UNfulfilling

US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has submitted his letter of resignation to President Bush effective when his recess appointment expires. President Bush accepted the resignation. That's a big loss since Bolton has done more to advance the US interests in the UN than recent US ambassadors to the UN.

The ambassador position is not meant to advance the UN position in the US, but vice versa. Bolton understood this, and this meant tackling the issues of rampant corruption in the Secretariat and pushing for action on Darfur and other human rights crises. It meant standing up for the rights of our allies, including Israel that came under constant attack from Islamic terrorist groups, and the UN General Assembly instead sought to limit Israel's response. Bolton tried to deal with Darfur, and ran into roadblocks in the form of China and Russia. The same thing happened on the issue of Iran's nuclear program, which continues to proceed at full speed.

Secretary General Kofi Annan has avoided dealing with Darfur at all costs, refusing to acknowledge that yet another genocide occurred on his watch either as head of the peacekeeping operations or as Secretary General (that would make at least three by my count - Rwanda, Congo, and Darfur). Yet, he goes out of the way to claim that the situation in Iraq now is worse than at any time when Saddam Hussein was in power. Now, that's quite a stretch considering that Saddam is currently standing trial for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes relating to the 1987-1988 Anfal campaign where at least 180,000 Iraqis were slaughtered and Saddam employed chemical weapons.

Thankfully, Kofi's term will end soon enough. His last public appearance at the helm is set for December 19. It can't come a moment too soon. The world needs a serious break from Kofi's brand of human rights and peacekeeping. So do the millions of victims of the violence - including widespread confirmed cases of sexual harassment, rape, and prostitution that are all in violation of UN protocols. It also doesn't address the UNSCAM/Oil for Food scandal that siphoned billions of dollars from humanitarian aid that was meant for the Iraqis and instead ended up lining the pockets of some of those closest to Kofi including his son Kojo.

UPDATE:
As should be expected, quite a bit of blogging on the subject is going on today. Among those providing commentary and analysis - many of whom are discouraged by the Administration losing another casualty to the November elections: Macranger, Michelle Malkin, Texas Rainmaker, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Outside the Beltway.

The GOP simply didn't have the votes or the willpower to fight for Bolton's reappointment during the lame duck session, let alone in the new session in January when the GOP assumes minority party status in both the House and Senate.

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs was devastated by the news. She agrees that this was a huge loss for the US.

Stop the ACLU has a huge roundup of reaction.

Gateway Pundit knows who is benefiting the most from this: "Iran, Syria, Cubazuela, Sudan, Hezbollah, Libya, etc." Agreed. Dictators, tyrants, and thugs are going to benefit the most from the loss of a voice of reason and sanity at the UN.

UPDATE:
Still more reaction from the blogosphere on the Bolton resignation and who might replace him. George Mitchell's name keeps coming up in various discussions, and he'd probably sail through confirmation as he is a former Senator who's respected on both sides of the aisle. Rick Moran says we could do worse. Tis' true. We could. Harriet Miers is available of course.

Others blogging: memeorandum has a huge roundup of reaction from both sides of the 'sphere. Dan Riehl expresses his disgust at weak-willed GOPers and Democrats.

Poliblogger and American Mind wonders what is the big deal with Bolton's resignation. I think Bolton was very good at providing sound bites of the President's position far better than most everyone else in the Administration. He was a better spokesperson for the President that the President himself.

It's true that the writing was on the wall, but it still is a shock to many who thought that the Administration and GOP might go to bat for Bolton in one last gasp before the end of the lame duck session. That wasn't going to happen.

Of course, the resignation overshadows lots of UN related news - like North Korea being at the center of a reinsurance scam that has netted the cash strapped nation millions of dollars - where every dollar counts (whether they've counterfeited it or not). More importantly, the commentary by Kofi on the state of affairs in Iraq, which he believes is far worse than at any time when Saddam was in charge. As noted above, Kofi never saw a genocide that he couldn't ignore and Iraq is no exception. Inconvenient facts are ignored. Period. It would get in the way of his anti-US, anti-interventionist position that threatens so much of the world because failed states are terrorist-incubators that threaten regional stability (Middle East, South Asia, Africa), can inflict billions in damage around the world, and threaten with genocide all those who stand in the way.