BOLTON '08! J nuts and bolts. The voice of reason in an age of irrational thinking. If Bush had any gray matter left, Bolton would be Secretary of Stat and the axis of evil would think twice about jerking us around. The man has balls of steel. We love that. Bolton is a national treasure.
Bolton calls for strike on Iran and 'removal' of Ahmadinejad J Post
Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told Tory delegates in Britain Sunday that efforts by the UK and the EU to negotiate with Iran had failed and that he saw no alternative to a pre-emptive strike on suspected nuclear facilities in the country.
Bolton said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was "pushing out" and "is not receiving adequate push-back" from the West.
"I don't think the use of military force is an attractive option, but I would tell you I don't know what the alternative is."Because life is about choices, I think we have to consider the use of military force. I think we have to look at a limited strike against their nuclear facilities."
He added that any strike should be followed by an attempt to remove the "source of the problem", Ahmadinejad.
The money quote?
"Intelligence can be wrong in more than one direction... Responding after they (nuclear devices) are used is unacceptable."
Bolton also said the UN was "fundamentally irrelevant".
[...]
The former envoy criticized Britain's "softly softly" approach to Iran's imprisonment of 15 British sailors in April.
They were released after Ahmadinejad announced he was making a "gift" to the British people. "They [Iran] got no response from the UK or the US. If you were the Iranian leader, what conclusion do you draw?"
There's more. Don't miss it. Little that I cover is as satisfying. And while you're at it, check out;
In a TV interview, the former US ambassador to the United Nations said he is sorry for Middle East envoy Tony Blair because the Quartet’s policy is wrong. Gaza is ruled by terrorists and the Palestinian Authority is an authority in name alone, Bolton argued: “We have a weak Israeli government which is afraid to go to the polls and a fragmented Palestinian party."
The prospect of Palestinian statehood is therefore remote. Anyway it is only advocated by Palestinian leaders. The average Palestinian wants to be safe and have a better life. Therefore it would better to think in terms of Jordan and Egypt re-assuming responsibility for the West Bank and Gaza.
Judea and Samaria belong to Israel.
The outspoken US diplomat said “The administration should spend more time on Lebanon where democracy has a possibility but is very threatened, rather than pursuing the will-o’-the-wisp of an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.”
On Iran, his view was that the use of the military option against nuclear sites is not attractive: “We might bomb some facilities and others we do not know about would remain. We would incur all the downside without the upside. But a possibility for regime change does exist in Tehran.”
