Yes, Alan Keyes is on the list.
Here is the letter signed by leading “security practitioners” favoring John Bolton’s confirmation as Ambassador to the United Nations.
Every single name on this letter is consciously or, in a few cases, unwittingly advocating the diplomatic isolation of the United States and holds the shallow and tragically mistaken view that America can — and probably should — stand ALONE in the world.
This letter seems less about Bolton and his record or qualifications than about Bush administration policy. The neocons yet again roll out the spirit of Daniel Patrick Moynihan to embrace their cause — even after Moynihan’s daughter has eloquently “blasted” Frank Gaffney and friends for their inappropriate theft of her father’s legacy.
Indeed, writing about Moynihan’s evolved view of neocons and right-wing, fear-mongering conservatives, Jacob Heilbrunn reminds us that:
Moynihan, who has observed in his sprightly 1993 book Pandaemonium that during his early service in the Senate he came to realize that his former allies “wished for a military posture approaching mobilization; they would create or invent whatever crisis were required to bring this about.”
A quick read of the signatories also offers this contrast to the roster of more than six dozen diplomats who expressed their very deep opposition to Bolton’s nomination.
First of all, Christopher Demuth, President of the American Enterprise Institute has never held a foreign or defense policy position; ditto for Barbara Comstock, James Longley, Becky Dunlop, Ed Meese, Mark Albrecht, Andrew McCarthy, Joe DiGenova, Victoria Toensing, Bob Livingston, Newt Gingrich, and Bill Bennett.
As mentioned, the coup de grace is that Alan Keyes is also one of the signers. His signature on this document completely undermines its seriousness and credibility. We have dealt with Alan before at TWN.
James Woolsey — the guy who is making a lot of money off this war and has serious financial conflicts of interest in this Iraq War — has also signed. When is someone going to call hearings on “war profiteering” like Harry Truman did in 1940 and which catapulted him into Franklin Roosevelt’s purview and on to the 1944 electoral ticket as vice president?
Enjoy the letter below — and then go back and read the high-octane and more informed letter from those “genuine diplomats” who celebrate enlightened American leadership in the world and believe that Bolton’s name should be withdrawn or voted down.
4 April 2005
Hon. Richard G. Lugar
Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
450 Senate Dirksen Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Mr. Chairman:
In the next few days, the Foreign Relations Committee will be considering the nomination of the individual that the President has chosen to represent him and serve the interests of the United States at the United Nations. We write urging early and favorable consideration of the President’s nominee, the Honorable John R. Bolton.
John Bolton has distinguished himself throughout a long and multifaceted career in public service and in the private sector. In particular, his tenure as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations during the administration of George H.W. Bush and as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security during this presidency have honed Mr. Bolton’s indisputably impressive intellect and robust diplomatic skills in ways that will serve the nation well at the UN.
As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has observed, Mr. Bolton will bring these attributes to bear in the tradition of two of the most outstanding of America’s ambassadors at the United Nations: Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jeane Kirkpatrick. To be sure, the sort of assertive representation of U.S. interests that has been the hallmark of such appointees sometimes discomfits other diplomats. History suggests, however, that it can be indispensable to catalyzing constructive change of the kind virtually everyone agrees is needed at the UN.
Some retired diplomats suggest that Secretary Bolton’s positions on various controversial arms control treaties should disqualify him from serving at the UN. Their criticism is misdirected. Mr. Bolton’s views about each of these accords are identical to those of President Bush. While the signatories are certainly free to oppose the Administration’s positions, their differences seem to be with a man twice elected by the American people to design and execute security policies, rather than with one of his most effective and articulate officials in advancing those policies.
We believe, moreover, that the Bush Administration’s stances on such treaties reflect a clear-eyed assessment of the real limits of diplomacy with nations that do not honor their commitments, that deliberately conceal their activities so as to defeat verification and that seek to use bilateral and multilateral agreements as instruments of asymmetric warfare against nations like the United States that abide by their treaty obligations. Far from being a disqualifier, this view is an eminently sensible and responsible one in light of past experience.
In short, Secretary Bolton’s formidable grasp of the issues of the day, his exemplary previous service to our country and the confidence President Bush reposes in him will make him an outstanding and highly effective representative to the United Nations.
We request that you share this assessment of Secretary Bolton with your colleagues and ensure that it is reflected in the record of the Foreign Relations Committee’s deliberations on his nomination.
Sincerely,
William P. Clark, former National Security Advisor; former Deputy Secretary of State
Frank Ruddy, former U.S. Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea
Christopher DeMuth, former Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy (Designate); former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy
Phyllis Kaminsky, former Director, United Nations Information Center
Major General Paul E. Vallely, USA (Ret.), former Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army, Pacific
Dr. Daniel Goure, former Director, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
John F. Lehman, Jr., former Secretary of the Navy; Member of 9/11 Commission
Barbara J. Comstock, former Director of Public Affairs, Department of Justice
Caspar W. Weinberger, former Secretary of Defense; former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare; former Director of the Office of Management and Budget
James B. Longley Jr., former Member of Congress
Christopher D. Lay, former Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Dr. Kathleen C. Bailey, former Assistant Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Dr. Robert B. Barker, former Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy
Dr.William Schneider, Jr., former Under Secretary of State; Chairman, General Advisory Committee on Arms Control & Disarmament, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Becky Norton Dunlop, former Special Assistant to the President for Cabinet Affairs; former Assistant Secretary of Interior
Lieutenant General Thomas G. McInerney USAF (Ret.), former Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force
Harvey Feldman, former Ambassador to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; founding Director of the American Institute in Taiwan; Alternate Representative to the United Nations
Richard Perle, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy
Edwin Meese, former Counselor to the President; former Attorney General
Jose S. Sorzano, former Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations
J. William Middendorf, former Secretary of the Navy; former Ambassador to: the Netherlands, the European Union and the Organization of American States
Jed L. Babbin, former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
Dennis Hays, former Ambassador to Suriname
Michael Skol, former Ambassador to Venezuela; former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs
Kim Flower, former Director for Latin America, National Security Council
Roger W. Robinson, Jr., former Senior Director for International Economic Affairs, National Security Council
Vice Admiral Robert R. Monroe USN (Ret.), former Director, Defense Nuclear Agency; former Director, Navy Research and Development
Otto J. Reich, Member, former National Security Council and the President’s Special Envoy for Western Hemisphere Initiatives; former Ambassador to Venezuela
James T. Hackett, former Associate Director of USIA; former Acting Director of the Arms Control & Disarmament Agency
Abraham D. Sofaer, former Legal Advisor, Department of State
Tidal W. McCoy, former Acting Secretary of the Air Force; former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
Dr. Curtin Winsor, Jr., former Ambassador to Costa Rica
Dr. Dov S. Zakheim, former Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller); Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Planning and Resources; Assistant Under Secretary of Defense, Policy and Resources
Charles H. Fairbanks, Jr., former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
M.D.B. Carlisle, former Assistant Secretary of Defense of Legislative Affairs
James B. Longley, Jr., former Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Lieutenant General Edward L. Rowny, USA (Ret.), former Chief U.S. Negotiator for the START Negotiations; Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State; JCS Representative to the SALT II Negotiations
Michael A. Ledeen, former Special Advisor to the Secretary of State
Morris J. Amitay, Foreign Service Officer (Ret.)
R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence
Dr. Mark Albrecht, former Executive Secretary, National Space Council
Vice Admiral N. Ronald Thunman USN (Ret.), Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Submarine Warfare
Peter Robinson, Speechwriter and Special Assistant to President Reagan
Vice Admiral William D. Houser, USN (Ret.), former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare
Admiral Ronald J. Hays USN (Ret.), former Commander-in-Chief, Pacific; former Vice Chief of Naval Operations
Robert Pastorino, former Ambassador to the Dominican Republic; former member of the National Security Council staff
William Kristol, former Chief of Staff to the Vice President
David Frum, former Speechwriter and Special Assistant to the President
William L. Ball III, former Secretary of the Navy
Dr. Dominic J. Monetta, former Assistant Secretary of Energy (designate), Office of New Production Reactors; former Director of Science and Technology, Office of the Secretary of Defense
John C. Wobensmith, Senior Executive Service (Ret.), Department of Defense
Dr. John Lenczowski, former Director of Europe and Soviet Affairs, National Security Council
Dr. Norman A. Bailey, former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; former Director of International Economic Affairs, National Security Council
Andrew C. McCarthy, former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York
Amoretta M. Hoeber, former Deputy Under Secretary of the Army for Research and Engineering
Richard Schifter, former Deputy Representative to the UN Security Council; former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
Max M. Kampelman, Counselor to the Department of State; former Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the U.S.-Soviet START and Defense and Space Negotiations
Charles M. Kupperman, former Special Assistant to the President; former Deputy Director of the Office of Administration, the White House; former Executive Director, General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Herbert Romerstein, former Director, Office to Counter Soviet Disinformation, United States Information Agency
Edward V. Badolato, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Emergencies; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Security Affairs
Dr. Alan L. Keyes, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs; former Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council
David J. Trachtenberg, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy
Joseph diGenova, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
Victoria Toensing, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
Robert L. Livingston, former Member of Congress
Stephen D. Bryen, former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense; former Director, Defense Technology Security Administration
William J. Bennett, former Secretary of Education; former Director, National Office of Drug Control Policy
Dr. William R. Graham, former Chairman, General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; former Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy; former Science Advisor to the President
Major General Larry Taylor, USMCR (Ret.), former Commanding General, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing
Dr. William R. Van Cleave, former Member, Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks; former Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Strategic Policy and Planning
Clark S. Judge, former Special Assistant and Speechwriter to the President
Lieutenant General Charles A. May Jr., USAF (Ret.), former Assistant Vice Chief of Staff
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives
Admiral Jerome Johnson, USN (Ret.), former Vice Chief of Naval Operations
Admiral Leon A. Edney, USN (Ret.), former Commander, U.S. Atlantic Command; Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic
I still can’t get over Alan Keyes. . .
Alan Keyes?
— Steve Clemons
