senator Moynihan was vindicated.
The Moose had some doubts about Bolton's appointment as UN Ambassador, but they have all been erased. John Bolton is continuing the Moynihan tradition at the UN.
He is proving that he is genuinely committed to reforming the institution while speaking hard truths. Bolton is currently engaged in a fight to reform the institution's human rights commission which has been previously led by Libya and its membership includes such stellar democracies as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Cuba, Zimbabwe and China. By making it more difficult to gain membership on the panel, Bolton seeks to keep the most malicious abusers off the commission.
Rich Lowry makes an important point,
"Debates over the U.N. feature an odd dynamic. It is skeptics like Bolton who favor making it a more effective and worthy institution. It is the U.N. worshippers who have standards for the world body so low that it will always remain mired in disrepute. So it is that Jimmy Carter is in favor of the current evisceration of the reforms. For such U.N. supporters, it appears that genuinely high-minded multilateralism is not as important as maintaining the United Nations and other international bodies as an irritant to American power. Carter made a personal promise to the ambassadors of Egypt, Pakistan, and Cuba — not a democracy among them — that he would side with them on commission reform."
World opinion is a funny thing. The world can easily express outrage about Gitmo, but remains relatively quiet about the news of the latest genocide, mass grave or ethnic cleansing. Unfortunately, the UN has often been at the central player in promoting universal hypocrisy.
If the UN is to have a future, it must be reformed, and Ambassador Bolton seems to be the man with the vision and commitment to pursue it. Indeed, defenders of the institution should welcome Bolton's dogged efforts.
We live at a time when it is critical to have articulate representatives who will stand up for American values. As we confront the Iranian nuclear danger, we need a representative who can stand firm in defense of the West. A recess appointment is insufficient. Congress should give him a permanent one.
Thirty years ago, Moynihan described the UN situation as "the United States in Opposition." Then the foe was aquiescencece and appeasement of communist totalitarianism and its allies. Today, the adversary is acquiescencece and appeasement of Islamist totalitarianism and its allies. Moynihan was a progressive who stood up to the challenge. Will progressives do the same today or will they kvetch and attack a conservative like Bolton who defends liberal values?
We need truth tellers in the tradition of Pat Moynihan. -- | 
Email
this post
