Bolton Backs Down

If you haven’t heard already, the biggest news of the week, concerning us as a nation, was the resignation of John Bolton, ambassador to the United Nations, this past Monday. President Bush wrote a strongly worded letter regarding the former ambassador’s leaving, chastising opponents of Mr. Bolton in congress. Mr. Bolton’s tenure as ambassador was at best received with mixed feelings. The official statement issued by the UN concerning Bolton’s resignation was “no comment”. While Bolton occupied his position as ambassador, he managed to build high tensions between himself and Secretary General Kofi Annan, who, ironically, will also be leaving his office only weeks after Bolton.

However, we can certainly empathize with Bolton; tendering his resignation from an organization he didn’t believe really existed in the first place must truly have been a heartbreaker. I personally will lose no sleep over this vast injustice. Although Bolton may have been serious about American objectives and reform, I think we need an ambassador who is willing to make concessions in order to receive them, rather than merely stonewalling his opponents.