Speech by U.N. Leader Draws Angry Response From U.S.
I’ve said for quite some time that the U.N. is more of a thorn in the side of society then the helpful organization that it was originally supposed to be. I don’t think the U.N. is getting it’s “black eye” from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. I think they are doing it to themselves.
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations’ No. 2 official accused the U.S. government of keeping Middle America in the dark about the world body’s good works, a rare direct criticism that drew an angry response Wednesday from Ambassador John Bolton.
Bolton called Tuesday’s speech by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown a “very, very grave mistake” that could undermine Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s efforts to push through an ambitious agenda at the world body.
“I spoke to the secretary-general this morning, I said ‘I’ve known you since 1989 and I’m telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior U.N. official that I have seen in that entire time,”‘ Bolton told reporters on Wednesday.
“To have the deputy secretary-general criticize the United States in such a manner can only do grave harm to the United Nations,” Bolton said.
In the speech, Malloch Brown said the United States relies on the United Nations as a diplomatic tool but doesn’t defend it against criticism at home, a policy of “stealth diplomacy” that he called unsustainable.
He lamented that the good works of the U.N. are largely lost because “much of the public discourse that reaches the U.S. heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.”
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