The Washington Times has picked up on some gossip on what a Romney presidential cabinet would look like. Guess who for secretary of state?
John R. Bolton, the U.N. ambassador during the George W. Bush administration and specialist on arms control and security issues, is said to be a leading candidate for secretary of state.
As if Mitt’s own musings about not needing the consent of Congress to go to war weren’t enough of a hint that a Romney presidency would mean bombing Iran, he floats John Bolton as secretary of state. This is the UN Ambassador under George W. Bush, noted for his bad temper and aggressively hawkish foreign policy views. Earlier this year, he said in an interview on Fox News that economic sanctions on Iran and assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists are “half-measures” and that bombing Iran is a better option.
“Half-measures like assassinations or sanctions are only going to produce the crisis more quickly,” Bolton said. “The better way to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons is to attack its nuclear weapons program directly.” Of course, extrajudicial killings of civilian scientists, harsh economic warfare, threats to bomb, and actual bombing are all things that will encourage Iran to develop weapons (which, Bolton always forgets to mention, Iran is not currently doing). An aggressive war on Iran would be an order of magnitude worse than an Iranian nuclear weapon.
A few months ago, an article in Foreign Policy revealed that Israel had recently supplied Azerbaijan with a $1.6 billion arms deal including “sophisticated drones and missile defense systems” and has also, US officials suspected, secured access to airfields which could be essential to Israeli fighter jets flying bombing missions over Iran. At the time, Bolton alleged that the Obama administration leaked that information to sabotage Israel’s plans to attack Iran, which signals how enthusiastic the green light for a preventive (i.e. unprovoked, discretionary) Israeli attack on Iran would be.
“I think this leak today is part of the administration’s campaign against an Israeli attack,” Bolton claimed on Fox News. Astoundingly, he added, “I think the pressure that the administration has put on Israel has been just merciless, behind the scenes.”
In reality, the charge is absurd. As Jacob Heilbrunn at the National Interest wrote, Obama’s staunch support of Israel is never enough for his ideological neoconservative detractors. Heilbrunn: ”He condemned the Palestinian drive for statehood at the United Nations. Not enough. He awarded Israel $3 billion in military assistance, an all-time high. Not enough. He repeatedly avowed his commitment to Israel’s security and well-being. Still not enough.”
Romney, for his part, can at least be said to be playing politics and trying to sound tougher on foreign policy in order to attract Republican votes. But surrounding himself with people like Bolton, who sincerely harbor such dangerous and irrational foreign policy views without a political script, indicates a Romney presidency would be considerably more reckless and pro-war.
John 'killer' Bolton? Romney should just knock off the pretense and abdicate to Darth Cheney. Cheney did get a new ticker and all. Heck, Cheney is probably good for at least one more war. Lord knows that Bolton sure as hell is.
You people simply do not understand what Iran, Russia, and China are about to do. The nuclear issue is simply an excuse that is most likely to be bought by the American people. The truth is that these countries are engaged in an economic assassination attempt on the Petro Dollar. If they were to succeed, life as you know it in America, and several other countries would end. No president can avoid attacking Iran without placing America into depression that would most likely be permanent. The other option is to break up this party or head into World War 3…Nothing is as it appears
> The truth is that these countries are engaged in an economic assassination attempt on the Petro Dollar
Where can I find this M. Petro? I heard he's currently depressive as his house has been transformed into an enormous crater field by repeated Central Bank bomb drops and a few Quantitative Easing daisy cutters, with more promised.
That´s right, ShadowWind, nothing is as it appears. The most insane people in the World are in the Pentagon Office For First Strike Plans. You can´t get crazier than that. That´s impossible. The great missile engineer Bob Aldridge -www.plrc.org-realized the suecidal madness in Disarming First-Strike Capability and resigned. 5 years to Launch On Warning and MIDNIGHT.
Bonkers Bolton…hmmm…wonder how Rand or the Southern Malvenger will spin that…
A nuclear Iran? No big deal, right? The more the merrier I say. Even better, once they evaporate Israel and float a bomb into NYC harbor, that will give you people even more reason to hate America. If fact (those of you not in NYC) can sit in your coffee shops and whine that America didn't do enough to protect the nation that you people all despise. Sheesh!
This is about as thoughtless a comment anyone can make. Modestly economically & militarily developed Iran, a country of only 78 million or so, many thousands of miles away, has never shown any aggressive intent towards the United States whatsover. We are the ones who sided with Iraq in its illegal and immoral war against this Persian country. We are the ones who helped bring the dicatorial Shah into power until he was overthrown in a popular revolution, and we are ones engaged in a war of unilateral assassination and cyber destruction against this historic country, which our own intelligence community has determined is not enganged in developing nuclear weapons.
Reply to “Nebguy”. …”once they evaporate Israel and float a bomb into NYC harbor…” Tell me something dumbbell, Israel with her 200 nuclear bombs, and America w/ the greatest defense system on the planet; what do you expect they will be doing while Iran, with NO nuclear weapons or delivery system is trying to pull off such stunt? Get real!
Absul