Thank You John Bolton

John Bolton — who once said that a “highlight of my professional career was the 1991 successful effort to repeal the General Assembly’s 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism, thus removing the greatest stain on the UN’s reputation" — resigned as U.N. Ambassador yesterday. 

In future years, we may have occasion to review his address of March 5, 2006 to the AIPAC Policy Conference (not to mention this speech, and this one) and ask to be reminded exactly what it was that caused a minority of U.S. senators to block his nomination.  In his speech to AIPAC, Bolton concluded as follows:

Obviously, the threat that Iran poses to Israel is palpably clear, but it is not just Israel that is threatened. Iran continues to actively support forces that would tear Lebanon apart. And we continue to observe an ongoing pattern on the part of the Iranian regime to interfere with our efforts to support the democratic transition in Iraq. . . .

While September 11th was a wake-up call for many here in the United States, we know that Israel has been receiving those painful calls now for decades. Whether it was wars, suicide bombings, hijackings or kidnappings, the constant threat that the state of Israel has been under serves as a painful reminder that we must remain vigilant. . . .

I sometimes find it an odd question, because to me the answer is so strikingly simple, but I have been asked before why I remain so strongly committed to the protection, preservation and prosperity of Israel.

My answer is straightforward: unlike Mr. Ahmadinejad, I know my history. Whether from school, or more poignantly and heartbreakingly, from the stories of survivors of the Holocaust, I know what can happen when we turn a blind eye to tyranny, whether it manifests itself as fascism or, in this case, as totalitarianism.

Many of you here in this room are responsible for helping me, indeed all Americans, to understand this undeniable truth. But know that I will do what I can to continue to fight anti-Semitism in whatever form it takes, and wherever it happens, including at the United Nations.

As it turns out, and as you well know, my current position lends itself well to such a fight. Your unrelenting and constant support, though, has been indispensable in our mutual fight for what we cherish most — freedom and democracy. For that, I thank you.

In later years, it may be difficult to understand how the United States Senate failed to allow even a debate and a floor vote on his nomination.  For the present, to John Bolton, for his extraordinary service to America, to the cause of freedom and democracy in the Middle East, and to the survival of the State of Israel — thank you.