John Bolton is going to be opposed by Democrats

A Senate panel is to vote Thursday on President Bush's nominee to be U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, three weeks after questions about his fitness for the job delayed committee action.

All eight Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are expected to oppose the nomination of &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/cis/2001/09/17/15393.html ' target=_blank>John Bolton, who now serves as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.

They are troubled by allegations that he mistreated subordinates and pressured analysts to reach certain conclusions on policy and intelligence matters, tells VOA News.

According to the New York Times, with a vote scheduled Thursday on his contested nomination as ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton has told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that a policy maker should maintain the right to "state his own reading of the intelligence" even when it differs from that of intelligence agencies.

Mr. Bolton's statement came in a written response to a written question from Senator &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/14556_ballots.html ' target=_blank>John Kerry of Massachusetts, a leading Democratic critic of the nomination, and was disclosed by Democrats legislators opposed to the nomination. They said they would cite it as evidence that Mr. Bolton would adopt a loose standard for accuracy in making statements based on intelligence.

In interviews on Wednesday, several former senior intelligence officials said the widely accepted view was that policy makers had a right to state their own views about intelligence matters, but that they also had an obligation to be accurate and to make explicit when they were stating personal opinions.

For weeks, the committee has been exploring whether Mr. Bolton, as an under secretary of state, improperly sought to press intelligence agencies to endorse his views, and sought to bypass the agencies' objections by describing his own views as those of the government.

Mr. Kerry asked Mr. Bolton whether as ambassador to the United Nations, he would "unfailingly use the established procedure" for clearing speeches, testimony and other public remarks with intelligence agencies.