GOP Vixen

Khalilzad leaving as U.N. ambassador

Well, eventually, according to the Afghan-born Zalmay Khalilzad, who claims that he has no interest in running for the presidency of Afghanistan but instead wants to go to into the private sector (how about a judge on the next season of "Afghan Star"?):

"'My decision is that I will resign from my official work in the next few months and start a private business,' Khalilzad told Afghanistan's Ariana Television Network in Dari, one the country's main languages. His comments were translated by The Associated Press.

Richard Grenell, Khalilzad's spokesman at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said Khalilzad 'has no immediate plans to resign.'"

I'll always remember chatting with Khalilzad as he downed a chicken sandwich with gusto after landing in L.A. days after I had my wisdom teeth yanked, but I also know that the challenges faced at the U.N. may require someone with a little more, er, Bolton. Khalilzad danced around some questions and went light-n-easy on pretty straightforward topics, such as Syria's involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Honestly, I think he'd be a much better Afghan president than U.N. ambassador.

Great U.N. video

Roz Rothstein of Stand With Us tells it like it is to the Human Rights Council as Egypt and Iran interrupt her. Watch it here!

U.N. aims for some comic relief

Yes, the United Nations has partnered with Marvel to produce a comic book that shows classic characters such as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four fighting alongside blue-hatted peacekeepers and humanitarian workers. Poor, hapless schoolchildren will then receive the superhero rag. In my Los Angeles Daily News column this week, I decided to offer up a script for the comic:

"It's a dark and stormy day at Turtle Bay. Super Ban huddles with his advisers. 'The world is so evil, Super Ban,' one dejectedly says. 'Whatever can we do to strike at the heart of it?'

Super Ban sighs. 'There is only one thing to do. Call in ... the Human Rights Council!' Da-DUM!

FLASH! The Human Rights Council emerges from a whirlwind. 'We know how to spot evil!' declares the Cuban Conquistador. 'We know human rights!' echoes the Saudi Swashbuckler. 'It takes one to know one!' pipes up the Angola Avenger, eliciting a growl from the Russian Ruffian.

'I leave you to find the source of this world's evil!' Super Ban commands as he flies away.

'That is easy,' the Egyptian Eidolon grins, as several of the HRC members declare in unison, 'EVIL ISRAEL!'

'The Israelis have thwarted Martyr Man with that big wall long enough!' cries one.

'Don't forget Evil Uncle Sam!' bellows another.

The Qatar Quixote rolls his eyes. 'Don't you know that Israel is easier to pick on?'

The HRC squad nods in agreement. They might not be able to vanquish a superpower superhero of the Fantastic Quartet.

'What about Sudan?' an HRC member meekly offers. 'Aren't they actually REALLY evil?'

'Very well,' groans a comrade. 'We'll issue a statement expressing our deep concern about that.'

The others nod eagerly.

'But back to Evil Israel - let's pass more resolutions condemning the Jewish state than ANY other country in the world!!' Mad cheering. 'Let's make Evil Israel a permanent agenda item!' Wild applause. 'Let's let everybody else OFF the hook and obsessively fixate on Evil Israel!!' Triumphant hollers..."

Read the whole thing!

U.N. Courage

The U.N. has a reputation for inaction. If there is a dictator murdering civilians, the U.N. will debate and pass meaningless resolutions. Once the dictator runs out of foes to kill, the U.N. then congratulates the dictator for not killing as many people and lauds him as a true man of peace.

When it comes to global warming however, the U.N. must act now. After all, every day that passes without action is a day they could be collecting taxes. And everyone knows collecting taxes cleans the air. It’s all about money and power and the U.N. wants a global tax on carbon dioxide. MIT climatologist Dr. Lindzen understands the implications when he warns, "Controlling carbon is a bureaucrat's dream. If you control carbon, you control life." The U.N. is really after money and power and every year that passes without a killer hurricane, hot summer, or children’s movie with dancing penguins talking about the danger to their habitat, gets them father away from their goal of global rule.

Finally, the U.N.’s inaction may work for humanity. Although the U.N. has proclaimed the science is settled, 100 scientists have signed a letter asking the world to have the "courage to do nothing." Now these scientist seem to know what their talking about because if there is any form of courage at the U.N., it is the courage to do nothing.

P.S. Vote for Bridget. A vote for Bridget is a vote against tyranny!

NIE not a get-out-of-sanctions-free card

Continuing with my conversation with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad, my Los Angeles Daily News column today focuses on the fallout from the NIE:

"The fact still remains that Iran is blithely in violation of the Security Council resolutions on its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, and uranium can be used for malignant purposes as well as benign energy production.

'We must get ready to rule the world,' Ahmadinejad said last year. '...The Islamic government in Iran is the prerequisite for a worldwide Islamic state.'

And in that quest, Ahmadinejad has gotten cozy with other rogue, would-be totalitarian world rulers, like meetings with neo-Marxist regimes in Latin America that puts Iranian interests a little too close to the border of the "Great Satan" for comfort.

'We know that the Middle East for us is geopolitically the most difficult and the most important region,' Khalilzad said. 'In Iran, of course, there's the sanction threat because it wants to dominate the region, ... because of its policies in Iraq and Afghanistan that we talked about, because of its policies in Lebanon, its support for Hamas in Gaza and ... its opposition to the peace process, its opposition to Israel's existence, support for extremists and sometimes terrorist groups. Iran poses a threat in that theater.'

The ambassador said Iran, Venezuela and Russia - a veto-wielder at the Security Council - currently share some common rhetorical ground.

'But at the same time, as you say, they have these economic relations and military relationship in terms of supplying weapons, and we have been obviously engaging the Russians very intensely to get them to reduce that positive engagement and to use their influence to get Iran to suspend its nuclear program,' Khalilzad said. ..."

Read the whole thing!

Khalilzad and I talk Lebanon

More of my sit-down with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad at Pajamas Media today, this part focused on the crisis in Lebanon:

Q: Is Security Council Resolution 1701 working? Is Hezbollah rearming? Are they more powerful in spite of it?

KHALILZAD: “There’s no question that Hezbollah is getting arms in violation of the Security Council resolution, and those arms are coming across the border, through Syria, and Iran is the ultimate supporter. … The U.N. forces, the forces under U.N. command, have done a good job in terms of the south. They’re going in where Hezbollah was at the Israeli border and taking control and working with the Lebanese army . … The cooperation has been good and the Lebanese army has performed well.”

Q: In terms of keeping Hezbollah from firing mortars?

KHALILZAD: “Yeah, and to make sure that area does not become a threat to Israel again. But the question of the buildup of Hezbollah forces, the weapons that are coming across … there are a number of ideas people are talking about, whether to send forces to be deployed also on the Syrian border, should there be more Lebanese capabilities developed to monitor that border more effectively. So this is an issue that will have to be dealt with.”

Read on, including Khalilzad's thoughts on elections and the Hariri assassination!

Kicking it with Ambassador Khalilzad

Yesterday I sat down with our ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, hours before he addressed the Los Angeles World Affairs Council at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City. Afghan-born Khalilzad, the highest-ranking Muslim in the Bush administration and a name often mentioned as a secretary of state candidate should a Republican win in 2008, was really friendly and opened up on a variety of subjects. In today's L.A. Daily News, I write about U.S. plans for a third set of sanctions against Iran -- NIE or no NIE:

"'The resolution is being worked on right now as we speak,' he said, adding that most of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany met recently to ink a draft.

'But I think, broadly speaking, there should be a draft before Christmas. That's our expectation.'

The pending resolution comes in the wake of the National Intelligence Estimate released this week stating that Iran ceased its nuclear weapons program in 2003, which fired up critics of the Bush administration's assessment of the Iranian threat.

Khalilzad said drafting of the resolution was under way before the release of the NIE report.

'So we will have to see the impact of the NIE,' he said. 'Of course, we will argue that the NIE dealt with the covert, undeclared weapons program, and we saw that the NIE stated the result of pressure in the context of changes in the region. ... The Libyans came clean on their program and Iran, fearing possible discovery of their program, stopped or suspended their covert program.' ..."

I saved a couple of questions on press freedom for my journalism site. And the rest of our conversation? You'll just have to wait for my column!

"'The resolution is being worked on right now as we speak,' he said, adding that most of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany met recently to ink a draft.

'But I think, broadly speaking, there should be a draft before Christmas. That's our expectation.'

The pending resolution comes in the wake of the National Intelligence Estimate released this week stating that Iran ceased its nuclear weapons program in 2003, which fired up critics of the Bush administration's assessment of the Iranian threat.

Khalilzad said drafting of the resolution was under way before the release of the NIE report.

'So we will have to see the impact of the NIE,' he said. 'Of course, we will argue that the NIE dealt with the covert, undeclared weapons program, and we saw that the NIE stated the result of pressure in the context of changes in the region. ... The Libyans came clean on their program and Iran, fearing possible discovery of their program, stopped or suspended their covert program.' ..."

I saved a couple of questions on press freedom for my journalism site. And the rest of our conversation? You'll just have to wait for my column!

Don't you feel more secure already?

The newest members of the U.N. Security Council, as of yesterday:

Libya, Vietnam, Burkina Faso

Wow!! A trio of one-party states where you're liable to get a bullet in the brain if you dis' the rulers! Aren't you glad the Security Council is tasked with protecting the world??

The best part of U.N. week

I thought this pic of the president of Comoros was funny enough, but then I read that he's like the Sit 'N' Sleep president of the island nation as well. He owns mattress factories, but also lives above a store called The House of Mattresses. Comoros: Mattress Kingdom!

Another U.N. low

Mugging and shaking hands with the Myanmar foreign minister at the very moment the Burmese people are being mowed down in cold blood by the junta.