John Bolton is a hawk. Pure and simple, the man is a lover of all things that go boom. He talks about war, he dreams about war —it seems he may need war to survive. His name is on everyone’s lips in D.C., as his ascension to national security adviser has the rest of the world on edge. Bolton still supports the Iraq War, wants to start a war with nuclear-power North Korea, and is desperate for a conflict in Iran. He is a danger to the world and to American interests everywhere.
Some in the media label Bolton a “neocon” or a “paleocon,” but these aren’t accurate. Paleoconservatism evolved from antiwar conservatism in the 1930s. Antiwar? Doesn’t sound like Bolton. Neocons, on the other hand, trace their lineage back to the anti-communist liberals of the 1970s who moved further right as the Democratic Party moved left. They believe in unilateral U.S. action and also believe U.S. power should be used to spread American ideals. That still isn’t Bolton; he’s a pure hawk. The hawks, like the neocons, embrace aggressiveness and despise nation-building, but they drink the “America First” Kool-Aid and don’t mind intervening anywhere and everywhere. Hawks led us into Iraq War, squandering hundreds of billions of dollars, costing millions of lives, and leading to the rise of ISIS. With a track record like that, you’d think hawks would go extinct. And they were — until Trump, of course.
RELATED: Iran deal better than alternatives
Bolton was rejected as U.N. ambassador by Republicans and Democrats in 2005. Understandably — Bolton once claimed, “There is no United Nations,” and he openly deplores diplomacy. The pivotal moment came when Carl W. Ford Jr., former assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, testified that Bolton was a “kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy,” a “serial abuser” of subordinates who attacked anyone trying to contradict him. He has manipulated intelligence to serve his agenda leading up to the Iraq War. His history of misleading the public makes him a natural choice for the Trump administration.
In recent years, Bolton spent his time ranting on cable news and hiring topical bad guys Cambridge Analytica to develop psychological profiles of voters for his SuperPAC. From August 2014 to August 2016, Bolton’s SuperPAC spent $1.2 million on “survey research” from the firm, whose methods include unscrupulous data mining of Facebook user profiles. It isn’t too surprising, as Bolton, Cambridge Analytica, and Trump are all paid off by the ultra-right, billionaire Mercer family.
RELATED: Kumar: Outdated U.S. nuclear policy has no place
What will come from Bolton as national security adviser? The most likely, and perhaps most devastating action could be the withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, something he and Trump both vehemently oppose. Iran is complying with the invasive and intensive requirements of the accord. If the deal is scrapped, it will move without restriction to enrich uranium and build nuclear weapons. The extremist element in Iran’s government, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, will declare the West untrustworthy and undermine the moderate parties in Iran.
Perhaps worst of all, the move will sabotage any negotiations with North Korea by exposing U.S. nuclear-weapon diplomacy as easily dismissable and unstable. If we don’t play by the rules with Iran, why would we with North Korea? And of course, we will be isolated diplomatically — the Iran nuclear deal is supported by every major power.
RELATED: Former national security adviser talks North Korean diplomacy
Bolton is a shady character who loves to bully, is enamored with the idea of blood and destruction, and who has a penchant for lying and isolating America from its allies. What could possibly go wrong?