The $300,000 Bronze AK-47 Didn’t Fit the New Statesman Image
To the surprise of many diplomats at the United Nations, John Bolton, the new United States ambassador, is taking a conciliatory approach instead of the fire-breathing and table-pounding that had been expected.
One tell-tale sign: He has ditched the bronze sculpture of an AK-47 assault rifle as his intimidating desk art and adopted instead a sculpture of a Glock 9mm pistol. The Glock, famous for its stopping power when a clip of ammunition is unloaded into someone, is a favorite with police. “The perp was glocked,” is common police slang.
To be sure, Bolton’s bronze Glock is three times larger than real life. And it was cast so that it rests on his desk with the barrel leveled directly at the face of a visitor who sits near his desk.
“Ambassador Bolton has the option of reaching out and gently shoving the Glock so that the barrel is pointed away from the visitor,” said a U.N. diplomat who had visited Bolton. “If he wishes, he can make an ostentatious show of shoving the barrel aside to make the right kind of conciliatory gesture. But the Glock is certainly conciliatory when compared to his AK-47.”
Bolton’s nomination by President Bush to the U.N. post was fiercely opposed by Democrats. They cited his strident opposition to the U.N. and an abrasive management style that includes bullying underlings.
When it appeared that Bolton might no be confirmed by the Senate, Bush used a recess appointment to put Bolton in place. He became the first United States ambassador in the history of the U.N. to not be confirmed by the Senate.
As an assistant secretary of statein the first Bush term, Bolton was famous for keeping a model of a hand grenade in his office, an apparent allusion to his bureaucratic bomb thrower management style.
The AK-47 assault rifle sculpture, which Bolton supporters underwrote to the tune of $300,000, according to some press reports, was cast so that it sat upright on the desk, its barrel pointed at the ceiling. But it was also designed so that Bolton could pick it up and cradle it in his arms and — presumably — point it at a visitor to emphasize some diplomatic point.
Bolton supporters are believed to have paid a similar sum to have the bronze Glock pistol cast.
“It’s a small price to pay to help John get his job done in reforming an institution that increasingly doesn’t serve the needs of ordinary Americans,” a Washington-based Neocon supporter of Bolton said.