John Bolton, the man with one of the most famous mustaches in modern American politics, is perched to become President Trump\u2019s 3rd National Security Advisor in 14 months.\u00a0 This extremely powerful role is critical in terms of our national security and foreign policy.\u00a0 This individual is often the first, last, and most influential voice to the President.\u00a0 However, it is not a position requiring Senate confirmation.\u00a0 John Bolton is fairly described as intelligent and well spoken.\u00a0 However, over the years, as a U.S. representative to the United Nations, commentator on Fox News, etc., Bolton has shown himself to hold some extreme views.\u00a0 Thus, Bolton\u2019s appointment is a shocking and precarious development in the Trump revolving door administration, ill-defined foreign policy, and strained relations with our friends and allies.<\/p>\n
John Bolton\u2019s aggressive and hawkish foreign and national security policies are alarming.\u00a0 When President Bush 43 determined to invade Iraq, Bolton was among the key architects of that strategy.\u00a0 As an Iraq War veteran, I remain proud of all U.S. forces achieved on the ground.\u00a0 However, while tactically sound, it is widely believed that the strategic policy was flawed.\u00a0 John Bolton is among very few strategy \u201cexperts\u201d who cling to the fallacious notion that the policy was sound, correct, and effective.\u00a0 President Trump campaigned heavily against U.S. Iraq policy, repeatedly and forcibly claiming the war was among the biggest mistakes in history and the continued policy was wrong.\u00a0 Why would he appoint Bolton to such a critical position when he holds a diametrically opposing view?\u00a0 President Trump is replacing anyone on his team that dares to offer the slightest disagreement in favor of even more sycophants who support his need for aggrandizement and dare not speak truth to power no matter how important.\u00a0 Bolton may be the exception, as he is not a shrinking violet, and because President Trump has largely focused on other issues, mostly ignoring Iraq policy.<\/p>\n
The President likely wants John Bolton on his team because he needs someone knowledgeable moving forward on priorities including North Korea, Iran, et al.\u00a0 Questions loom about what John Bolton will advise and advocate to the President on these issues and the Senate has no opportunity to inquire prior to Bolton assuming this critical role.\u00a0 Bolton\u2019s writings include a piece laying out the legal justification for a preemptive attack on North Korea to prevent their nuclear capabilities.\u00a0 Critics argue this was evidence of an extremely aggressive policy that likely leads to war on the Korean peninsula.\u00a0 Supporters assert this was an intellectual piece demonstrating strong knowledge and grasp of complex issues, not a statement of support for war.\u00a0 Bolton produced similar writings concerning Iran and likely conflict with that regime.\u00a0 While very few here hold any support for the reign of the ayatollahs, most options come with incredible cost.\u00a0 Bolton clearly opposes the deal signed between Iran and a coalition of nations including the U.S.\u00a0 While controversial and incomplete, there is evidence suggesting the approach was working.\u00a0 However, President Trump has been itching to withdraw from the agreement and Bolton will likely deliver him that option.\u00a0 Generally speaking, Bolton disfavors international, multilateral agreements (e.g., Paris Accord, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Iran).\u00a0 He will quickly endear himself to President Trump while steering U.S. policy in a significantly different direction.<\/p>\n
In addition to policy concerns, Bolton\u2019s detractors raise issues about temperament, judgment, personality, advocacy style.\u00a0 He has not always played nicely with others or been willing to engage in genuine debate over policy differences.\u00a0 This is important because as National Security Advisor, he would traditionally coordinate with multiple sources and synthesize multiple approaches to present to the President.\u00a0 While advocating his own preferred course of action, he is responsible for serving as honest broker for the intelligence community that may hold different views.\u00a0 It is not clear whether Bolton has the ability or willingness to present any ideas or recommendations that he does not himself espouse.\u00a0 If accurate, the consequences are serious \u2013 the President will make crucial decisions without all of the facts or analysis necessary to ensure he makes knowing, informed decisions.\u00a0 President Trump has already created enough concern about whether he can understand these complex issues or review materials provided for his study.\u00a0 This would exacerbate the problem.<\/p>\n
There is too much at stake to our national security.\u00a0 Republicans in Congress should use this opportunity and put the administration on notice.\u00a0 They may not be able to block John Bolton from serving as National Security Advisor, and perhaps that is not the right goal.\u00a0 However, Congress has oversight, budgetary, and other responsibilities that it may use to hold the administration in check and ensure proper deliberative processes and avoid a reckless degradation of U.S. policy.\u00a0 The country simple cannot afford further reckless, unnecessary engagements or further abandonment of our friends and allies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John Bolton, the man with one of the most famous mustaches in modern American politics, is perched to become President Trump\u2019s 3rd National Security Advisor in 14 months.\u00a0 This extremely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[64,141,142,152,199,208,225],"class_list":["post-265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-congress","tag-iran","tag-iraq","tag-john-bolton","tag-national-security-advisor","tag-north-korea","tag-president-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whoobazoo.com\/thebooth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}