Free Republic

Israel 'will attack Iran' before new US president sworn in, John Bolton predicts John Bolton, the former American ambassador to the United Nations, has predicted that Israel could attack Iran after the November presidential election but before George W Bush's successor is sworn in. [...] Israel, however, still had a determination to prevent a nuclear Iran, he argued. The "optimal window" for strikes would be between the November 4 election and the inauguration on January 20, 2009. [...] William Kristol, a prominent neo-conservative, told Fox News on Sunday that an Obama victory could prompt Mr Bush to launch attacks against...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, just a few hours after President Bush. The contrast was palpable. Ahmadinejad expressed continued defiance of the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, insisting that Iran would continue and even accelerate its nuclear program. Bush, by contrast, has overseen nearly six years of failure trying to stop Iran from doing exactly that. Iran is now closer than ever to achieving its long-held strategic objective of obtaining deliverable nuclear weapons. Why has Iran succeeded and the United States failed in this struggle? What does it...

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Glad to be here. LOWRY: Now, do you think it makes any sense to have dis-invited Sarah Palin to this event? Yes, Hillary Clinton had canceled, but there still would have been other Democrats there. And it's not as though the mere presence of Sarah Palin would have discredited this thing as a partisan event. BOLTON: Well, I think it was a mistake. But I know the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. It's a very important group. They have never done anything, in my view, that was partisan. So they must...

ST. PAUL, Minn.-- Former United Nations ambassador John Bolton came down strongly Wednesday on how the press have treated Sarah Palin since she was announced as John McCain's running mate last Friday:

Bush Owes His Successor A Tough Finish on Foreign Policy By JOHN R. BOLTON September 6, 2008; Page A11 As the Bush administration enters its last months, its pursuit of a "legacy," especially in foreign policy, becomes ever more frenetic. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's travel schedule is packed. State Department "signing ceremonies" are blossoming, even for agreements that would not have attracted high-level attention just last year. Editorial writers are being quietly encouraged to laud administration successes. While neither unique nor unexpected, the legacy frenzy masks what should be our real concern until Jan. 20, 2009: the risk of...

NICE audio interview Lars has posted at his website. Worth the listen. Two quotes: "Alaskans want to see Anwar developed" "What we [Alaska] need if for congress to unlock our lands!"

Confronting the Threat   By Reut R. CohenFrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, August 19, 2008 Ambassador John Bolton made a reputation as a forceful advocate for American interests both during his tenure in the State Department and as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Since partisan leftists deprived the nation of his service, Bolton has acted as an expert spokesman on foreign policy, from North Korea and Iran to Europe and the Middle East. Reut R. Cohen sat down with Bolton to discuss the monumental changes in foreign policy over the last few weeks. -- The Editors.Cohen: Thank you very much...

Lefty moonbat throws everything but the kitchen sink at John Bolton, with Bolton hitting homer after homer in his responses. Moonbat at times is left speechless. I'd love to see a conservative interviewer get away with an interview like this with B. Hussein Obama: Link to video

Did everyone hear Obama state that the conflict called for "Restraint on all sides" and "The matter needs to be brought before the U.N.?" Can you believe this guy??? The last time I checked, any resolutions against Russia would need to be approved by the Security Council. And who sits on that council with veto-wielding power? Russia! Granted the U.N. would be effective if its members conducted policy based on the greater good, rather then individual nations catering strictly to their own self interests. Unfortunately its the latter. Hey Barry - you might want to check with John Bolton. He...

Russia’s invasion across an internationally recognised border, its thrashing of the Georgian military, and its smug satisfaction in humbling one of its former fiefdoms represents only the visible damage. As bad as the bloodying of Georgia is, the broader consequences are worse. The United States fiddled while Georgia burned, not even reaching the right rhetorical level in its public statements until three days after the Russian invasion began, and not, at least to date, matching its rhetoric with anything even approximating decisive action. This pattern is the very definition of a paper tiger. Sending Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice to...

John Bolton yet again, emphatically restates the obvious into what has become a lonely echo chamber. And while history will look kindly upon him, the same will not be said of American leadership. It escapes me how Bolton can be so measured and deliberate in the face of such crushing impotence. The facts point to a frightening and fatal future. Iran pursues its nuclear weapons program with malevolent speed and vigor and as its MO, uses “talks” to stall (and the only ones talking are the perm 5, to themselves). Further, Iran’s announcement of a new marine weapon came on...

While Diplomats Dither, Iran Builds Nukes JOHN R. BOLTON This weekend, yet another "deadline" passed for Iran to indicate it was seriously ready to discuss ending its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Like so many other deadlines during these five years of European-led negotiations, this one died quietly, with Brussels diplomats saying that no one seriously expected any real work on a Saturday. -Excerpt- The rationality of continued Western negotiations with Iran depends critically on two assumptions: that Iran is far enough away from having deliverable nuclear weapons that we don't incur excessive risks by talking; and that by talking we...

Top aides to U.S. President George Bush can be subpoenaed to testify before a congressional committee, a federal court in Washington ruled Thursday. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected White House arguments that former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and current Chief of Staff Josh Bolten have absolute immunity from testifying before Congress. The House Judiciary Committee filed suit after the two, citing executive privilege, refused to testify in the committee's investigation into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006. Regarding Miers's claim of absolute immunity, the court wrote, "The (executive branch's) current claim of absolute...

Sen. Barack Obama said in an interview the day after his Berlin speech that it "allowed me to send a message to the American people that the judgments I have made and the judgments I will make are ones that are going to result in them being safer." If that is what the senator thought he was doing, he still has a lot to learn about both foreign policy and the views of the American people. Although well received in the Tiergarten, the Obama speech actually reveals an even more naive view of the world than we had previously been...

If that is what the senator thought he was doing, he still has a lot to learn about both foreign policy and the views of the American people. Although well received in the Tiergarten, the Obama speech actually reveals an even more naive view of the world than we had previously been treated to in the United States. In addition, although most of the speech was substantively as content-free as his other campaign pronouncements, when substance did slip in, it was truly radical, from an American perspective.

Iran's test salvo of ballistic missiles last week together with recent threatening rhetoric by commanders of the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards emphasizes how close the Middle East is to a fundamental, in fact an irreversible, turning point. Tehran's efforts to intimidate the United States and Israel from using military force against its nuclear program, combined with yet another diplomatic charm offensive with the Europeans, are two sides of the same policy coin. The regime is buying the short additional period of time it needs to produce deliverable nuclear weapons, the strategic objective it has been pursuing clandestinely for 20 years...

LONDON - The Former US ambassador to the UN says a military action against Iran is dangerous and risky yet it has to be on the table as a last resort, PressTV reported. "I don't think anybody views the use of military force against Iran's nuclear program as an attractive option. I think it's dangerous, risky, and not something that you would look at except as a last resort," John Bolton said in an exclusive talk with al-Jazeera on Thursday. "Five years of European diplomatic efforts have failed and left us with very few alternatives. That's why I think the...

American Deputy Secretary of State John Bolton believes the United States committed a serious mistake when it recognized the independence of Kosovo. He fears such policy may escalate tensions in the Balkans. In an interview for the Russian news agency Interfax, Mr. Bolton remarked that Washington’s policy was on autopilot since the regime of the late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. But the situation has changed considerably after the democratic government took over, which, in Mr. Bolton’s opinion, makes support for Kosovo’s independence a pointless atavism.

So is the case closed? Last February, leaked documents revealed that in 2005 a general from Israel had escaped arrest at London's Heathrow airport only because the police feared a gunfight with El Al security guards. A warrant had been issued for the arrest of Major-General Doron Almog on charges of war crimes, not dissimilar to those alleged against Mr. Bolton, who was accused of ordering the demolition of houses in Gaza. The police plan, which was to detain Mr. Almog during a routine visit at the invitation of the Anglo-Jewish community, was thwarted only because the military attaché at...

I realise now that I didn't have a hope. I had almost reached the stage when two of the biggest gorillas I have ever seen swept me up and carried me out of the tent. It was humiliating, but it could have been worse. The guard on the other side of the stage, half hidden in the curtains, had spent the lecture touching something under his left armpit. Perhaps he had bubos. I had no intention of arresting John Bolton, the former under-secretary of state at the US state department, when I arrived at the Hay festival. But during a...

Brushing aside Mr Monbiot’s attempted citizen’s arrest, he said: “I think in my own individual case it’s kind of comic.” But he added: “I think there’s a larger issue here. You have a democratically elected parliament and its government assessed the war as legal and proper.” When individuals took actions outside the law, in their eyes to bring those responsible for the war to justice, “that is the point you move towards lawlessness and fascism,” he said. And when one’s views do match those of the democratically elected government, “you have to accept that”, he added. Dismissing Mr Monbiot’s attempted...

John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, has escaped an attempted citizen's arrest as he appeared at the Hay Festival. The former ambassador - a key advisor to President George W Bush who argued strongly in favour of invading Iraq - had been giving a talk on international relations to more than 600 people at the literary festival. Mr Monbiot was blocked by two heavily-built security guards at the end of the one-and-a-half hour appearance, before he could serve a "charge sheet" on him. After being released by the guards the columnist - a fierce critic of...

British Journalist to Try to Make Citizen's Arrest of John Bolton During U.K. Trip Wednesday, May 28, 2008 John Bolton may need some additional protection at his speech Wednesday evening in Wales, United Kingdom, as a journalist from the Guardian newspaper plans on making a citizen's arrest of the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton is appearing at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales to promote his new book, "Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations." The Telegraph newspaper reports that George Monbiot wants to arrest Bolton for war crimes as the ambassador prepares...

The author, George Monbiot(as in moonbat) said he plans to do this Wednesday after Bolton speaks at the Hay Festival. He will ultimately be unsuccessful as John Bolton's aura of complete and utter awesomeness acts as a force field of which he can't penetrate..... We have all but forgotten the war with Iraq. We tend to see it now as little more than a “political mistake”, like the 10p tax fiasco or Labour’s mishandling of the byelection campaign in Crewe. The press and public attention have moved on and focused on more pressing matters, like the price of property. ......John...

National Journal's Ronald Brownstein spoke with John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, for the May 23 edition of "National Journal On Air." This is a transcript of their conversation. Q: John Bolton -- former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, former undersecretary of State, now a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a supporter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Mr. Bolton, welcome to "National Journal On Air." Bolton: Glad to be here. Q: Mr. Bolton, Senator McCain has been extremely critical of Barack Obama over the past week for saying that he would meet...

John Bolton was on Fox News' Hannity and Colmes a couple of days ago to discuss the left's reaction to Bush's appeasement comments...

Silvio Berlusconi's re-election as Italy's Prime Minister is more promising and more important for Italy and the United States, and for trans-Atlantic relations generally, than most commentators have admitted. Although the Bush Administration has just nine months left in office, significant progress is both possible and desirable in enhancing ties between America and Europe. President Bush's critics have been quick to assign him blame for weakened trans-Atlantic relations, particularly because of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. They argue that public opinion polls show European popular sentiments turning against the United States. They gloat that two of Bush's staunchest personal and...

John Bolton makes the case for bombing insurgent camps in Iran. This guy needs to be in the next administration in a position of power.

John Bolton: US should bomb Iranian camps By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 3:35PM BST 06/05/2008 John Bolton, America’s ex-ambassador to the United Nations, has called for US air strikes on Iranian camps where insurgents are trained for war in Iraq. John Bolton was an influential member of President Bush's inner circle Mr Bolton said that striking Iran would represent a major step towards victory in Iraq. While he acknowledged that the risk of a hostile Iranian response harming American’s overseas interests existed, he said the damage inflicted by Tehran would be “far higher” if Washington took no...

Mr Bolton said that striking Iran would represent a major step towards victory in Iraq. While he acknowledged that the risk of a hostile Iranian response harming American’s overseas interests existed, he said the damage inflicted by Tehran would be “far higher” if Washington took no action. “This is a case where the use of military force against a training camp to show the Iranians we’re not going to tolerate this is really the most prudent thing to do,” he said. “Then the ball would be in Iran’s court to draw the appropriate lesson to stop harming our troops.” Mr...

President George W. Bush is fond of comparing himself to Ronald Reagan. But as he meets with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Washington this week, his policy regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons program looks more like something out of Bill Clinton's or Jimmy Carter's playbook. In dealing with the Soviet Union on arms control, Reagan was famous for repeating the Russian phrase, "Doveryai, no proveryai" (trust, but verify). Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev reportedly once complained to Reagan, "You use that phrase every time we meet." To which Reagan smilingly replied, "That's because I like it so much." This administration...

I know there are a few competing priorities, but at this moment in our long life as a nation I can think of no more urgent task for Congress than to pass emergency legislation banning the further use of the word “neocon.” At least until a committee of deep thinkers can get together to agree on a commonly accepted definition. (A starting point may be the Robert Kagan essay I referred to in an earlier posting.) Until that happens, its use will only continue to muddy and obfuscate the debate over otherwise important issues. Exhibit 2,348,485 of this terminological confusion...

Video clip of John Bolton on Fox News discussing Iran's nuclear activities and Barack Obama's naivete to think he can "talk" them out of it.

Video of John Bolton on Fox News

Salvaging Our North Korea Policy.... By JOHN R. BOLTON There are signs, albeit small ones, that the Bush administration may be reaching the end of its patience with the Six-Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. These signs could prove illusory. But as it nears its end, the administration has a serious responsibility: It must not leave its successor with an ongoing, failed policy. At a minimum, President Bush should not bequeath to the next president only the burned-out hulk of the Six-Party Talks, and countless failed and violated North Korean commitments. Since they were conceived in spring 2003,...

Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence creates an extraordinary risk of instability in the Balkans. It has immediately exacerbated ethnic tensions, invited further border alterations along ethnic or religious lines, provided a potentially inviting base of operations for radical Islamists from outside Europe and has expanded the growing range of issues once again threatening to divide Russia from the West. However, one issue that has received only peripheral attention is the hypocrisy of those European Union members that have recognized Kosovo's declaration despite the lack of authorization by the United Nations Security Council. Indeed, the declaration is not only unauthorized, but...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked for a grand jury investigation into whether White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. Pelosi is demanding that misdemeanor charges be pursued against Miers for refusing to testify to Congress about the 2006 firings of federal prosecutors, and against Bolten for failing to turn over White House documents related to the purge.

"John McCain was very active and supportive during my confirmation hearings to be the U.S. Ambassador to the UN. His belief in me at that time was a testament to his courage to fight the liberals in the Senate and vigorously advance American interests at the UN. "I whole-heartedly endorse John McCain for President because when he takes office in January 2009 he will be prepared immediately to lead us. John will not need on the job training. "American conservatives will have a President they can be proud of in John McCain."

Bolton speech at CPAC (click on source link above)

Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton made news today at the Conservative Political Action Conference by announcing his support for the likely Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain. Bolton is very highly regarded by conservatives for his tenure at the U.N. and for his willingness to combat the policies of the State Department, where Bolton was once an assistant Secretary of State for arms proliferation. His assessment of Sen. McCain could carry great weight among conservatives who believe that national security and the war on terror are the most important issues in the upcoming presidential election campaign....

WASHINGTON -- The Kosovo debate has been resurrected within the White House, says a former U.S. ambassador to the UN. “You still have a number of people in the administration that do not support the policy of automatic recognition of Kosovo independence. I think that that debate has now resurfaced within the administration itself, and, I hope, in the Foreign Ministries of European countries,” John Bolton told Voice of America. Bolton said that it was to difficult to predict the outcome of that debate, as conflicting views were being expressed, but it was no longer just the domain of the...

The Bush administration has indicated its readiness to recognize a unilateral declaration of independence by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, a province of the Republic of Serbia that since 1999 has been under United Nations administration and NATO military control. ... Attempting to impose a settlement on Serbia would be a direct challenge to the Russian Federation, which opposes any Kosovo settlement not accepted by Belgrade. We believe an imposed settlement of the Kosovo question and seeking to partition Serbia's sovereign territory without its consent is not in the interest of the United States. The blithe assumption of American policy —...

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of giving in to French and Lebanese demands over the terms of the cease-fire that halted the 2006 Second Lebanon War, according to a document recently obtained by Haaretz. The claims were made in a letter sent by Israel's deputy ambassador to the UN, Daniel Carmon, to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on Friday, August 11, 2006. The content of the letter strengthens Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's claims justifying the last major ground operation of the war, which began that day and claimed the...

SURRENDER IS NOT AN OPTION, Defending America at the United Nations And Abroad, By John Bolton; THE GREAT EXPERIMENT, The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, And the Quest for a Global Nation, By Strobe Talbott ...John Bolton, most recently President Bush's ambassador to the United Nations, and Strobe Talbott, President Clinton's deputy secretary of state and now president of the Brookings Institution, have some things in common...Their differences, however, far outweigh their similarities...Talbott believes that global governance is coming -- that "individual states will increasingly see it in their interest to form an international system that is far more...

Former American Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton hinted broadly Tuesday that Israel will have to strike Iran's nuclear program on its own, and soon. Speaking at the Eighth Herzliya Conference, Bolton said an Israeli strike could be the last resort against Iran. Former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who also spoke at the conference, hinted that the military option is growing more likely with time. Ambassador Bolton devoted the first part of his speech to an attempt to push the Israeli press into revealing details of the strike against the suspected Syrian nuclear facility four months ago. "There is...

John Bolton, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Second Lebanon War, rejects Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's version of he launched a failed ground offensive during the war's final days. "The Israeli military operation did not play a role in the talks on drafting UN Security Council Resolution 1701," which ended the war, Bolton told Haaretz Sunday. He was in Israel to attend the Herzliya Conference. Bolton, who has warned in the past about the possibility of nuclear cooperation between North Korea and Syria, also said that both the United States and Israel owe their citizens a...

There's more positive news from the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea: Its leaders have refused to make any further disclosure concerning its nuclear programs. How is this umpteenth violation of the Feb. 13, 2006, agreement in the Six-Party Talks positive? Because at a critical moment on a gravely important issue, North Korea has again shown its true colors, thus providing the United States an opportunity to extricate itself from this unwise and dangerous deal. Troubles in the six-party talks on Korea emerged long before this most recent public manifestation of Pyongyang's unwillingness to give up anything of consequence concerning its...

In recent days, Mike Huckabee has tried to answer long-standing questions about who is on his foreign policy team. On Friday morning, he listed former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as someone with whom he either has “spoken or will continue to speak.” At a Thursday evening press conference, Huckabee said, "I've corresponded with John Bolton, who's agreed to work with us on developing foreign policy.” Bolton, however, has a different view. “I’d be happy to speak with Huckabee, but I haven’t spoken with him yet,” said Bolton, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank...

What would you like to tell President Bush? I ask this riddle of a woman. She would tell him, she replies, that propping up Musharraf’s government, which is infested with radical Islamists, is only hastening disaster. “I would say, ‘Your policy of supporting dictatorship is breaking up my country.’ I now think al-Qaeda can be marching on Islamabad in two to four years.”

He has fought against foes ranging from the Green Goblin to Doctor Octopus, but Spider-Man now faces an even more formidable challenge: improving the battered image of the United Nations. In a move reminiscent of storylines developed during the second world war, the UN is joining forces with Marvel Comics, creators of Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, to create a comic book showing the international body working with superheroes to solve bloody conflicts and rid the world of disease. The comic, initially to be distributed free to 1m US schoolchildren, will be set in a war-torn fictional country and feature...