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Bolton Resigns As UN Ambassador Ending Controversial 16-Month
Term
Robert Gates' Former CIA Branch Chief and a CIA Analyst Who
Testified Against Him on the Politicization of Intel During
Iran-Contra
Top Cuban Official Ricardo Alarcon on Castro's Condition
and Cuba's Future
Fidel Up Close: Filmmaker Jon Alpert on His Many Encounters
With Castro Over the Past 30 Years
Bolton Resigns As UN Ambassador Ending Controversial
16-Month Term
John Bolton resigned as Ambassador to the United Nations
on Monday ending a controversial 16-month term. In August
2005, Bolton was a given temporary recess appointment after
he failed to be confirmed by the Senate. Last month President
Bush re-nominated Bolton but a number of Democratic and Republican
Senators announced they would not back his confirmation. We
speak with UN expert Phyllis Bennis. [includes rush
transcript]
United Nations Ambassador John Bolton announced Monday that
he would step down from his post when his temporary appointment
expires in January. Bolton, an outspoken critic of the U.N,
was appointed by President Bush last August when Congress
was in recess. This was done after Senate Democrats had blocked
a floor vote on his nomination.
The recess appointment allowed Bolton to bypass Senate confirmation
and hold the UN job until a new Congressional term began.
In November, Bush nominated Bolton again and planned to push
for confirmation before his term expired. But as both Democrat
and Republican Senators announced they would not support him,
it became clear that Bolton's chances for confirmation were
slim. Bush accepted Bolton's resignation yesterday in the
Oval Office.
- President Bush, speaking December 4, 2006: "I received
the resignation of Ambassador John Bolton. I accept it.
I'm not happy about it. I think he deserved to be confirmed.
And the reason why I think he deserved to be confirmed is
because I know he did a fabulous job for the country. And
I want to thank you and Gretchen for serving in a very important
position and doing so in a way that a lot of Americans really
appreciate, John. We're going to miss you in this administration.
You've been a stalwart defender of freedom and peace. You've
been strong in your advocacy for human rights and human
dignity. You've done everything that can be expected for
an ambassador. And I accept your letter, and I wish you
and Gretchen all the very best."
Bolton was a controversial choice for UN ambassador. Sixty-four
former American Ambassadors recently signed a letter opposing
him. Many felt that his hard-line conservative ideology and
his confrontational approach was at odds with the UN's multilateral
goals. This is Bolton speaking at a conference in New York
in 1994 was widely cited as evidence of his incompatibility
with the job.
- John Bolton, speaking February 3rd, 1994: "If you
think that there is any possibility in this country that
a 51,000 person bureaucracy is going to be supported by
most Americans, you better think again. The Secretariat
Building in New York has 38 stories. If you lost 10 stories
today it wouldn't make a bit of difference. The United Nations
is one of the most inefficient inter-governmental organizations
going. UNESCO is even worse. And others go down hill from
there. The fact of the matter is that the international
system that has grown up, and again, I leave out the World
Bank and the IMF because I do think that they're in a separate
category, has been put into a position of hiring ineffective
people who do ineffective things that have no real world
impact, and we pay 25% of the budget."
For more on the resignation of John Bolton as UN ambassador,
we speak with UN expert Phyllis Bennis.
- Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute
for Policy Studies in Washington DC, specializing in
Middle East and United Nations issues. Author of "Challenging
Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power."
Robert Gates' Former CIA Branch Chief and a CIA Analyst
Who Testified Against Him on the Politicization of Intel During
Iran-Contra
Robert Gates, President Bush's nominee to replace Donald
Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense is facing his Senate confirmation
hearings today. We speak with two former CIA analysts who
worked with Gates at the Agency. Ray McGovern was Gates' CIA
branch chief in the early 1970s and Jennifer Glaudemans is
a former CIA analyst who was asked to testify at the 1991
confirmation hearings for Gates when he had been nominated
to be CIA Director. [includes rush
transcript]
John Bolton is the second high-profile member of Bush's
national security team to announce his departure since the
November 7th elections. Defense Secretary Donald Rumseld resigned
last month. Bush's nominee to replace him, Robert Gates, faces
his confirmation hearings today in the Senate.
Gates served as CIA Director during the Bush Senior Administration.
He was first nominated to serve under President Reagan but
the nomination had to be withdrawn because of stiff opposition
in the Senate.
Observers are predicting a swift confirmation, with little
opposition expected from Democrats. But Gates is not without
controversy -- questions have swirled around his involvement
in the Iran-Contra scandal and his role in the US government's
arming of Saddam Hussein in the 1980s. He was also accused
of skewing intelligence to suit the Reagan administration's
anti-Soviet views. Newly declassified government documents
also reveal Gates advocated for President Reagan to bomb Nicaragua
in 1984 in an effort to topple the Sandinista government.
At the time Gates was deputy director of the CIA.
Today we are joined by two former CIA analysts who worked
with Robert Gates at the agency. Ray McGovern served in the
CIA for 27 years and was Gates' branch chief at the CIA in
the early 1970s. Jennifer Glaudemans is a former CIA analyst
who was asked to testify at the 1991 confirmation hearings
for Gates when he had been nominated to be CIA Director. She
worked in the CIA's office of Soviet analysis back when Gates
was the agency's deputy director for intelligence and chairman
of the National Intelligence Council.
- Ray McGovern, 27-year career analyst with the CIA. He
is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for
Sanity. Read OpEd in the Miami
Herald.
- Jennifer Glaudemans, former CIA analyst and an attorney.
Read OpEd in the Los
Angeles Times.
Top Cuban Official Ricardo Alarcon on Castro's Condition
and Cuba's Future
Cuba is coming off the week-long celebration of the eightieth
birthday of President Fidel Castro. Castro's birthday was
in August but celebrations were delayed after Castro fell
ill with an unspecified intestinal condition. We play an exclusive
interview with Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National
Assembly speaking about Castro's condition and Cuba's future.
[includes rush
transcript]
Cuba is coming off the week-long celebration of the eightieth
birthday of President Fidel Castro. Castro's birthday was
in August but celebrations were delayed after Castro fell
ill with an unspecified intestinal condition. He has not appeared
in public and not did attend any of last week's events. The
Cuban government insists Castro is improving but there is
speculation his condition is worse than has been publicly
disclosed.
During his absence, Castro has ceded power to his brother,
Raul. On Friday, Raul Castro attended a celebration at Havana's
Karl Marx Theatre attended by thousands of people. The crowd
heard from several foreign guests including Bolivian President
Evo Morales and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
- Evo Morales, president of Bolivia.
- Daniel Ortega, president of Nicaragua.
The week's events were capped with a military parade through
Havana on Saturday. In a rare speech, acting Cuban president
Raul Castro called for negotiations with the United States
to resolve its long-standing isolation of the Cuban government.
The Bush administration rejected the overture, calling Raul
Castro "a dictator-in-waiting."
Our colleague Jon Alpert was in Cuba last week. It was his
latest trip to a country he's visited regularly for more than
34 years. Jon is an Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker
and the co-founder of Downtown Community Television. He joins
me here in the firehouse studio. Jon's daughter, Tami Alpert,
also just returned from Cuba with her father. She first visited
Cuba when she was one and a half years old.
- Tami Alpert, also with Downtown Community Television.
Just returned from Cuba.
Jon Alpert sat down with Cuban National Assembly President
Ricardo Alarcón last week. In this broadcast exclusive,
Alarcon talks about Castro's condition and Cuba's future.
- Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly.
Fidel Up Close: Filmmaker Jon Alpert on His Many
Encounters With Castro Over the Past 30 Years
We speak with award-winning filmmaker Jon Alpert about his
many encounters with Castro over the past 30 years and play
excerpts from Alpert's 1979 trip with Castro when he accompanied
the Cuban leader on his historic trip to address the UN General
Assembly here in New York. [includes rush
transcript]
- Fidel Castro, interviewed by filmmaker Jon Alpert in
1979.
- Tami Alpert, also with Downtown Community Television.
Just returned from Cuba.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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