Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Rights Vote 170 to 4
The United Nations General Assembly today approved formation of the new U.N. Human Rights Council by a vote of 170 to 4. Those voting against were United States, Israel, Marshall Islands, and Palau. I did not know Marshall Islands and Palau were terrorist nations too.
The UN General Assembly vote on establishing the new Human Rights Council is a fairly devastating comment on current US global prestige as well as the effectiveness of diplomacy as practiced by US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton.
While the US has said much about the human-rights behavior of many UN member states, there is a strong feeling that Washington and its ambassador do not really have the moral standing to hector others.
The three nations the US led in opposing the new council are probably the top per capita recipients of US cash - along with the Federated States of Micronesia, which even Bolton couldn't bully enough.
Bolton's grandstanding played well for domestic audiences - but got nowhere with the rest of the world, not least because the rest of the world had its own sources for what had happened in negotiations and did not rely on Bolton and the US State Department for details.
Read the Asian Times article for how the US as shown by Bolton just doesn't get it but continues dozing in blissful ignorance of its goofy dream and ignoring the rest of the world trying to shake it awake from what appears to them a horrendous nightmare.
# posted by furtherleft @ 3/15/2006 11:06:00 PM
Vetos by the usual suspects (axis of inhumanity) and two small nations due to receive large cash donations.
