Remember, the fight over John Bolton has nothing to do with his purported character defects and everything to do with both petty politics and geopolitical policy disputes. Here are more insights from Mary Anastasia O'Grady of The Wall Street Journal (subscribers only): all of Latin America is at risk while Senate Democrats dither and dissemble.
The character assassination of President Bush's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is an indication of just how desperate Democrats are to eliminate John Bolton's world view from U.S. policy-making circles. Notably, Mr. Bolton's position on Cuba seems to have the Democrats in a snit.Posted by Alan at May 1, 2005 11:32 AMThe problem is that Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd -- a liberal who boasts a spotless record of being on the wrong side of history in Latin America -- and his fellow Democrats yearn for engagement with the diabolical Fidel Castro. Mr. Bolton, on the other hand, has long seen the Cuban dictatorship as a menace to regional stability and U.S. security.
On a trip to South America earlier this month I was impressed by the alarm sounding around the region about the wily Fidel and his reprehensible agenda descending on Latins. The evidence is mounting that Mr. Bolton had it right. Meanwhile, Sen. Dodd continues his unbroken losing streak.
One witness to the Cuban assault on the region that I interviewed on my tour is a former Venezuelan military officer who has fled his country and now lives undercover elsewhere in South America. He presented his facts and his analysis with steely conviction. The sum of his testimony was frightening: Colombia, the U.S.'s best ally in the region, is seriously at risk.