The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to vote on whether to forward John Bolton's nomination for Ambassador to the U.N. to the full Senate. As I have mentioned several times in the last week, this nomination is especially grievous. This man is the absolutely worst possible man for this VERY important position. To refresh your memories see this and this from previous blog entries.

Now while the vote is scheduled tomorrow, more about this man has come to light. The following letter was sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from Melody Townsel who worked for US AID. You really should read the entire letter, to get the most possible context out of this, but I will quote a few key statements.

"Dear Sir:

I'm writing to urge you to consider blocking in committee the nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the UN.

In the late summer of 1994, I worked as the subcontracted leader of a US AID project in Kyrgyzstan...

...After months of incompetence, poor contract performance, inadequate in-country funding, and a general lack of interest or support in our work from the prime contractor, I was forced to make US AID officials aware of the prime contractor's poor performance...

...I met with US AID officials and expressed my concerns about the project - chief among them, the prime contractor's inability to keep enough cash in country to allow us to pay bills, which directly resulted in armed threats by Kyrgyz contractors to me and my staff.

Within hours of sending a letter to US AID officials outlining my concerns, I met John Bolton, whom the prime contractor hired as legal counsel to represent them to US AID. And, so, within hours of dispatching that letter, my hell began."

Well ok, you are probably thinking, so what? What kind of hell could Bolton possibly level onto this woman? Right? Well buckle your seat belts because this isn't just trying to get someone fired, but this is close to physical abuse.

"Mr. Bolton proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel - throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door and, generally, behaving like a madman. For nearly two weeks, while I awaited fresh direction from my company and from US AID, John Bolton hounded me in such an appalling way that I eventually retreated to my hotel room and stayed there. Mr. Bolton, of course, then routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats.

...I returned to my project to find that John Bolton had proceeded me by two days. Why? To meet with every other AID team leader as well as US foreign-service officials in Bishkek, claiming that I was under investigation for misuse of funds and likely was facing jail time. As US AID can confirm, nothing was further from the truth.

He indicated to key employees of or contractors to State that, based on his discussions with investigatory officials, I was headed for federal prison and, if they refused to cooperate with either him or the prime contractor's replacement team leader, they, too, would find themselves the subjects of federal investigation. As a further aside, he made unconscionable comments about my weight, my wardrobe and, with a couple of team leaders, my sexuality, hinting that I was a lesbian (for the record, I'm not)...

...As a maligned whistleblower, I've learned firsthand the lengths Mr. Bolton will go to accomplish any goal he sets for himself. Truth flew out the window. Decency flew out the window. In his bid to smear me and promote the interests of his client, he went straight for the low road and stayed there."

All I have to say, is if this man ultimately becomes our representative to the U.N. then basically we are slapping the international community in the collective face. We are implicitly telling them that we don't give a damn about making a REAL effort to reach out to them and repair the strained ties, and finally work together as we MUST to truly defeat the terrorists that plot our collective destruction.

No I am NOT being dramatic, we must do this. We MUST work with everyone's help to defeat this clear and present danger to our country and to the world.

Microphone off.