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FarCenter

(19,429 posts) Thu Mar 22, 2018, 11:09 PM Mar 2018

Opinion: John Bolton's rise could be death knell for Iran deal

...

Welcoming a reckless warmonger

The general's remark at the recent Munich Security Conference that Russia had undoubtedly interfered in the US presidential election triggered a public Twitter rebuke from his boss and probably marked the beginning of the end of his tenure. He is bound to be missed by many, including US lawmakers and foreign diplomats who regarded him as trusted official and conversation partner — even though he clearly is a hawk. Like his successor, John Bolton, McMaster publicly contemplated what he called a "preventive strike" against North Korea. But unlike Bolton, he has not been viewed as reckless or a warmonger.

Read more: Can the trans-Atlantic relationship survive Donald Trump?

Those two traits describe Bolton's reputation in a nutshell. And his reputation is well earned. Bolton was one of the most ardent and publicly outspoken supporters of President George W. Bush's disastrous decision to invade Iraq. Bolton's brief tenure as ambassador to the United Nations, a position he was never confirmed for by the US Senate, was marked by his openly hostile views towards the organization. Judging by a December opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal titled "How to defund the UN," Bolton's positions have not changed.

On Iran, Bolton has expressed similarly bellicose views as he had on Iraq. He has repeatedly called for regime change in Iran. More importantly, in an opinion piece for The New York Times, Bolton three years ago made the case "To stop Iran's bomb, bomb Iran." Just two months ago, he again opined in the Wall Street Journal that Trump should pull the US out of the international Iran agreement, a "diplomatic Waterloo" that "no fix can remedy." For good measure, in the same article, he again advocated for regime change in Iran.

http://www.dw.com/en/opinion-john-boltons-rise-could-be-death-knell-for-iran-deal/a-43096174

7 replies

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Highlight:

Opinion: John Bolton's rise could be death knell for Iran deal (Original Post) FarCenter Mar 2018 OP

Could be the death knell for the entire planet Bradshaw3 Mar 2018 #1

Fortunately, he is focused on North Korea dhol82 Mar 2018 #2

yeah, we see how the "regime change" in Iraq went Skittles Mar 2018 #3

And We'll Be On The Losing End Me. Mar 2018 #4

We wouldn't 'lose' militarily, per se ... we probably could change the regime ... mr_lebowski Mar 2018 #5

No WE Won't Lose Militarily Me. Mar 2018 #6

They don't want an Iran deal. They couldn't give a shit about an Iran deal. Initech Mar 2018 #7

Bradshaw3

(7,522 posts)

1. Could be the death knell for the entire planet

Reply to FarCenter (Original post)

Thu Mar 22, 2018, 11:10 PM

Mar 2018

dhol82

(9,353 posts)

2. Fortunately, he is focused on North Korea

Reply to FarCenter (Original post)

Thu Mar 22, 2018, 11:12 PM

Mar 2018

Or not.

This is such a disaster!

Skittles

(153,169 posts)

3. yeah, we see how the "regime change" in Iraq went

Reply to FarCenter (Original post)

Thu Mar 22, 2018, 11:12 PM

Mar 2018

Me.

(35,454 posts)

4. And We'll Be On The Losing End

Reply to FarCenter (Original post)

Thu Mar 22, 2018, 11:15 PM

Mar 2018

Iran is no Iraq and won't take it lying down. If I had to guess I'd say bye, bye Israel.

mr_lebowski

(33,643 posts)

5. We wouldn't 'lose' militarily, per se ... we probably could change the regime ...

Reply to Me. (Reply #4)

Fri Mar 23, 2018, 01:31 AM

Mar 2018

But it's going to cost far, far more in blood and treasure than taking over Iraq did. Iran can defend itself to some extent, though ultimately they are not a match for the US, either technologically or in the size of their force they can bring to bear. But they WILL kill a lot of our soldiers, sink some of our subs and ships, and blow some planes from the sky ... before eventually losing.

One thing I will say about regime change in Iran is that we very well may be welcomed somewhat as 'liberators' ... than was actually the case in Iraq ... IF we played our card right. It's a very young population there, and a LOT of the population actually 'like us' there and hate the Mullahs.

Of course, Trump and Bolton are such FUCKING DICKS that they'll almost surely squander the opportunity to engender good will after such a regime change. The Bush Admin was staffed with people with at least SOME CLUE of how to properly handle a 'war' situation. Trump and his crew will bumble it catastrophically, that is a given.

This all being said ... isn't Iran a Russian client state for the most part? Wouldn't we be kinda ... pissing them off if we were to attack? I have to think N. Korea is a far more logical target. We can roll those punks without losing that many of our own (now, S. Korea ... hey, sorry fellas!) ... and they're much more of an international pariah ... not to mention, they don't have any oil ... so not going to disrupt world supplies if we mess up their production ability for a bit.

Me.

(35,454 posts)

6. No WE Won't Lose Militarily

Reply to mr_lebowski (Reply #5)

Fri Mar 23, 2018, 11:21 AM

Mar 2018

But it will cost us as you say in blood and treasure, as well as self-respect and morally. The world will finally wash it's hands of us and I'm not sure the Iranians will welcome us. They are a proud people and as such might not welcome invaders. Nor do I think they would go down without a fight and I predict that Israel, with Netanyahu as an instigator, will pay a huge price because all gloves will be off.

Initech

(100,081 posts)

7. They don't want an Iran deal. They couldn't give a shit about an Iran deal.

Reply to FarCenter (Original post)

Fri Mar 23, 2018, 11:38 AM

Mar 2018

They want war. They want an excuse to go blow shit up. And they'll stop at nothing to get it.

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