U.S. May Not Push for Ouster of IAEA Chief

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite urging U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei to step down after two terms, the Bush administration may be unwilling to undertake an all-out political battle to oust him, U.S. officials and diplomats say.

ElBaradei, who has worked at the International Atomic Energy Agency for 20 years, officially announced his interest in a third term late last month, rebuffing President Bush (news - web sites)'s team, which said it hoped he would step down and allow the appointment of a new leader.

~snip~



Bush administration hard-liners, led by Undersecretary of State John Bolton, fault ElBaradei and the IAEA for not being tough enough on states seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction, including Iran and North Korea (news - web sites).


In the runup to the Iraq (news - web sites) war, Elbaradei stoked U.S. anger by saying IAEA inspectors had found no evidence of a continuing nuclear program in Iraq. Bush and top aides insisted the program existed as they made the case for an invasion, but evidence to support the existence of such a program has not been found.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=10&u=/nm/20041023/ts_nm/nuclear_iaea_usa_dc

[OKNancy]

1. If you tell the truth

when BushCo is involved, they don't like you. Oh, and don't forget Mr. ElBaradei, you are supposed to stop the nuclear progams in Iran and North Korea too.

The Bushies won't be around much longer anyway, thank god.

[livinbella]

2. Let's not support the UN but still blame Mr. ElBaradei! Far out!

Americans will learn soon enough
that Mr. ElBaradei (whose name sounds kinda like Osama)
has been weak on terra; he is to blame.
We need to stop all this crawdaddin'
and attack! War is at hand and the UN is to blame.