Posted on 04/19/2002 6:07:05 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
A board member from a pro-United Nations lobby group and former associate of controversial CNN founder Ted Turner has won a coveted post as a Bush administration representative to the U.N.
Richard S. Williamson, who once served with Turner on the board of directors of the United Nations Association (UNA), an officially "nonpartisan" group that is dominated by liberal Democrats, is now the alternate U.S. representative to the U.N. for special political affairs. The post carries with it the title of "ambassador" in the Bush administration.
Turner, who called the terrorists who attacked America on Sept. 11 "brave" and compared President Bush to Roman dictator Julius Caesar, was praised by the UNA as the U.N.'s "billion-dollar man" for his $1 billion contribution to the world body. Turner won the UNA's "global leadership" award in 1997.
Although perhaps best known for staging "Model U.N." programs at public schools, the UNA plays a major role in Washington, D.C. and New York in lobbying for more money, authority and influence for the U.N. The group published a 1995 study, "National Taxpayers, International Organizations," suggesting global taxes as a solution to the U.N. "revenue problem."
The UNA claims 23,000 members and 100 affiliated organizations, including the AFL-CIO, American Humanist Association, Planned Parenthood, and the pro-world government World Federalist Association.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which theoretically could prosecute and imprison American service men and women on foreign soil for perceived war crimes, is the brainchild of the U.N. and supported by the UNA.
The ICC treaty has been ratified by enough countries around the world to take effect, despite the Bush administration's opposition to the pact. Shortly before leaving office, former President Bill Clinton signed the ICC treaty, after being urged by then-UNA Chairman and President William H. Luers "to affirm America's support for the most important institutional advance for world peace and security in the past half-century."
David Scheffer, who served as the Clinton administration's ambassador for war crimes issues and was America's chief negotiator in ICC discussions, was recently named UNA senior vice president. He wrote an April 6 New York Times op-ed arguing that Bush should not "unsign" the ICC treaty. However, the Bush administration is said to be considering ways to nullify Clinton's actions anyway.
The UNA opposes an anti-ICC congressional bill called the American Servicemembers Protection Act, and urges ratification of two treaties anathema to conservatives -- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Those two treaties authorize U.N. and government involvement in the lives of women, children and families.
UNA is currently lobbying Bush to distribute $34 million to the U.N. Population Fund, money appropriated by Congress, but thus far, frozen by the president. Some conservative groups say the U.N. Population Fund helps promote abortion and forced sterilization in China.
Williamson, a Republican lawyer who ran for the Senate from Illinois and served as state party chief, tries to downplay his UNA connection, although an Oct. 4, 2001 White House press release announcing his nomination did mention it in passing. The Williamson biography posted on the website of the U.S. Mission to the U.N., however, omits his UNA affiliation.
To stress Williamson's conservative credentials, the biography highlights his experience during the Reagan administration, when he served as assistant secretary of state for international organizations.
But the UNA's Republicans tend to be political moderates favoring a greater U.N. role in global affairs. They include John C. Whitehead, who served as deputy secretary of state for President Ronald Reagan, and former Republican President Gerald Ford, who serves in a figurehead role as a co-chair of the UNA's National Council, along with former Democratic President Jimmy Carter.
With the support of a federal grant from the U.S. Institute for Peace, Williamson and former Carter official Charles Maynes edited a 1995 book, U.S. Foreign Policy and the United Nations System. The book focused on ways to strengthen the U.S.-U.N. relationship and was published to coincide with the U.N.'s 50th anniversary.
Williamson and Maynes also co-chaired a UNA "Global Policy Project on U.N. Financing," which advocated the discussion of "alternative financing mechanisms" for the world body.
Williamson refused to respond to a written inquiry asking for comment on his UNA affiliation and support for its controversial positions. A public affairs officer for the U.S. Mission to the U.N. replied on his behalf, saying Williamson's "past connections" with the UNA would not affect his new role as he now "represents the views of the president and the secretary of state ..."
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when it was thought that the U.S. needed to beef up its representation at the U.N., Williamson's nomination was put on a fast track. It was sent to the Senate on Nov. 1, he was confirmed on Nov. 9, and sworn in to the post in January. His association with UNA made him attractive to liberals in the Senate.
In his new position, Williamson issued an April 4 statement to the U.N. Security Council praising the work of the U.N. World Food Program, which has been accused by a German medical doctor, Norbert Vollertsen, of ignoring the diversion of its humanitarian aid to the communist North Korean regime.
Vollertsen was in North Korea for 18 months and witnessed the diversion of the aid from the starving people who needed it. The U.S. currently contributes 41 percent of the WPF budget and has donated over $6 billion since 1992. "A job well done," was the way Williamson described the WPF's efforts, in the statement he issued earlier this month.
Ah, yes, it must be that a President Gore would have been so much worse. Perhaps a President Gore would have appointed Jane Fonda.
I must consult my dictionary to see if the meaning of "compassionate" (as in "compassionate" conservatism), has been amplified to mean either gutless, hypocritical, or unprincipled.
I expect to vote Libertarian in the next Presidential election.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.