This year, for example, Washington voted against resolutions condemning Israel's continued occupation of Arab land and its building of Jewish settlements there in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Europe also was angered by U.S. rejection of international agreements. These date back to the Clinton administration's refusal to sign the treaty banning land mines, the Senate's refusal to ratify the nuclear test ban treaty and U.S. opposition to an international war crimes tribunal. Failure to pay our U.N. dues and the absence of a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for the past four months haven't helped. Election to seats on U.N. bodies is highly politicized.
Deals have to be cut and votes traded.
Diplomats in New York say the United States has been at a disadvantage since the January departure of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Although Bush nominated John Negroponte to succeed him in March, the nomination has not yet been sent to the Senate for confirmation. Already there's this feeling in Congress that New York and the U.N. are enemy territory. If the isolationists win, we lose. It is not a private communication.