The United Nations is continuing its process of selecting the next secretary-general to lead the anti-American chorus at Turtle Bay. At the same time, the U.S. Senate continues to drags its feet on the confirmation of John Bolton as ambassador, the only individual at the UN who is defending American values.
Today, the UN Security Council will conduct a third straw poll on the candidates to replace Kofi Annan. Leading the race at this point is Ban Ki-Moon, the South Korean foreign minister who has won the two previous secret ballots conducted by the Security Council. The other leading candidate is Kofi Annan’s protégé, Shashi Tharoor, who hails from India and has spent his whole life in the comfortable cocoon of the UN. Members of the Security Council vote “encourage,” “discourage” or “undecided” on each candidate, but do so on a secret ballot, so it is unknown how the five permanent members of the Council vote.
There have been some late entries into the field, fueling speculation that while the Security Council may be willing to settle for South Korea’s Ban Ki-Moon, members are not enthralled with his candidacy.
Many in Washington believe that a new secretary-general will be able to clean the Augean Stables at the UN. Not so. The UN is corrupt, anti-American, and a safe haven for dictators, thugs and terrorist states. Ban Ki-Moon is leading the race precisely because he says little and is unwilling to offend any interest. The other candidates do the same. So no candidate to replace Kofi Annan has denounced the vile rhetoric of Hugo Chavez and defended the “decorum” of the institution.
Meantime, the confirmation of John Bolton languishes. Why? Because liberals have no objection to Hugo Chavez’ trash talking about our country and our president. They are perfectly comfortable in sending billions of dollars to the UN to help the leader of a terrorist state spread his anti-American ideas around the world.
Today, the UN Security Council moves one step closer to a new secretary-
general. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate will have added one more day of delay to the confirmation of John Bolton. The Senate is doing what no other individual or institution has done in the 61-year history of the United Nations: making the UN look efficient and organized.
