Confirm Bolton

Fire of Liberty

Former Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger has an interesting column over at Forbes on why the US Senate should stop its obstruction of John Bolton. Weinberger notes that the E3 group of Germany, France and the UK have hit one roadblock after the other with its negotiations with Iran over ending its nuclear program thus leaving the US with few options in dealing with Iran. Aside from a regime change, the former defense chief notes that the next logical step is the imposition of UN sanctions on the former Persian Kingdom. The only problem is that the US lacks an effective voice in the UN as long as the Democrats man their siege against Bolton in the Senate. Weinberger probably makes a good case on the weakness of the UN when a strong US presence is absent, when he noted:

The UN has once again distinguished itself by reporting that a monthlong conference on strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which was attended by some 150 nations, had accomplished "very little." In fact, the conference couldn't even bring itself to condemn Iran for its repeated violations of the treaty.

After such a pitiful performance it's hard to understand how anyone could fail to see that we need to appoint a strong, highly intelligent ambassador to the UN, someone who is not afraid to present the U.S.' views and positions. Someone, perhaps, like John Bolton, whose very strengths are cited as reasons for denying him Senate confirmation?

So maybe members of the Senate will take the advice of such a wise sage and discontinue their blockade of John Bolton making it to the UN. We cannot continue to wander in the wilderness when major discussions like Iran, North Korea and UN reform are on the table. So, lets put him through.