Bolton throws UN summit into chaos: Guardian

[emad]

Bush's envoy demands 750 changes to reorganisation plans

Julian Borger in Washington
Friday August 26, 2005
The Guardian


John Bolton, Washington's new ambassador to the United Nations, has called for wholesale changes to a draft document due to go before a UN summit next month aimed at reshaping the world body.

Mr Bolton, a long-standing UN critic who was given a temporary appointment by George Bush three weeks ago after the United States Senate failed to agree on his nomination, has proposed 750 amendments to the draft and called for immediate talks on them.


The 29-page document has been drawn up by a committee under the UN general assembly president, Jean Ping of Gambia, over the past year, during which time several drafts have been circulated.
Critics complained that the US objections had come towards the end of the drafting process, with only three weeks to go before the summit.

But Benjamin Chang, a spokesman for the American team at the UN, said Mr Bolton had simply been restating long-held US opinions. "Those are not new positions; surprise positions," he said. "We've been engaged in this process, since the first meeting."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1556790,00.html

[AzDar]

1. ONLY 750 amendments? He must be softening up..LOL

The destruction of the U.N. begins.....

[Telly Savalas]

4. Nobody's going to destroy the UN.

It might lose a rogue nation as a member state, and thus have to find a new host, but it'll be just fine without the U.S.

[kbm8795]

2. And now he'll start banging his shoe

on the table if he doesn't get his 750 ways.

[gasperc]

3. not so much amendments, deletions of words, key words

huffingtonpost has a pdf of the submission. Bolton wants to cut out alot of key phrases of enforcement that were negotiated over a year with US input.

nothing shocking here, praying for divine intervention

[Stockholm]

5. Sweden just called Bolton's amendments "not acceptable"

Secretary of State Lars Danielsson head of the Swedish UN delegation is not surprised by the American proposals for amendments, but he is a bit surprised over the "timing".

Mr. Danielsson is careful in his comments but says that it is unlikely that the 39 page UN document, which he believes is a good starting point for discussions, that has taken 6 months of negotiations to complete will end up reduced to three pages as proposed by the US delegation.

He finishes with the comment that "the 750 amendments are not so much aimed at improving the organisation (UN)"

http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/utrikes/did_10401981.asp (in Swedish)



So, whining but no actual suggestions for solutions. I think I have heard that before somewhere...