THE UNITED NATIONS, THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY.

THE UNITED NATIONS, THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY.

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To reinforce his intention to work more closely with the United Nations after the tensions of President Bush’s tenure, Mr. Obama plans to restore the ambassador’s post to cabinet rank, as it was under President Bill Clinton, according to Democrats close to the transition.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/us/politics/01rice.html



Oppose the nomination of Dr. Susan Rice as representative to the United Nations

An open letter to Senator John Kerry, Foreign Relations committee of the U.S. Senate, 7 December,2008



Victor Manfredi

Research fellow

African Studies Center

Boston University

manfredi@bu.edu

December 2008

http://people.bu.edu/manfredi/OpposeRiceNomination.pdf



For the U.N., a clean break

December 02, 2008

If former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John R. Bolton went to Bizarro World, his counterpart there would be Susan Rice. Inhabitants of DC Comics' fictional planet are the polar opposites of their earthly doubles, and it's hard to imagine anyone who would represent a clearer break with the Bush administration's foreign policy strategies than Rice, whose selection as U.N. ambassador was announced Monday by President-elect Barack Obama.
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/02/opinion/ed-realists2
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My Comments:

It is unfortunate that a sword is being pushed through the heart of true world peace. The twisted diplomacy at the United Nations and the soon to be Obama Administration in favor of world dictators, Rogue Regimes and terrorist groups will continue to distort the realities and ignore the plight of people under oppression yearning for freedom from their oppressive Governments. This twisted diplomacy is underscored by two major U.S Newspapers, New York Times and L/A Times, in their editorials I have posted above. Both Papers have attempted to create a new image of United States foreign policy. According to both Newspapers, the U.S. was being opposed at the UN because of its so-called “unilateralist”. Bush Administration’s UN Ambassador, John Bolton, adopted a diplomatic strategy to expose the weakness of the UN in enforcing basic Human Rights. He with the backing of the Bush Administration also applied stronger diplomatic pressure on the leaders oppressing their own citizens as means to stop violent conflicts and Human Rights abuses for democratic freedom and peaceful world.



With the nomination of Susan Rice, considered to be multilateralist by the Mainstream media which is a coded word for doing, to replace John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador is to relieve pressure on the world dictators and Human Rights abusers. This approach also fails to recognize the hard truths and realities of U.S. foreign policy. The Mainstream media would be serving American public better if a brief reflections of the ant-Americanism and Anti-Israel politics at the UN in favor of rogue regimes, dictators and Islamic terrorists groups had been confronted. These realities and roles played by the U.S. Ambassadors to the U.N. could be exposed under the various U.S. Administrations. The personalities of these Ambassadors and their willingness to co-operate or not co-operate with the other diplomats at the U.N. did not and will not win the love and co-operation from the majority of the Oppressive member Nations of the UN, whether it was Andrew Young(under Carter), Jeanne Kirkpatrick(under Reagan), Thomas Pickering(under Bush I.)Madeleine Albright(under Clinton) or John Bolton(under Bush II).



I doubt if Susan Rice can make a difference unless President-elect Obama will give up the major American foreign policy objective of spreading freedom, liberty and world peace through diplomacy which has always been preferable but military force used if no other options are feasible. This last resort has resulted in huge finacial and material costs on American people including sacrificing the lives of America's sons and daughters. The rest of the world therefore owe American people the Godly responsibility of gratitude and it is not the other way round. Some us from most of the other Developing Countries are also beneficiaries of USAID in financial and technical training never mentioned by the very educated elite in most of these countries. We shall see how President-elect Obama and his nominated UN Ambassador, Susan Rice if confirmed, will translate the bumper stickers of platitudes into foreign policy pragmatism and hope United States will paid the long overdue gratitude by the rest of the world. I will, however, not count on it.



Felix A. Diawuoh

The Free Africa Foundation.

Colorado Springs.

07/12/08