Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(April 2005)
An ex-Brit gives his views - (without
fear or favor) - of the American Scene
How many more
irresponsible nominations can this President make?
 This President, (in his infinite lack of wisdom),
has recently nominated three individuals for very important
highly responsible political positions which if ratified
could once again seriously affect American and world foreign
policy.
Firstly, he selected Mr. John Bolton, a previous Secretary of State, to be the
American Ambassador to the United Nations.
This person has been characterized as an inflexible, hard nosed firebrand type
with a bull in a china shop approach to the decision making process who should
never be let loose in an arena such as the United Nations unless he was accompanied
into the ring by a competent Matador.
 Who is John Bolton and what is his background. He is
a Yale educated lawyer motivated by ultra right-wing
ideology who was under-secretary for arms control and
international security in the Bush administration and
is known as a hard line opponent of supporting the United
Nations and did at one time advocate that the United
States halt payments to that august body.
He has in the
past advocated that Taiwan be recognized as an Independent
State regardless of the impact upon United States/China
relations. He also advocates a regime change in North
Korea rather than negotiation. By the way he was an ardent
supporter of America's Nicaraguan Contra policies.
Does
America really want a man with this kind of hard line
ultra right-wing philosophy representing the United States
as their Ambassador to the United Nations?
 Then
we have another peculiar but totally characteristic nomination
of a person totally wrong for a diplomatic post, the
nomination of 48 years old Karen Hughes as Under Secretary
of State. It has been reported that one of Hughes tasks
will be to spearhead the administration’s
campaign to promote democracy in the Middle East. As
Hughes appears to have very little if any relative experience
in foreign affairs - surely this is not a person to
be tasked with a diplomatic task, especially in the Middle
East, when it is well known that she is not the most
diplomatic of people. Ms. Hughes, in a previous post
in the Administration, came over in her many appearances
on TV as a brash, arrogant, un-likable person with a
tough cookie image and a cult like devotion to George
W. Bush. If this is a true representation of her character
she certainly will not enhance America’s
image overseas, and her appointment may backfire causing
further antipathy of the American people and their representatives.
A distinguished Texas journalist was said to have stated
that Karen Hughes is a very hostile person who finds
denial a viable political tool and has been known to
live in a world which journalists nicknamed Planet Hughes
where weapons of mass destruction are not missing they
just haven’t been discovered yet. The report goes
on to say that she is also lives in a world where she
envisages that life in Iraq is returning to normal, the
horrors of war are diminishing, and the casualties sustained
by American and coalition troops are not significant.
If these comments are an accurate portrayal of this person,
who on earth with any common sense would desire to have
her representing the United States in the capacity of
a diplomat on a foreign affairs mission to the Middle
East?
 The
final blow was the President’s nomination
of Mr. Paul Wolfowitz to be the next head of the World
Bank. Sixty-one-year-old Mr. Wolfowitz, currently serving
as the Deputy Defence Secretary, has a reputation as
being a neo-conservative Pentagon hawk and a key architect
and supporter of the war in Iraq. Immediately after the
September eleventh terrorist attacks upon American soil,
Paul Wolfowitz was reported to have called for the removal
of Saddam Hussein which eventually precipitated the Iraqi
war. This controversial nomination has caused much concern
in Europe, and the nomination of this person has not
been received with much enthusiasm as Paul Wolfowitz
has also been described as a man without international
development experience and without professional qualifications
for the job,
Based upon the above information gathered from American
and international media sources, I would suggest that
the appointment of any one of these three people would
be a big mistake if President Bush is trying to enhancing
the world’s image of America and its people. These
appointments are not what America needs in these particularly
sensitive areas of overseas policy decision making in
order to enhance America’s image. I would suggest
that the nomination and acceptance of any one of these
three inflexible people built in the Presidents image
would not enhance America’s
world popularity one iota.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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