Posted by Tina
President Bush has been criticized. That statement can stand alone because no matter what the facts are, and no matter what the man did, it was reported as flawed, ignorant, and wrong. On the chance that that liberal screeching and media reportinghas influenced you wrongly Im posting excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article, Bush the Multilateralist:
Mr. Bush came under early fire after announcing that the U.S. would reject the Kyoto Protocol. Of course, the U.S. had never ratified Kyoto, and the Clinton Administration had refused even to submit it for a vote. In 1997, the Senate voted 95-0 not to endorse any climate change pact that didn’t include China, India and other developing countries, as Kyoto didn’t. Voting “aye” were Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Harry Reid, among other noted unilateralists.
Iraq is where the unilateral myth settled into media concrete. But in fact, in 2002 President Bush bucked the advice of his more hawkish advisers and agreed to take Tony Blair’s advice and seek another U.N. Resolution — was it the 16th or 17th? — against Saddam Hussein. Resolution 1441 passed 15-0. True, the Administration failed to obtain a second resolution, not least because the French reneged on private assurances that it would agree to a second resolution if America obtained the first. But who was being unilateral there? As it was, the “coalition of the willing” that liberated Iraq included, besides the U.S. contingent, some 60,000 troops from 39 countries, who have operated under a U.N. resolution blessing their presence.
Id like to add that we later discovered that the French and others were reluctant to join our efforts due to illegal under the table agreements with Saddam. (U.N. Oil for Food Scandal)
On North Korea, the Administration adhered strictly to the six party formula. Oddly, the same critics who decry “unilateralism” would prefer that the U.S. negotiate with Pyongyang directly — which is to say, unilaterally — and do without the help currently being offered by Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul and Moscow.
As for Iran, following revelations in 2002 that Iran had secretly pursued an illegal nuclear program for 15 years, Mr. Bush agreed to hand over the diplomacy to Germany, Britain and France, the so-called E3. Their efforts failed. So the Administration agreed to negotiate directly with Iran provided the mullahs suspend their uranium enrichment program. The Iranians refused. ** Next the Administration succeeded in turning the matter over to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has been seeking answers about Tehran’s nuclear file for five years. The IAEA’s questions have yet to be fully answered. In 2006, the U.N. Security Council set a deadline for Iran to suspend enrichment. The deadline was flouted. The Security Council has since agreed to three weak resolutions sanctioning Iran. Even as his days in office dwindle, Mr. Bush has adhered to this failing multilateral diplomacy.
For the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Administration arranged the so-called “road map,” which is overseen by the “Quartet” of the U.S., Russia, the U.N., and the European Union.