Free Republic

John Bolton, the State Department's top international security official, will leave the post in the second Bush administration and be replaced by an arms control specialist at the National Security Council, a senior U.S. official said Friday. Bolton, who promoted programs to slow the spread of sophisticated weapons technology around the world, has served as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security in the four years of the first Bush administration. Meanwhile, an administration official said that Nicholas Burns, U.S. ambassador to NATO, is slated for the State Department's third-ranking position, under secretary for political affairs. Burns, a...

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari appealed Tuesday for NATO to quickly begin its promised mission to train his country's armed forces and provide assistance including military hardware. "We need this training ... to be carried out as soon as possible," Zebari told reporters at NATO headquarters. "We are in a race against time — it's a matter of urgency." NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the 26 allies would decide this month on launching the training mission. He said the alliance would also consider Zebari's requests for military equipment, help guarding Iraq's borders and protection...