A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Campaign 2008: "John Kerry gets Op/Ed space in today's New York Times to discuss the speech the President should give...(referring to the President's live televised speech on Iraq, tonight from Fort Bragg, NC). Read the entire piece here: "The administration must work with the Iraqi government to establish a multinational force to help protect its borders. Such a force, if sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council, could attract participation by Iraq's neighbors and countries like India."
Coalition for Darfur: "UN Refugee Agency Fears for Darfur Children - From Reuters: "The world was not paying enough attention to the plight of children in Sudan's west Darfur, where many were forced to join armed groups or were separated from their families, the U.N. refugee agency said on Monday. "The whole issue of child protection is one that deserves more focus," said Erika Feller, director of international protection at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)."
Iraq Solidarity Campaign: "Rescuing Iraq - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, writing in The Washington Post Tuesday, assured the Iraqi people that the international community "stands with them in their brave efforts to rebuild their country". But Annan also emphasised the need for "a broad-based and inclusive strategy that embraces the political transition, development, human rights and institution-building, so that all of Iraq's communities see they stand to be winners in the new Iraq."
Political Forecast: "Bolton looks set for a recess appointment - A big political loss for the Bush White House if true. Frist announced the schedule for the rest of this week this morning and there was no mention of Bolton at all. Expect a recess appointment next week. Steve Clemons has more."
Say Uncle: "Say Uncle's resident troublemaker Hellbent links to this article which notes that the legal structure used in the past to address piracy can be adapted to the terror war: "International Law lacks a definition for terrotism as a crime. According to Secretary General Kofi Annan, this lack has hampered "the moral authority of the United Nations and its strength in condemning" the scourge."
World Changing: "There was a lot of anecdotal evidence that where healthy mangrove greenbelts -- and coral reefs -- still lined the coast, they blunted the impact of the tsunami and saved lives. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is encouraging assessing the "unseen value" of healthy ecosystems, which might in turn encourage governments to factor them into development plans. The second report in the U.N.'s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Biodiversity and Human Well-being, estimates that about two and a half intact acres (one hectare) of mangrove swamp in Thailand is worth about $1,000 a year in benefits such as fishing and soil protection, but worth only $200 a year if converted to intensive farming."
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Juan Cole: "A reader with a US military background writes: "I noted your recent proposal for increased UN military involvement with some questions. The idea that UN involvement would reduce the violence due to its [being] relatively less partisan was probably at least partially destroyed with the UN building in August 2003 (where my unit was involved with rescues). Contributing troops to a UN force will neither end the conflict nor support a negotiated settlement on their own." Cole: I am not advocating a passive UN "peace-keeping" mission. Rather, I'm arguing for a UN army with an active peace-enforcing mandate. I don't deny it is a tall order. But then, the US military mission is a tall order as it is."
Mark Kilmer: "Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard, a regular commentator on FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume noted publicly a thought which had been bothering me of late. The President's options with Bolton are limited, he admitted: "They're going to have to deal with Senator Dodd (D-CT) or find some way to get around Senator Dodd, some kind of a gang of 14 thing, as they did on the filibusters of judicial nominees." A way has to be found for the colleagues of Biden/Dodd to escape from their political game without embarrassing either Senator."
Middle Earth Journal: "I don't have a clue how the Bolton nomination is going to play out. Joe Gandelman has a good rundown on the thoughts of the pundits and a few thoughts of his own. Steve Soto wonders if the "nuclear option" is on the table. Joe summarizes the theories of why the White House continues to fight for the Bolton nomination."
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Democracy Arsenal: "A UN umbrella may be one of the only ways to attract foreign troops back into Iraq. If the U.S., for example, topped up the regular reimbursement rates for troop contributors, its not impossible to envision some developing countries with peacekeeping experience coming forward, particularly for tasks away from the front lines."
Juan Cole: "The United States will eventually have to go to the United Nations and request that it send a peace-enforcing mission to Iraq, as the US military withdraws... A US withdrawal without a United Nations replacement would risk throwing Iraq into civil war. Such a civil war, moreover, would very likely not remain restricted in its effects only to Iraqi soil."
Laura Rozen: "Slate's Fred Kaplan explains the peculiar situation the White House would find itself in were it resort to recess appointing Bolton to the UN, an institution Bolton's supporters charge with not being sufficiently democratic."
Betsy's Page: "Robert Novak reveals how the Democratic objections to John Bolton are just a charade. It's now become a party vote unmoored from the merits of the nomination or any of the underlying issues regarding the United Nations."
Stygius: "In April I wrote: "If the most positive contribution John Bolton has made to solving global proliferation problems has been by his absence, why are we still being subjected to the argument that his "tough" and "abrasive" style gets results, when instead his permanent absence from government service may in the end be Bolton's greatest contribution to US national security?"
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Next Left: "Found these Harper's Index factoids quite humbling: "Annual cost of all sixteen U.N. peacekeeping missions currently underway: $3,870,000,000 [United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (N.Y.C.)]; Monthly cost of the U.S. occupation of Iraq: $4,100,000,000." That is annual vs. monthly cost."
Radio News America: "The "United Nations Reform Act of 2005" masquerades as a bill that will cut U.S. dues to the United Nations by 50 percent if that organization does not complete a list of 39 reforms. On the surface, any measure that threatens to cut funding to the United Nations seems very attractive, but do not be fooled: in this case, reform "success" will be worse than failure."
Stygius: "Steve Clemons is back from the McCain-Frist press conference. Mainly, it was just a political gambit to try and get the nomination moving, even though Frist won't say when he'll bring it to a vote. But there was nothing that was new in and of itself. Frist's line, supposedly bolstered by having McCain at his side, is that Democrats keep "moving the goal posts" on the information requests, which is stalling the vote. This is nonsense, of course; Democrats have actually been conceding territory over the past few weeks."
Talking Points Memo: "Given the central role of Ahmed Chalabi in 'unearthing' documents which triggered the UN oil-for-food scandal, can someone tell me why the New York Times still has Judith Miller covering the story? I'd actually like to follow what's happening in these investigations. But if you know any of the history of the last five years it's simply impossible to read Miller's articles on this subject and have any confidence that what you're reading is anything that, by any measure, can be considered the straight story."
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Chrenkoff: "United Nations World Food Program reports that "a total of 19,196 mt of commodities (including High Energy Biscuits, wheat flour, vegetable oil and pea/wheat blend) have thus far been dispatched into Iraq under WFP's current emergency operation."
Daily Kos: "US to Iraq: Listen to the UN - The Bush administration, seeking to close the continuing rift between Shiite and dissident Sunni Arab leaders in Iraq, is enlisting Europe, the Arab world and the United Nations to pressure the Baghdad government to include minorities in the political process, administration and other diplomats say."
Charging RINO: "In order to make the United Nations an effective international institution as we move forward, this country must provide strong leadership and push for meaningful changes in the organization that will result in a more efficient, more useful, and more streamlined international response to events around the world."
Scrivener's Error: "According to today's NYT, a Congressionally mandated panel will report this week that the United Nations suffers from poor management, "dismal" staff morale and lack of accountability and professional ethics but will acknowledge the broad changes proposed for the organization by Secretary General Kofi Annan and urge the United States to support them."
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Captain's Quarters: "For Republicans around the country, the retirement of Jesse Helms has allowed many to breathe a little easier since 2003. While Helms' stalwart positions on foreign policy provided America much-needed backbone, especially in relation to the United Nations, his domestic views often caused unnecessary controversy and embarrassment."
Democracy Arsenal: "Yesterday the House International Relations Committee approved Rep. Henry Hyde's UN Reform Act of 2005. Many of the proposals contained in the legislation are sound. A good number repeat or amplify ideas that Kofi Annan has already been pushing. The problem with the newly approved legislation is that it requires withholding of 50% of U.S. assessed dues to the UN unless the requested reforms are implemented. But the breadth and depth of the reforms are such that its almost impossible to imagine that all will be quickly or completely agreed."
Emerging Technologies and Children: "Crumbs for Africa - Editorial in The New York Times - According to a poll, most Americans believe that the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent. As Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia University economist in charge of the United Nations' Millennium Project, put it so well, the notion that there is a flood of American aid going to Africa "is one of our great national myths."
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Hedgehog Report: "Democrats Continue Filibuster On Bolton - From The LA Times. "The Senate standoff over John R. Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations continued Tuesday.... Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Bush could end the impasse if he chose to. "This is not a standoff yet," he said after the luncheon. "It's up to the president. We're not the obstructionists. He is."
Progressive Commons: "As the John Bolton nomination process draws to its pathetic and inexorable close, and as the conservative refrain regarding UN reform has grown deliberately drone-like ... it is worth a look back at why the UN remains such a fundamentally important institution, one that we risk trivializing only to our own detriment. So it was with much happiness that I came upon a piece describing in fascinating detail the history of the UN's formation, a history largely forgotten or unknown, and one that gives us a very different picture of the role of the United Nations, both at its founding and today. Read up, and get armed - the battle to "reform," by which they mean "reduce, trivialize, and circumscribe," isn't a battle that we can afford to lose."
Washington Note: "The White House seems to think that it can wear down Democratic resolve and get two Dems to switch to cloture.... This is no longer about Bolton. It is about Frist's presidential chances -- and whether he wants to gamble his national identity on win/loss records on judges or John Bolton."
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Bump in the Beltway: "Congress faces tough issues after recess: In theory, Republicans want to proceed with the controversial nomination of former Undersecretary of State John Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations. But it is uncertain how quickly Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will be able to move it to the floor again. The drama was deferred, not defused. This is going to be a messy week."
Daily Kos: "What will it take to get a few Republican Senators to vote against Bolton? He is clearly an individual who has shown an unwillingness to work diplomatically with allies and enemies alike."
Little Green Footballs: "The latest Associated Press push to discredit John Bolton is one of the sleaziest, most biased pieces of work I've read in quite some time: Bolton Said to Orchestrate Unlawful Firing."
Moderate Voice: "Yet another news story has surfaced to give a big, fat black eye to John Bolton - but in hard-nosed political terms will it really matter in terms of derailing his likely approval as the new U.S. Ambassador to the UN?"
TPM Cafe: "The United Nations is celebrating World Environment Day by producing an atlas, One Planet Many People. The book documents the harm that we're doing to the environment. The internet spot for the book is here. Click on "chapters" to download the pdf files. The book is available for sale here."
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Diplomatic Times Review: "The Toledo (Ohio) Blade opined in a June 2, 2005 editorial: "Thank goodness the Senate has put President Bush's controversial nomination of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on hold at least until next week."
Martin Varsavsky: "No matter how local we think we are we all share planet earth. So what about 100 hours out of 10,000 in which students follow a United Nations curriculum that is the SAME for all kids in the planet. My proposal is that during this 100 hours student learn the basic principles of human rights, understanding and respecting others, and as importantly learning about our fragile environment and how to protect it. That´s it, 100 hours. If we implement this any person in the planet who meets anyone else will in the future have at least 100 hours of a common background."
Washington Note: "My sense is that there are MORE than three Republican Senate offices now scrambling for reasons -- for phone calls -- to oppose Bolton."