Choice of Bolton shows US mood
By James Harding in Washington
The choice of John Bolton as the next US ambassador to the United Nations underlines the growing sense of vindication in the White House and among neo-conservative circles in Washington over the decision to go to war in Iraq.
Mr Bolton was the most conspicuous hawk in Colin Powell's State Department during the first Bush term, an unflinching advocate of military action against Iraq, a hardliner on Iran and North Korea and, quite often, a critic of multilateral diplomacy.
Ever since the Iraqi elections, White House officials say they have sensed a shift in public mood over the military intervention. Opinion polls have seen a sharp increase in American optimism over Iraq since the January 30 elections.
The democracy protests in Lebanon and the prospect of a Syrian withdrawal, Egypt's decision to hold multi-party presidential elections and the progress towards a Middle East peace settlement have also changed the tone of the debate in the US. Advocates of the war are bragging, critics are on the defensive and the threshold of 1,500 American war dead was passed last week without much notice paid. ...
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