Washington Post: "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who announced the nomination, alluded to Bolton's reputation when she noted that "some of our best ambassadors" to the United Nations have been those with "the strongest voices," such as Jeane Kirkpatrick and Daniel Patrick Moynihan."
Secretary-General Annan welcomed the choice: "United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today warmly congratulated John Bolton on his nomination to be the next United States Permanent Representative to the world body and looks forward to working with him on UN reform, among other issues."
Bloggers react:
Digby
Mr. Minority
Echidne
The Corner (Rich Lowry)
... the world should hear more about.
Uganda: child soldiers at center of mounting humanitarian crisis
Central African Republic: a silent crisis crying out for help
AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa: a looming threat to future generations
The peacekeeping paradox: as peace spreads, surge in demand strains UN resources
Tajikistan: rising from the ashes of civil war
Women as peacemakers: from victims to re-builders of society
Persons with disabilities: a treaty seeks to break new ground in ensuring equality
Bakassi Peninsula: recourse to the law to prevent conflict
Overfishing: a threat to marine biodiversity
Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation
From a RAND press release: "A new RAND Corporation study finds that the United Nations provides the most suitable institutional framework for all but the largest and most demanding of nation-building missions, due to the UN's comparatively low cost structure, high success rate, and high degree of international legitimacy."
Full Document
Key points:
* The UN provided support for the formation of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) and the recruitment and training of 900 IECI staff. The Commission is comprised entirely of Iraqis, plus one UN expert who is a non-voting member.
* A UN electoral team of more than 50 staff members in Baghdad, Amman and New York engaged in a wide range of work to provide the IECI with the technical, logistical, financial and administrative assistance necessary to conduct successful national elections.
UN News: "Secretary General Kofi Annan today welcomed the announcement of the results of Iraq's elections, in which the United Nations played an advisory and technical role, reiterating the world body's commitment to play a full part in the next stages in the transition, including a referendum on a new constitution."
"U.N. members on both sides of the bitterly divisive debate over human cloning will try to agree Monday on a declaration urging countries to adopt legislation banning attempts to create human life." Full Article.
Jason Lott of Lottblog offers his take.
Glenn Reynolds [Instapundit] adds: "This is one case where I'm glad the U.N. isn't listening to the Bush Administration."
"Talking to Mark Malloch Brown, Annan's new British chief of staff, this weekend I sensed a new sense of resolve that the UN was ready to take the fight back to its detractors." More...