Thank you, President Bush

 
Dear Mr. President:

Had you not used your right to a recess appointment to send John Bolton to the UN, we would not have achieved the singular condemnation of Hizbullah ever to leave the confines of Turtle Bay.

	Following intense US pressure, the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday [November 24th] issued an unprecedented condemnation of Monday's Hizbullah attacks on northern Israel.
	This condemnation - slamming Hizbullah by name for "acts of hatred" - marked the first time the Security Council has ever reprimanded Hizbullah for cross-border attacks on Israel. The condemnation followed by two days a failed attempt to get a condemnation issued on Monday, the day of the attack, when Algeria came out against any mention of Hizbullah in the statement.
	When asked what changed from Monday to Wednesday, one diplomatic official replied: "John Bolton”…

Things are looking up, if only a little, because this condemnation not only wasn’t “balanced” by a reprimand to Israel for fighting back, but it also called on Lebanon to take more control over dismantling militias in the southern part of the country.

In addition,

The statement against Hizbullah came just a few weeks after the Security Council condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his call to wipe Israel off the map. That was also a precedent-setting condemnation, marking the first time the UN body ever condemned an Islamic state for statements against Israel.

That announcement probably has John Bolton’s fingerprints all over it, too.

Thank you again, sir.