A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Democracy Arsenal: “A UN umbrella may be one of the only ways to attract foreign troops back into Iraq. If the U.S., for example, topped up the regular reimbursement rates for troop contributors, its not impossible to envision some developing countries with peacekeeping experience coming forward, particularly for tasks away from the front lines.”
Juan Cole: “The United States will eventually have to go to the United Nations and request that it send a peace-enforcing mission to Iraq, as the US military withdraws… A US withdrawal without a United Nations replacement would risk throwing Iraq into civil war. Such a civil war, moreover, would very likely not remain restricted in its effects only to Iraqi soil.”
Laura Rozen: “Slate‘s Fred Kaplan explains the peculiar situation the White House would find itself in were it resort to recess appointing Bolton to the UN, an institution Bolton’s supporters charge with not being sufficiently democratic.”
Betsy’s Page: “Robert Novak reveals how the Democratic objections to John Bolton are just a charade. It’s now become a party vote unmoored from the merits of the nomination or any of the underlying issues regarding the United Nations.”
Stygius: “In April I wrote: “If the most positive contribution John Bolton has made to solving global proliferation problems has been by his absence, why are we still being subjected to the argument that his “tough” and “abrasive” style gets results, when instead his permanent absence from government service may in the end be Bolton’s greatest contribution to US national security?”