Editing Madeleine Albright (section)

=== U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations ===
Albright was appointed [[ambassador to the United Nations]], a [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]]-level position, shortly after Clinton was inaugurated, presenting her credentials on February 9, 1993. During her tenure at the U.N., she led the opposition to [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|U.N. secretary-general]], [[Boutros Boutros-Ghali]], whom she criticized as "disengaged" and "neglect[ful]" of [[genocide in Rwanda]].{{sfn|Albright|2003|p=207}}  The relationship between Albright and [[Boutros Boutros-Ghali]] was marked by deep tension, political maneuvering, and ultimately, a dramatic and public clash that led to Boutros-Ghali's ouster as UN Secretary-General. Albright was the chief architect of the U.S. campaign to block Boutros-Ghali’s bid for a second term, despite his overwhelming base of support. She was successful in blocking him.<ref> Thomas Blood, '' Madame Secretary'' (1997) pp.199–215.</ref><ref>Linda Fasulo, "Chapter 14, The Coup Against Boutros-Ghali". in Fasulo, ''An Insider’s Guide to the UN'' (4th edition, Yale University Press, 2008, pp. 134-138. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300133516-017 </ref> Albright wrote: "My deepest regret from my years in public service is the failure of the United States and the international community to act sooner to halt these crimes."{{sfn|Albright|2003|p=147}}

In ''[[Shake Hands with the Devil (book)|Shake Hands with the Devil]]'', [[Roméo Dallaire]] writes that in 1994, in Albright's role as the U.S. [[UN Permanent Representative|Permanent Representative to the U.N.]], she avoided describing the killings in Rwanda as "genocide" until overwhelmed by the evidence for it;<ref>{{cite book
|author-link=Roméo Dallaire
|title=Shake Hands with the Devil
|page=374
|first=Roméo
|last=Dallaire
|date= 2005
|publisher=Carroll & Graf
|isbn=978-0-7867-1510-7
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oe9S6SgfeSsC&pg=PA374
|access-date=June 17, 2015
|archive-date=March 18, 2015
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318001625/http://books.google.com/books?id=oe9S6SgfeSsC&pg=PA374
|url-status=live
}}</ref> this is now how she described these massacres in her memoirs.{{sfn|Albright|2003|pp=150-151}} She was instructed to support a reduction or withdrawal (something which never happened) of the [[United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda|U.N. Assistance Mission for Rwanda]] but was later given more flexibility.{{sfn|Albright|2003|pp=150–151}} Albright later remarked in [[PBS]] documentary ''Ghosts of Rwanda'' that "it was a very, very difficult time, and the situation was unclear. You know, in retrospect, it all looks very clear. But when you were [there] at the time, it was unclear about what was happening in Rwanda."<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = Interview Madeleine Albright
 |url          = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/interviews/albright.html
 |work         = Ghosts of Rwanda
 |department   = [[Frontline (US TV series)|Frontline]]
 |publisher    = PBS
 |date         = April 1, 2004
|access-date  = February 14, 2007
|archive-date = February 26, 2007
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070226180826/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/interviews/albright.html
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref>

Also in 1996, after Cuban military pilots shot down two small civilian aircraft flown by the Cuban-American exile group [[Brothers to the Rescue]] over international waters, she announced at a UN Security Council meeting debating a resolution condemning Cuba: "Frankly, this is not cojones. This is cowardice."<ref name="personal odyssey"/> The line endeared her to President Clinton, who said it was "probably the most effective one-liner in the whole administration's foreign policy".<ref name="personal odyssey">{{cite news
|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/admin/stories/albright120696.htm
|title=Albright's Personal Odyssey Shaped Foreign Policy Beliefs
|newspaper=The Washington Post
|date=December 6, 1996
|access-date=October 19, 2022
|archive-date=August 16, 2000
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816071121/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/admin/stories/albright120696.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref> When Albright appeared at a memorial service for the deceased in Miami on March 2, 1996, she was greeted with chants of "libertad".{{sfn|Albright|2003|pp=205-206}}<ref>{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000930191401/http://www.cnn.com/US/9603/cuba_shootdown/02/rally/index.html|archivedate=September 30, 2000|title=Exile pilots brave foul weather, mourn comrades|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9603/cuba_shootdown/02/rally/index.html|date=March 2, 1996|accessdate=October 19, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1996, Albright entered into a secret pact with [[Richard A. Clarke|Richard Clarke]], [[Michael A. Sheehan|Michael Sheehan]], and [[James Rubin]] to overthrow U.N. secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was running unopposed for a second term in the [[1996 United Nations Secretary-General selection|1996 selection]]. After 15 U.S. peacekeepers died in a [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)#Raid|failed raid in Somalia]] in 1993, Boutros-Ghali became a political scapegoat in the United States.<ref name="wapost_obituary">{{cite news|last1=Goshko|first1=John M.|title=Boutros Boutros-Ghali, U.N. secretary general who clashed with U.S., dies|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/boutros-boutros-ghali-un-secretary-general-who-clashed-with-us-dies-at-93/2016/02/16/8b727bb8-d4c1-11e5-be55-2cc3c1e4b76b_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=February 16, 2016|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-date=February 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216174419/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/boutros-boutros-ghali-un-secretary-general-who-clashed-with-us-dies-at-93/2016/02/16/8b727bb8-d4c1-11e5-be55-2cc3c1e4b76b_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> They dubbed the pact "Operation Orient Express" to reflect their hope that other nations would join the United States.<ref name="clarke2004">{{cite book |last=Clarke |first=Richard |title-link=Against All Enemies|title=Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror |page=[https://archive.org/details/againstallenemie00clar/page/201 201] |location=New York |publisher=Free Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-6024-4 }}</ref> Although every other member of the [[United Nations Security Council]] voted for Boutros-Ghali, the United States refused to yield to international pressure to drop its lone veto. After four deadlocked meetings of the Security Council, Boutros-Ghali suspended his candidacy and became the only U.N. secretary-general ever to be denied a second term. The United States then fought a four-round veto duel with France, forcing it to back down and accept [[Kofi Annan]] as the next secretary-general. In his memoirs, Clarke said that "the entire operation had strengthened Albright's hand in the competition to be Secretary of State in the second Clinton administration".<ref name="clarke2004" />