"In a March 2015 op-ed for The New York Times, published just before Iran and the P5+1 reached a political framework agreement over Iran's nuclear program, Bolton explicitly called for military strikes against Iran. Titled, 'To Stop Iran's Bomb, Bomb Iran,' Bolton's op-ed claimed that, 'President Obama's approach on Iran has brought a bad situation to the brink of catastrophe.'
"Bolton has fervently criticized the Obama administration for seeking a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, Bolton has echoed the arguments of some Israeli nationalists that the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza -- which he called 'bits and pieces of the collapsed Ottoman Empire' with 'no particular history either of national identity or of economic interdependence' -- should be ceded respectively to Jordan and Egypt rather than incorporated into an independent Palestinian territory."
Bolton met with an Israeli prime minister before the Iraq invasion in 2003, when he was as an under secretary of state in the Bush administration, Rightweb reports.
"Two months before the Iraq invasion, Bolton met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss strategies for 'preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction,' focusing on the Bush administration's disarmament targets following the planned invasion of Iraq. Shortly after the visit, Bolton said once regime change in Iraq is complete, 'It will be necessary to deal with threats from Syria, Iran, and North Korea.'"
He later became one of the most divisive UN ambassadors ever. Though Nikki Haley has given him a run for the money. Again, note the contacts with Israel:
"During his first confirmation hearings, Bolton's record as undersecretary of state came under intense criticism, particularly regarding his contacts with Israel. According to The Forward and other news sources, Bolton had met with officials of Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, without first seeking 'country clearance' from the State Department."
Donald Johnson writes that the Bolton elevation should end the illusion that Trump is Vladimir Putin's puppet, though he points out that neocons despair over Trump's ability to sell war with such an extremist team.
"The liberal claim that Trump is Putin's puppet always seemed a bit unbalanced to me when you look at who has influence over him and how it affects what one might loosely call his policies. He is obviously in cahoots with the Saudis and the racist Israeli far right, but DC types don't want to say that because you could say the same about a lot of them. Trump's idiotic Jerusalem decision, for instance, got some applause from some Democrats. Putin didn't force most Republicans and some Democrats to continue our support for Saudi crimes against humanity and he wasn't twisting Obama's arm back in 2015-2016. Trump's unhinged fixation about Iran fits in perfectly with the warmongering crowd that dominates most of the Republican Party and some of the Democrats.
"As for Bolton, TPM's claim casting doubt on his Russia hostility is unconvincing. Here is Bolton the Russia hawk, by the Weekly Standard. Bolton might tone down his belligerence in the case of Russia if he thinks it will make his boss happy. Or maybe the liberals who want Trump to get tougher will get their wish.
"This is the second coming of the first Dubya term. I think the reason Trump is hated by people who should like his warmongering is simply that they don't trust him to be able to reach even Bush levels of competence. They want Caesar and they have Caligula or maybe Caligula's horse. If you want endless intervention to go over well with most Americans it used to be you needed to play the role of the modest hero reluctantly forced to resort to violence even if it was all horse manure. The pretense of virtue was necessary. But with Trump bellowing his approval of torture and appointing a torturer and saying something racist or bigoted or unbelievably childish almost every time he tweets, it really makes our good intentions a tough sell except for the people who still like Trump."
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
