John Bolton has been nominated by President Bush as ambassador
to the United Nations despite the fact that Bolton has repeatedly
expressed contempt for the UN, including, "There is no such thing
as the United Nations. There is an international community that
occasionally can be led by the only power in the world and that is
the United States when it suits our interest and when we can get
others to go along." Diplomats from around the world are astounded
at his nomination.

For Cuba, Bolton is an especially threatening choice because
he led the campaign to convince the world that Cuba's health system
is a cover for bioterrorism. The continuation of a policy aimed at
destroying Cuba's health system depends upon keeping the people of
the United States in a state of ignorance. This is where experts
in lies and disinformation come in. In May 2002 just six days
before former President Jimmy Carter was to fly to Havana, John
Bolton announced, "The United States believes that Cuba has at
least a limited offensive biological warfare research and
development effort." Bolton's disinformation was broadcast
worldwide.

But Jimmy Carter did not cancel his visit, and during his tour
of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana
with Fidel Castro, he made his own announcement: that during
briefings before his visit, he asked the White House, the CIA and
Bolton's own State Department if there were any "possible terrorist
activities that were supported by Cuba" and the answer was "No."
But President Bush does not need evidence. Outright lies have
become a cornerstone of his administration, even leading to the
disastrous war in Iraq. Drunk with power, Bush, at every
opportunity, is placing right-wing fanatics into powerful positions
to create an empire for what they call the New American Century,
where what is good for them is good for the world.
It follows that the one institution that represents the
world's various countries--the United Nations--must be reformed.
The many voices at the UN must become one voice. John Bolton is
just the man to orchestrate that campaign. Take a look at his
qualifications.

As a teenager he worked in the 1964 presidential campaign of
right-winger Barry Goldwater. After law school at Yale, he became
an Assistant Attorney General under Attorney General Edwin Meese,
opposing Congressional efforts to investigate the Justice
Department's role in the Iran-Contra Affair. He linked up with
right-wing Senator Jesse Helms and worked on a campaign to oppose a
voter registration drive for Blacks and organized labor.
In the year 2000, Bolton was a member of the legal team that
flew to Florida after the Florida State Supreme Court ordered a
recount of the votes for president. That legal team insured the
Supreme Court selection of Bush as president. After the Supreme
Court ordered a halt to the recount, Bolton entered a Tallahassee
library where the count was still going on and declared, "I'm with
the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count."
This led straight to his being chosen as Deputy Secretary of
State for Disarmament Affairs and International Security. In that
job, Bolton has aimed at disarming other nations while arming the
United States for War Without End. After all, Senator Helms did
say that Bolton is "the kind of man with whom I would want to stand
at Armageddon."

Bolton led the U.S. withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic
Missile Treaty, opening the heavens for Star Wars. He successfully
opposed Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,
opening the door for the testing of a new generation of nuclear
weapons. Last year when Bush withdrew the U.S. signature from the
International Criminal Court agreement that President Clinton had
signed, Bolton signed the formal notification to UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan and called that "the happiest moment" in his
government service.

So if Bolton is confirmed as UN Ambassador, what kind of
destructive thing will he enjoy doing to Cuba? Cuba has always
been elected to be a member of the UN Human Rights Commission, and
this year the Latin American and Caribbean group elected Cuba to
represent them on the Standing Committee--that is, the decision-
making committee--of the Human Rights Commission, a striking
rejection of U.S. attempts to isolate Cuba. One of John Bolton's
priorities would certainly be to try to change the rules of the
Human Rights Commission, allowing maneuvers to exclude Cuba, making
it easier to use the Commission as a weapon against Cuba.