Bolton's British Problem - Newsweek

John Bolton has three strikes against him:

1) Serial abuser of subordinates; classic "kiss up, kick down" sort of guy

2) Exaggerated intelligence; intimidates those who don't support his (wrong) views

3) Lied under oath

Between now and May 12th expect a continuous rain of skeletons to come clattering out his closets. I expect him to be another Bernard Kerik. Remember him?

What is the Bush team thinking?? By nominating a schmuck like Bolton to be our Ambassador to the United Nations we send the signal that we are opting out of the community of nations. We can't do it alone. This is crazy irrational behaviour. Our Arrogance is going to bring us down. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Bolton's British Problem - Newsweek : "May 2 issue - Colin Powell plainly didn't like what he was hearing. At a meeting in London in November 2003, his counterpart, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, was complaining to Powell about John Bolton, according to a former Bush administration official who was there. Straw told the then Secretary of State that Bolton, Powell's under secretary for arms control, was making it impossible to reach allied agreement on Iran's nuclear program. Powell turned to an aide and said, 'Get a different view on [the Iranian problem]. Bolton is being too tough.'

Unbeknownst to Bolton, the aide then interviewed experts in Bolton's own Nonproliferation Bureau. The issue was resolved, the former official told NEWSWEEK, only after Powell adopted softer language recommended by these experts on how and when Iran might be referred to the U.N. Security Council. But the terrified State experts were 'adamant that we not let Bolton know we had talked to them,' the official said."