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White House Considers Appointing Pro-U.N. Activist as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Various reports indicate that liberal Republican Richard S. Williamson is in the running for the post of U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Williamson, a former U.S. deputy ambassador at the U.N., is also a former board member of the pro-U.N. lobby group, the U.N. Association (UNA), and favors "alternative financing mechanisms" for the world body. This is a euphemism for global taxes. Williamson served on the United Nations Association-USA Board of Directors from 1989 to 2001. In April of this year, Williamson was named by the UNA and the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University the first Thomas J. and Ruth Sharkey Distinguished Visiting Scholar of United Nations Studies. Williamson is described by the UNA as “an articulate spokesperson for multilateralism." America’s Survival, Inc. is supporting former Ambassador Frank Ruddy for the post. Ruddy is independent of the U.N. lobby and has testified before the U.S. Congress on U.N. corruption. He is not afraid to shake things up in a bureaucracy as large and complex as the U.N. What follows is a 2002 article about Williamson as well as an article about the response of Richard Grenell of the U.S. Mission to the U.N. when asked questions about Williamson’s association with the UNA and Ted Turner. As co-chair of the “U.N. Financing Global Policy Project” of the U.N. Association, Williamson put his name on a 1997 report which ridiculed opponents of the U.N. as “a clamorous minority.” The report also claimed that:
The National Advisory Committee of the project included Elliot Richardson, one of the main proponents of the Law of the Sea Treaty; James Tobin, author of the global taxation scheme known as the Tobin Tax; Richard Falk, a far-left globalist who supports world government; and Paul Volker, who would later conduct a whitewash of Kofi Annan’s involvement in the oil-for-food U.N. corruption scandal. Barbara Crossette, U.N. bureau chief for the New York Times from 1994-2001, is now "a consulting editor at the United Nations Association of the United States." She wrote an article in the July-August issue of Foreign Policy magazine, "How to Defuse the Bolton Bomb," attacking the Bush-appointed U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton. "As is his right," Crossette wrote, "Bolton has replaced staffers at the mission in New York with loyalists and true believers." She cites only one, Richard "Terry" Miller, who was added to the Bolton team at the U.S. Mission. Crossette neglected to mention that Peggy Kerry, John Kerry's equally liberal sister, is still at the U.S. Mission to the U.N., where she handles relations with left-wing non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Bolton can't replace her-or most of the staff up there-because they are considered career civil servants. In an article that originally appeared in World Policy Journal, Crossette condemned the Bush Administration for McCarthyism and for pursuing "ideologically driven, unrealistic, and outdated social policies…" She claimed the administration was in hock to "the most illiberal of American anti-abortion, anti-choice, anti-gay lobbies."
Ally of Ted Turner Represents U.S. at U.N.
Cliff Kincaid, CNSNews.com Saturday, April 20, 2002
A board member from a pro-U.N. lobby group and former associate of controversial CNN founder Ted Turner has won a coveted post as a Bush administration representative to the United Nations. Richard S. Williamson, who once served with Turner on the board of directors of the United Nations Association (UNA), an officially "nonpartisan" group 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 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 members 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 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 Web site 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-chairman of the UNA's National Council, along with Democrat former 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. contributes 41 percent of the WPF budget and has donated more than $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. © CNSNews.com
The Right Replacement for John Bolton: Frank Ruddy By Cliff Kincaid International lawyer and former Ambassador Frank Ruddy has the experience, credentials and character to represent the U.S. effectively at the international organization. He believes in moving the organization away from grand visions of "global governance." Ruddy was the Deputy Chairman of a U.N. Peacekeeping Referendum for the Western Sahara in 1994 and has testified about the problems and flaws in U.N. operations worldwide. While other names besides Leach have been put forward to replace Bolton, such as Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leaving his post as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ruddy has direct experience in working with the U.N. and understands, like Bolton did, the obstacles that stand in the way of asserting American interests at the world body. Ruddy would be able to pick up where Bolton left off. Ruddy's impressive career has included serving as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy; U.S. Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea; and assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Ruddy is also very familiar with never-ending efforts at U.N. "reform." In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, he noted that former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, who served as Undersecretary for Management at the U.N., had submitted a report to then-U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1993 proposing the streamlining of the U.N., in order to eliminate waste and fraud and save hundreds of millions of dollars. But Ruddy noted that "Boutros-Ghali, as Thornburgh has stated publicly, had the report suppressed and remaining copies shredded." If U.N. "reform" is still supposed to be a priority at the world body, Ruddy knows what needs to be done and who and what stand in the way. Ambassador Frank Ruddy is independent of the U.N. lobby and has testified before the U.S. Congress on U.N. corruption. He is not afraid to shake things up in a bureaucracy as large and complex as the U.N. He would not need any on-the-job training from a U.S. mission to the U.N. staff that includes John Kerry's sister Peggy. | |||
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