Posted on 12/26/2007 11:41:33 AM PST by seanmerc
Resistance by partisan ”shadow warriors” at the Department of State has limited the president’s options and is bringing us dangerously close to a military showdown with Iran, former Bush administration official John Bolton told Newsmax in an exclusive interview.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice initially had planned to provide significant aid to the pro-democracy movement in Iran, as a means of giving the president more policy options, Bolton said. But resistance by the State Department bureaucracy crippled the programs and rendered them ineffective.
“[T]he outcome has been no overt program of support for democracy and no clandestine program to overthrow the regime,” Bolton said.
“This is a classic case study why diplomacy is not cost-free. If we had been working on regime change effectively over the last four or more years, we would be in a lot different position today,” he added.
The State Department emphasis on European-led negotiations has allowed Iran to buy time and to perfect the technology it needs to make nuclear weapons, Bolton argued.
Even if President Bush decided to reinvigorate the pro-democracy programs tomorrow, Bolton believes we probably don’t have enough time for them to be effective before the Iranians get the bomb.
“I think we are very close to a decision point,” Bolton told Newsmax. “And if the choice is between nuclear Iran and use of force, I think we have to look at the use of force.”
Bolton said that the CIA shared the State Department’s opposition to doing anything overtly or covertly to undermine the Iranian regime, and faulted Secretary of State Rice for getting “co-opted” by the bureaucracy.
“Secretary Rice has adopted the prevailing view within the bureaucracy, which have been reflected in our deference to the Europeans and the exclusively diplomatic approach for four years,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
It would be wonderful for the Nation if, when he gets back from the Ranch, if W would FIRE all of the entrenched State Department Treasonists and rid Washington of the scourge. He isn’t running again, and then we would have ONE YEAR of sound policy, that is, if the right people are hired. (I know this is a pipe dream, but one can dream...)
Who has that “Captain Obvious” graphic?
We ought to engrave “oderint duum Metuant” over the State Department entrance - on both sides of the door.
Doesn't he realize that the Katie Cupcake Media has "proof" that Puke-me-din-ajad is our newest bestest buddy and that Bush is the real threat to world peace?
/s
Clinton...the gift that keeps on giving.
We need a modern day Joe McCarthy to wage war against the striped pants crowd at State that do not have the best interest of the U.S. at heart.
If this person is actually ranting this way he has indeed lost it.
IMHO, the biggest failing of the Bush administration was to thoroughly house clean every agency seven years ago; and that includes State Dept., Justice Dept., and every other department, administration, office or agency. For example, if he’d fired ALL of the U.S. Attorneys, as Clinton did, think of how much simpler life would have been for him and R. Gonzales.
Bolton for president!
How is this a bad thing?....
>>“Secretary Rice has adopted the prevailing view within the bureaucracy, which have been reflected in our deference to the Europeans and the exclusively diplomatic approach for four years,” he said.<<
So what Bolton is really doing is blaming Rice if we go to war with Iran. The headline makes it sound like this is about the staff but I think its really about Rice.
State today is no different from the State of the 1930's and 1940's. Back then, while the policy from above was anti-communist, the moles at State made sure money and weapons were diverted or delayed to Chang Kai Shek, while on the other hand helping in any way they could Mao communists.
Classic. The Islamophiles in the St. Dept. have unintentionally brought us ever closer to what they most dread -- the military option.
... and back then it made no difference whether the admin was ‘Rat (Truman) or ‘Pub (Ike). Might be best to just close shop at State and start completely over with a new set of employees from the janitor to the top.
And at both points in our history...State is working against the best interests of the country and the people they are suppsoed to be serving.
Which helped lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the advent of WWII. We are in trouble, deep.
The United States Department of State has been filled with communists and fellow travlers - just as Joe McCarthy suggested - for a LONG time and anyone who cannot see that is BLIND!
This sort of thing should come as no surprise to anyone.
The State Department routinely screens out candidates who might represent America's interests except for an occasional token American to "prove" they aren't discriminating of those with military backgrounds or outside their normal network.
John Bolton ping
I hear ya. It seems that no staff at all would be better than a “stab you in the back” staff...
I like your dream.
This is a rehash of a magazine interview from about ten days ago.
Bolton is correct but I am disappointed in Newsmax for running this as a current story.
Thanks.
Makes sense. BMFLR.
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According to Intrade, the winner of the December 12th GOP debate was... Duncan Hunter.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1938773/posts
Why the smart money is on Duncan Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926032/posts
In this poll Hunter is up 3% and even with Paul and Thompson.
http://www.wxyz.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3481ef60-8195-46a9-af04-b87b907bcfdd
Yes, and enough backbone and support from others to prevent his/her being denigrated and marginalized.
I understand their like teachers...you can’t fire them! thats the problem.
There has to be some State Dept. Siberia you can reassign the troublemakers to and fill their slots with solid people.
And fiercely opposed to the new, "realist" foreign policy of Condi Rice and George W. Bush, which is going to bring us a hell of a price to pay, all for the sake of "Legacy".
Let us deal in realities here, OK?
Got it. Thanks!
Bump. DUNCAN HUNTER PING for sure!
From Ken Timmerman’s recent book “Shadow Warriors” and interview :
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.aspx?GUID=0ADC3041-E624-45A4-B608-E5C9DEB99079
Timmerman: Let me answer with an anecdote I describe in the book. After President Bush was elected to a second term in November 2004, Secretary of State Colin Powell called a town meeting at the State Department in Washington . Faced with a sea of Kerry-Edwards stickers in the parking lot, Powell decided to confront the problem head on. “We live in a democracy,” he said. “As Americans, we have to respect the results of elections.” He went on to tell his employees that President Bush had received the most votes of any president in U.S. history, and that they were constitutionally obligated to serve him.
One of Powell’s subordinates, an assistant secretary of state, became increasingly agitated. Once Powell had dismissed everyone, she returned to her office suite, shut the door, and held a mini town meeting of her own. After indignantly recounting Powell’s remarks, she commented: “Well, Senator Kerry receive the second highest number of votes of any presidential candidate in history. If just one state had gone differently, Sen. Kerry would be President Kerry today.” Her staff owed no allegiance to the president of the United States , especially not to policies they knew were wrong, she said. If it was legal, and it would slow down the Bush juggernaut, they should do it, she told them.
Here was an open call to insubordination, and, I might add, it was not an isolated incident. We have heard recently from John Bolton confirmation of another story I tell in the book about Vann Van Diepen, one of the authors of the recent Iran NIE. Van Diepen systematically refused to carry out direct orders from Bolton to enforce non-proliferation sanctions against Iran and North Korea , because he disagreed with the policy.
Scott Carpenter, who had been in charge of the Iran pro-democracy programs at State, recently told the New York Sun that those programs were “dead” because they had been sabotaged by career State Department officials and Democrat political appointees, such as Suzanne Maloney, who now works at Brookings.
Every one of those “shadow warriors” should be fired and blacklisted forever from government service for their outright treason.
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