U.S. Will Not Run for U.N. Human Rights Council (Updated)

As I noted below, the campaigning for membership of the new U.N. Human Rights Council has begun in earnest (34 nations have declared themselves). The United States, however, will not be seeking a seat. The strategy behind staying off the new Council is unclear. The U.S. has pledged to fund and support the new council, but it might also be useful for the U.S. to stay off the Council if it plans to snipe at it. The likelihood that countries like Cuba and Iran get a seat on the Council may provide the U.S. with a good basis for sniping.

UPDATE: The U.S is now saying it will probably wait a year before running. I am not exactly sure what the point of that is, and all the usual suspects have been jumping on the U.S. for deciding not to join. I realize that Senator Bill Frist has called on the U.S. to boycott the new Council, but it is not doing that either because it has agreed to fund it. I don’t think this ultimately is that big a deal, but I have to admit I have no idea what the strategy is here.