The US ambassador to the United Nations kept up his war of words with the UN's number two official last night by saying his comments about middle America could throw UN reform into disarray.
Ambassador John Bolton demanded on Wednesday that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan repudiate his deputy, Mark Malloch Brown, after he accused Washington of failing to stand up for the United Nations against domestic critics.
US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton
Despite Mr Annan's refusal to do so, Mr Bolton launched another tirade against Mr Malloch Brown in a speech to a British thinktank yesterday, calling the UN deputy secretary-general's comments "a classic political mistake".
The spat has raised concerns at the United Nations that the Bush administration might withhold all or part of its 2006 UN dues, which pay for about a quarter of the UN budget.
Mr Bolton seized on Mr Malloch Brown's comment that the UN's role was "a secret in middle America" even as it was highlighted in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
"It is illegitimate for an international civil servant to criticise what he thinks are the inadequacies of the citizens of a member government," Mr Bolton said.
"Maybe it's fashionable in some circles to look down on middle America and to say that they don't get the complexities of the world and they don't have the benefit of continental educations and they're deficient in so many ways," he said sarcastically.
One possible consequence of Mr Malloch Brown's speech "and one that I fear substantially, is that this will throw our efforts in the UN reform process into disarray," Mr Bolton said. "I don't think we've seen the end of the consequences," he said, without elaborating further.
He said he would not speculate when asked by reporters if he thought Mr Malloch Brown, who is British, should resign over the comments.
Mr Malloch Brown said his speech on Tuesday was a "sincere and constructive critique of US policy towards the UN by a friend and admirer.
"The prevailing practice of seeking to use the UN almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool while failing to stand up for it against its domestic critics is simply not sustainable," Mr Malloch Brown told a New York political conference.
The dispute arose as the United Nations neared a June 30th deadline for management reforms eagerly sought by Washington.