Bolton Blasts Annan for Criticizing U.S. Support of Somali Warlords
Bolton Blasts Annan for Criticizing U.S. Support of Somali Warlords
At a press conference yesterday, a reporter asked U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan what he thought about the U.S. “secretly supporting secular warlords†in Somalia. (The same warlords who “reportedly fought against the United States in 1993.â€) Here’s his response:
I would not have supported warlords. I don’t think I would have recommended to the UN or the Security Council to support warlords.
Bolton quickly hit back, wondering if Annan was criticizing “American efforts to round up terroristsâ€:
Q: The SG [Annan] seems to be criticizing the United States support of warlords in Somalia. In some ways is this meeting a recognition of that policy, I don’t know that you have confirmed at this point, but that that policy was sort of misdirected and that there needs to be a real re-thinking of the approach to Somalia?
BOLTON: Well, I didn’t hear what the SG said. But the situation in Somalia, and I certainly hope that it’s not an implicit criticism of American efforts to round up terrorists, I hope that’s not what he was saying.
Yet rather than “round up terrorists,†the clandestine support the administration gave to secular warlords “thwarted counterterrorism efforts inside Somalia and empowered the same Islamic groups it was intended to marginalize.â€
Annan isn’t the only one who’s been critical of the policy – there’s been quite a bit of internal dissension within the State Department. The New York Times reported last week that “Leslie Rowe, the [Nairobi] embassy’s second-ranking official, signed off on a cable back to State Department headquarters that detailed grave concerns throughout the region about American efforts in Somalia.†In addition, “the State Department’s political officer for Somalia, Michael Zorick, who had been based in Nairobi, was reassigned to Chad after he sent a cable to Washington criticizing Washington’s policy of paying Somali warlords.â€
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33 Responses to “Bolton Blasts Annan for Criticizing U.S. Support of Somali Warlords”
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BOLTON: Well, I didn’t hear what the SG said. But the situation in Somalia, and I certainly hope that it’s not an implicit criticism of American efforts to round up terrorists, I hope that’s not what he was saying.
Hey, I have heard this voice cadence before! Vito Corleone, The Godfather, 1972.
June 16th, 2006 at 3:30 pmI posted about this a while ago when nobody seemed to give a crap. Read more about our newest best friends here.
This is stupidity - no other way to spin it.
June 16th, 2006 at 3:32 pmBolton is a sick man and not qualified for the job he was appointed so what do you expect. When you appoint a sick dumb person you get a sick dumb answer. I knwo the UN leaders a laughing at Bolton because you can’t get mad at a sick dumb person.
June 16th, 2006 at 3:34 pmSure, these are the same Somali warlords who were shooting at (and killing) U.S. soldiers and Marines in ‘93. But those were Clinton’s soldiers and Marines, so it doesn’t count.
Don’t you see?
June 16th, 2006 at 3:34 pmWhy the hell are we supporting the warlord that killed our soldiers in 1993 ???
June 16th, 2006 at 3:35 pmKoffi Annan should walk up nicely to Bolton and then spit in his face and then walk off!
June 16th, 2006 at 3:39 pmHow stupid is Bolton?! He didn’t hear what Annan said but then in front of the press he chastises him like Annan is reportable to him. What an ignoramous. god help us.
June 16th, 2006 at 3:39 pmevidently the mustachioed serial abuser bombed giving a speech at oxford the other day…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
June 16th, 2006 at 3:41 pm#8, profmarcus, Bolton is simply a representative of the people of the USA who know nothing of the rest of the world. Sadly, they are in charge now.
June 16th, 2006 at 3:49 pmBut the situation in Somalia, and I certainly hope that it’s not an implicit criticism of American efforts to round up terrorists, I hope that’s not what he was saying.
You still has to finish the sentence. Remember you began with a But?
June 16th, 2006 at 3:55 pm#8 Comment by profmarcus — June 16, 2006 @ 3:41 pm
Excellent article you linked to. I think Bolton stores his powers of the Dark Side in his mostache. Shave him now!
June 16th, 2006 at 3:57 pm#10 Juan C, that would be asking a lot from a Bush Administraion official: finishing what they started.
June 16th, 2006 at 3:59 pmOn cspan2 right now.
June 16th, 2006 at 4:09 pmThis is all part of the broader Bush GWOT plan:
we’re supporting radical maniacal killers “over there” so they don’t attack us “in the homeland”.
It makes perfect sense.
June 16th, 2006 at 4:11 pmSo why would anyone criticize it? Unless they’re terrorists. Send those disagree-ers to Gitmo.
Of course Annan was being critical of our attempts to defeat this Islamists. It is better for the rest of the world when America is forced to stand alone. Aside from our coalition-of-the-willing, the rest of the world, and the U.N., can be damned to Hell.
June 16th, 2006 at 4:14 pmLet’s just face the facts.
Those that are leading this administration are tone deaf, dumber than nails & arrogant about it to boot. It’s the arrogance that gets me the most.
June 16th, 2006 at 4:14 pmthe UN does not get involved in INTERNAL disputes, Neither should America
America wishes to create more killings and arms sales thats all, The rest of the world can see though American warped mindset, which is not hard these days
June 16th, 2006 at 4:23 pmBolton is just another republican boy sent to do a man’s job. He fails intellectually and diplomatically. We have isolated ourself from the rest of the world, Bolton is just the bulldog on the porch holding everyone out. I’m sure there are 1,001 Bolton jokes circculating at the UN. The laughter at our country is embarrishing be it deserved.
June 16th, 2006 at 4:23 pmUnfortunately,
Bolton may actually be an accurate representation of America, he’s ignorant, arrogant, and a bully. Sad to say.
June 16th, 2006 at 4:28 pmThey were our enemies before they were our freinds’ enemies, which now are our enemies of their friends. Thats how it works, make sense now?
June 16th, 2006 at 4:31 pmHe’s out as of Jan ‘07. How the world can take anything this recess appointment says seriously is beyond me. He’s like a drunk uncle at a wedding…but with more power.
June 16th, 2006 at 4:43 pmGood On koffi Annan I like his ethics.bush and co are American warlords ..hey roverliar ya reading this …
June 16th, 2006 at 5:53 pmBolton can’t even brush his teeth without being aggressive.
June 16th, 2006 at 6:00 pmBolton is a PNAC member, he has…shall we say somewhat of a diseased mind.
June 16th, 2006 at 7:45 pmBolton is a loose cannon in a potentially dangerous position. He couldn’t get confirmed so he is a recess appointment whose term expires next year.
June 16th, 2006 at 9:44 pmSomeone needs to control him before he instigates an international incident.
John Bolton: A whole lot ‘o crazy packed into one moustache.
June 17th, 2006 at 12:55 pmBolton reminds me of that little dog every neighborhood has.You know the kind.It yaps and barks ferociously at anything coming near it property. And yet everyone in the neighborhood (except the dog) considers it nothing but a useless pain in the butt, safely to be ignored.
June 17th, 2006 at 3:26 pmSure, these are the same Somali warlords who were shooting at (and killing) U.S. soldiers and Marines in ‘93. But those were Clinton’s soldiers and Marines, so it doesn’t count.
Don’t you see?
Comment by Michael Scott — June 16, 2006 @ 3:34 pm
But they weren’t Clinton’s soldiers - Bush senior is the one who sent them to Somalia shortly before leaving office. Clinton inherited that mess from Bush senior and had nothing to do with creating it.
June 17th, 2006 at 5:41 pmHOw To dEal With JOhn Bolton
You write him a letter that says “Don’t ever come near me.”
You ignore him at all meetings. Everyone at the UN should do this.
If he comes near you, you ask him to leave.
If he doesn’t leave you haul him out in handcuffs.
If he gets in your face and threatens you, in defense you knock his block off.
That’s how u deal with a neocon - if you must.
June 17th, 2006 at 8:21 pmComment by Marie
June 18th, 2006 at 3:51 amYou mean like a war?
John Bolton is a TEMP!!! But with this event, BushCo is repeating the same process that gave us Saddam Hussein, and Osama bin Laden. First we ‘befriend’ them, then ‘use’ them, then they turn on us, and use everything they got from us, against us. Why should this time be different?
June 18th, 2006 at 4:09 amwhy is anon even still in power at the un after the oil for food scandal?? no wonder for all those years the UN let Hussein run rampant. Ol Kofi and his sleazy son were raking in millions from the Iraqi people’s suffering. We need to get the US out of the UN and use the UN buliding for something good.
June 18th, 2006 at 5:50 pmThe U.S. shouldn’t be making deals with the Somali “government,” because it’s not really a government at all. Until some real peace can be established there, the U.S. should just stay away from that situation. It’s like asking for another Mogadishu.
June 26th, 2006 at 9:43 pm