The Ambassador Doth Protest Too Much

Brett Schaefer / September 16, 2010

Was it wise for the Obama administration to reverse the Bush administration’s policy of distancing the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council? With the Council’s 15th session underway, it’s a question worth asking.

The Council has been receiving more attention than unusual lately because the administration recently submitted a report on the U.S. human rights record for the Council’s Universal Periodic Review process. The report has led many to question what America gets out of membership on that body.

In response, the U.S. ambassador to the Council, Eileen Donahoe, penned a piece in The New York Times filled with evasions, non sequiturs and platitudes. Donahoe lists a series of “accomplishments” supposedly wrought by U.S. membership on the Council. Among them: (more…)