v The Associated Press is reporting that John Bolton helped force out a top international arms control official ahead of the Iraq invasion because he feared the official could interfere with the Bush administration’s war plans. The Senate is now considering Bolton to be Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations. According to the Associated Press, Bolton flew to Europe in 2002 to personally demand that Jose Bustani resign his post as head of a global arms-control agency called the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. At the time Bustani was trying to send chemical weapons inspectors to Baghdad. If the inspectors had been sent in 2002 — they would have uncovered that Iraq had no chemical weapons — a discovery that would have undermined the Bush administration’s rationale for war. One of Bustani’s former aides — Bob Rigg — said the motivation of Bolton and the Bush administration was clear in removing Bustani. Rigg said “They felt they couldn’t rely on [the agency] to come up with the findings the U.S. wanted.” After Bustani refused to resign, the Bush administration successfully removed him during a controversial vote that was later deemed to be unlawful. Ahead of the vote the U.S. delegation threatened to withhold U.S. dues from the agency if Bustani stayed in office.