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Bush Backs Bolton, While Powell Reportedly Expresses Concerns About Former Subordinate
President George W. Bush yesterday called for lawmakers to approve his selection for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, while reports indicated that former Secretary of State Colin Powell has expressed concerns about John Bolton’s conduct while they worked together at the State Department (see GSN, April 21). “John’s distinguished career in service to our nation demonstrates that he is the right man at the right time for this important assignment,” Bush said. “I urge the Senate to put politics aside and confirm John Bolton to the United Nations.” Powell has not spoken publicly on the nomination of Bolton, who served under him and continues to work as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. However, associates of the former secretary said he has talked with Republican Senators Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.) with concerns he had about Bolton’s treatment of State Department personnel when they did not agree with him, the New York Times reported. Powell also said in one conversation that Bolton worked “fairly well” with him on matters including Iran and development of the Proliferation Security Initiative to interdict shipments of WMD-related technology, one source told the Times. “In short, he gave [Chafee] a balanced appraisal of Bolton,” the associate said. Chafee and Hagel have both expressed concerns about Bolton’s nomination. Spokespeople for the two senators and Powell said they would not discuss details of private conversations (Douglas Jehl, New York Times, April 22). Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Thomas Hubbard has also spoken out on his run-ins with Bolton, the Associated Press reported. Bolton testified last week that Hubbard had commended him for a 2004 speech in which the undersecretary called North Korean leader Kim Jong Il a “tyrannical dictator.” Hubbard said that he had asked Bolton to “tone the speech down.” Bolton made some changes but did not remove his description of Kim, which angered Pyongyang in the midst of negotiations on its nuclear program, Hubbard said. Bolton also once rebuked Hubbard for failing to set up a meeting for him with then South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun, AP reported. “He hung up on me,” Hubbard said. “He was very angry.” Hubbard said, though, that he has not decided whether to oppose or support Bolton’s appointment. While working as general counsel for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the 1980s, Bolton tried to have another AID employee fired, according to another allegation received by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is considering the nomination. Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and ranking Democrat Joseph Biden (D-Del.) are considering whether additional hearings are needed to allow additional testimony from Bolton and his backers and detractors, AP reported. Lugar plans for the committee to vote on the nomination during the week of May 9. “We think that the issues have been addressed,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli. “We think we’ve answered the questions. We would like to move things forward.” However, “if the committee or chairman request or call for additional testimony we will work with the committee,” Ereli said (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, April 21).
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