Secretary Powell discussed the conference with Mr. Sharon, telling the prime minister that the administration was sending only a very low-level delegation.
Some United Nations officials fear that the United States may not attend at all or may send a low-level delegation.
Though Powell is taking some flak these days from media unhappy with his loyalty to President Bush's policies, he did precisely the right thing in yanking State's low-level delegation.
Mr. Bloomberg said, "I supported the secretary of state's decision not to go but to send a low-level delegation, but when the language started to equate Zionism with racism, I thought it was time to pull out totally".
State Department officials said today that there had been a vigorous debate about whether the United States should send a low-level delegation to Durban or simply shun the conference.
It failed, but 14 unarmed protesters were shot and crushed by tanks, with hundreds maimed or injured.Twenty years on, at ceremonies to commemorate these events, Poland was represented by only a low-level delegation, announced at insultingly short notice.
This was before Russia invaded Ukraine, before sanctions, before Russian election meddling, before Obama snubbed Putin by sending a pointedly low-level delegation to the Sochi Olympics, and long before Russia was stripped of the medals that it won in those Games.
American authority is already in some danger as a result of the Bush administration's decision to send a low-level delegation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg -- low-level, that is, relative to America's share of both the world economy and global pollution.
The talks with Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, to which Britain sent only a low-level delegation, dragged on over several months and eventually foundered on 14 August when Poland and Romania refused to allow Soviet troops to be stationed on their territories.
Although Saudi Arabia and Qatar — which sent only low-level delegations to the summit meeting — have called for more aggressive action against Mr. Assad, the leaders gathered in Baghdad refused to consider any more muscular options.
The paper discusses the low level security: users authentication, non-repudiation control and trust delegation.
