Bolton blocks Arab whining

John Bolton managed to single-handedly block the OIC and the Arab bloc in the United Nations.

The United States on Thursday torpedoed a U.N. Security Council statement drafted by Arab nations and aimed at putting pressure on Israel to stop military strikes on Palestinian targets.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the draft, even after three days of intense negotiations, “was disproportionately critical of Israel, and unfairly so, and needlessly so.”

Palestinian U.N. Observer Riyad Mansour accused Washington of “shielding and protecting Israeli activities and aggression against the Palestinian people.”

“It was obvious they did not want the Security Council to have a position,” Mansour said. Washington does not have formal veto power when it comes to council statements. But was able to block the draft single-handedly because council rules require that statements be unanimous supported by all 15 of its members.

Qatar, the council’s Arab member, gave up the fight, was behind the criticism of Israel in the draft. Asked by reporters to confirm that Washington alone had opposed issuing the statement, Bolton responded, “If I were the only holdout, I’d be proud of that fact.”

Is it time for a Nelson laugh? Yes, I believe it is.

But wait, there’s more. Bolton has a great bon mot regarding the next step the OIC is going to take:

Qatar, acting on behalf of the Arab group at the United Nations, the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement of 112 nations, immediately requested an open council debate on the Middle East, which was scheduled for Monday afternoon.

“I don’t see that that meeting is going to be productive, because I don’t think the Security Council is an exercise in group therapy,” Bolton said.

John, I forgive you for your goofy mustache.

(Note: Yes, this is the same topic as Lair Simon’s last post. We’re working on coordinating in the future so this doesn’t happen much, but hey, it’s a different viewpoint, and different quotes.)