John Kiriakou accurately predicted on June 12 that Bolton’s days as national security adviser were numbered.
EDITOR’S NOTE—Donald Trump fired his national security adviser, John Bolton, on Tuesday just as John Kiriakou predicted in an article published June 12 on Consortium News. The activist group Code Pink held a rally in front of the White House to celebrate. It’s not as though Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for running the most hawkish American official out of power (though when Barack Obama won his, he had arguably done even less), but Trump has taken an important step toward fulfilling campaign promises to not get the U.S. into even deeper military involvement in the world. So far Trump has not started a major conflict though he’s continued and intensified Obama’s drone wars. In the face of Bolton’s almost pathological lust for war, Trump seems instead to be seeking diplomatic solutions in North Korea, despite his earlier bluster, and in Iran, showing interest in meeting the Iranian president, after ditching the Iranian nuclear deal shortly after Bolton took office. Bolton had been pushing for military action against Iran, and Trump said he was ten minutes from launching an attack before pulling back on June 20, defying Bolton. When the U.S. president stepped into North Korean territory with Kim Jung-un on June 30 in a symbolic act, Bolton refused to accompany him and went to Mongolia instead. Kiriakou had the story even before those two events in June.
By John Kiriakou
Special to Consortium News
June 12, 2019
Everybody in America knows that Donald Trump places a premium on what he considers to be “loyalty.” You’re either with him or against him. The White House staff has been a revolving door from virtually the start of his administration. It’s not unusual for aides to last mere weeks or months, only to then be thrown out on the street.
Trump then inevitably says something about “loyalty.”
The situation isn’t unique to just the White House political and domestic policy staff. It is just as pervasive at the National Security Council. Nobody is sacred. Remember, you’re either with him or against him. Now it’s John Bolton’s turn to find himself in a corner. I believe that his days as national security advisor are numbered—for reasons that have all played out in the press.
I’m one of those people—not at all unique in Washington—who has contacts and friends all over the political spectrum, including in the Trump Administration. After work and over drinks, they like to vent. What they are telling me privately is what other Washington insiders are telling the conservative press. The White House, and especially the National Security Council, are in disarray. And Bolton will soon be fired.
Bolton-Centric
Bolton: On the way out?
The right-wing Washington Examiner reported this week that Bolton acknowledged these reports, but in a back-handed way. He said in a Wall Street Journal podcast that he believes five countries are spreading “lies about dysfunction in the Trump administration.” Those countries are North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and China. That’s laughable.
What Bolton is saying is that there is a vast and incredibly well-coordinated international conspiracy that includes some of the most important countries in the world, the main purpose of which is to embarrass him. That sounds perfectly rational, right?
Of course, a more rational person might conclude that Bolton has done a terrible job, that the people around him have done a terrible job, that he has aired his disagreements with Trump in the media, and that the President is angry about it. That’s the more likely scenario.
Here’s what my friends are saying. Trump is concerned, like any president is near the end of his term, about his legacy. He said during the campaign that he wanted to be the president who pulled the country out of its two longest wars. He wanted to declare victory and bring the troops back from Afghanistan and Iraq. He hasn’t done that, largely at the insistence of Bolton. Here we are three years later and we’re still stuck in both of those countries.
Second, my friends say that Trump wants to end U.S. involvement in the Yemen war, but that Bolton has been insistent that the only way to guarantee the closeness of the U.S. relationships with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is to keep providing those countries with weapons, aerial refueling planes, and intelligence support.
Obsessed With Iran
That would explain the reason why the White House did not seek to block the recent Congressional vote on Yemen support. Bolton likely talked Trump into vetoing the resolution. Or he talked the Saudis into talking Trump into it. Still, at least in internal deliberations, Trump has said that he simply doesn’t see a national security reason to keep the war going. The U.S. gets nothing out of it.
Third, the mainstream media has accused Bolton of being the reason behind the failure of Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Bolton toed a hard line, so much so that the North Korean media called him a “war monger” and a “human defect” once the summit ended.
This week Trump told reporters gathered on the White House south lawn that Kim had “kept his word” on nuclear and missile testing. This was a direct contradiction of Bolton, who had said just hours earlier that the North Koreans had reneged on their commitments to the U.S. Trump said simply, “My people think there could have been a violation. I view it differently.”
Protest against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman outside Saudi-US CEO Forum in New York , March 27, 2018 (Ben Norton)
Most importantly, Bolton has been famous for decades for his irrationally hard line on Iran. He has made no secret of his desire to bomb Iran into the stone age, to smash and overthrow its government, and to let the chips fall where they may. The policy makes literally no sense.
Iran is a country of 80 million people. It has an active and well-trained global intelligence service. It has a robust navy with highly-specialized “swift boats” that are active in the Persian Gulf. And it controls the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and 33 percent of its liquified natural gas flows.
Trump said just a week ago that he was willing to begin talks with the Iranians “with no preconditions.” This was a major softening of U.S. policy toward Iran and it immediately drew Bolton’s ire. Indeed, The New York Times pointed out that the policy directly “overruled a longtime goal of (Trump’s) national security advisor.”
All of this has made Trump angry. He’s constantly being one-upped by one of the Washington swamp monsters he promised to rid the city of. He finally seems to have come to realize that even establishment Republicans dislike and distrust John Bolton. And now he understands why.
Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s chief of staff, has very quietly and discreetly begun informal meetings with a list of a half-dozen possible replacements for Bolton. Let’s hope he finds one that he and Trump both like sooner, rather than later.
John Kiriakou is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. John became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act—a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of his attempts to oppose the Bush administration’s torture program.
If you enjoyed this original article, please consider making a donation to Consortium News so we can bring you more stories like this one.
“Bolton’s exit represents a major rupture in the notorious ‘B-team’, consisting of Bolton, Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudia’s Muhammad bin Salman. […]
“despite Bolton’s influence and exit, it remains a fact that Trump and Bolton shared ideas on all of the major issues concerning the US. As a matter of fact, Trump was always opposed to the current Iran-nuke deal and he always wanted to ‘firmly deal’ with China. And, he had stated taking steps to this end long before Bolton’s appointment as NSA. Therefore, the question of what how and if things will change at all is still relevant after Bolton’s exit, for while Bolton’s presence left an impact, his was not the only impact. There is a constant ‘Trump factor’ as well and this factor inherently sees Iran and China as ‘enemies’ Hence, the question: what will actually change, if at all, in the US foreign policy?
“Given the overwhelming influence of Trump’s own mindset, a major change in the US foreign policy should not be expected. In fact, Pompeo made it clear that a single departure doesn’t and wouldn’t change policy.
“However, while the essential policy will mostly remain the same i.e., the US would still want to make a new deal with Iran and make China submit to US economic pressure, what might change is the extent of emphasis put on aggressive steps and hard-line approach to active diplomacy and negotiations and an openness to strike a compromise – all with an eye on the 2020 presidential election. In other words, while the essential policy will remain unchanged, only the way and the tactics to pursue it might change.”
Will Bolton’s Exit Cause a Change in the US Foreign Policy?
By Salman Rafi Sheikh
https://journal-neo.org/2019/09/14/will-bolton-s-exit-cause-a-change-in-the-us-foreign-policy/
Right again Abe. The American public and thereby American lose, Trump, Brennan, Bilary, Bill Barr are still not in jail and Putin and Israel win. Again.
Some rally good work by CN in these last few months.
Thanks folks.
What is more pertinent is why suddenly there was an attack on Saudi oilfields the minute Bolton was fired? Are the Iranians taking advice from Assad?
More likely that the Saudis are taking advice from the Israelis.
(A rather transparent attempt to draw Trump into a war with Yemen and Iran, don’t you think? He seems to have seen through the earlier chemical false flag in Syria, as Obama did when it was his turn)
Of course, it might actually be a rebel drone…and the timing with Bolton pure coincidence…the Saudis won’t complain about higher oil prices, neither will the U.S. oil companies, or the Russians for that matter…
Btw, I’m pretty sure that advice travels FROM Tehran TO Damascus, and not the other way around…just a thought.
Be well.
Relax Abe, Netanyahu may actually lose the election and the munchkins will sing and dance in the streets at the passing of both Bolton and Bibi. Well, probably not but relax anyway. Life is too short to lose those last few strands of hair worrying about that which we do not control..
Hasbara 101: The “Relax… Life is too short…” Troll
Ouch that hurts. I haven’t been labelled a troll since I once commented on unrest in Ukraine. I suppose must have been Russian then but I was still living under a bridge. Unfortunately it was blown up by Right Sector so I had to move elsewhere. I still say relax. Stay loose.
Too good to be true is maybe why I skipped it. The CIA predicted JCPOA rejection would end up bad? [I read today] Then truly Bolton was WAY out there.
Here’s somethin (digressing a bit)…
Or more like SA is outsourcing its dirty work to US dollars and child soldiers recruited from Sudan? (plus get a bit of “training” for themselves?)
Was the “political settlement” just talk, or…who talked DT into switching over Haftar’s side?
Look mannnn, everyone who has followed the Libyan fiasco should know by now that (Renegade General) Haftar is an American Citizen who resided in Langley West Virginia for 15 years. Conveniently that is the home of CIA Headquarters . Purely a coincidence even though the USA/CIA ransomed Haftar out of captivity in Chad. The UAE was supposedly providing Haftar’s forces (whoever they are and whoever pays them ) with Air Cover . Who are the hired hands calling in the positions. Can you guess? Hint: they aren’t Libyan , Saudis or from the UAE . If the UN recognized government believed that they had US support it’s because they were bribed to state as much in public. Who is paying for them to stay in their hotel suites? . The whole thing is a shadow play and the oil still flows despite an occasional threat and a migrant crisis. Interestingly Haftar has met with Putin in the last few months and appears to have some leverage in his negotiating position. You can believe it’s all and on a need to know basis. I can say that the guy who originally led the US media propaganda campaign in the run up to the Responsibility to Protect Libyan Operation, Sliman Bouchuiguir , became the new Libyan Ambassador to Switzerland (home of the hidden accounts) after the fall of Qaddafi. A CIA Asset , another US citizen , an economist who just happened to be of Libyan descent, or somebody pretending to represent Libyahe hasn’t been heard from since . My assumption, There is plenty of money for the CIA to buy anything they want ….. i.e. disinformation or anything else from Libya.
Thanks, LJ.
Still digressing.
I know why SA wants control in Sudan…cause it wants control all the way up to and including South Sudan, which has oil as well. But if regime change in Libya was the Dems’ fiasco, why would DT want in on it too? (I know…because DT doesn’t count it or realize it a fiasco) For France it was the water (aquifer), for Italy the oil, and for the US the arms…re the regime change, I read somewhere. But we can’t be in this thing merely for the arms (can we?) given that our insurgent team is gonna have such a hard go of it…it would seem. You could guess it was the Saudis again. If SA has some control of the oil there too…it is after all our partner in the “energy dominance” thing. But Libya seems far from SA (so it’s hard to believe (and we were mainly interested in the arms)). Also, if DT has caved on everything (including Haftar) except Russia, why is the DS still so unsatisfied with his performance? What has the US to gain [except, still, the arms? which nobody talks about]? Libya is far from SA; yet and still, if SA wants a foothold there, the whole thing would be SA’s dirty work, no? Except that Med oil drilling is now an item for Israel, and Israel is now somewhat SA’s friend. All the Med oil folks are “friends,” except who…Cyprus?
Sometimes it seems that war is not a scam, but that each war is a collection of scams https://commons.commondreams.org/t/how-to-read-a-broken-body-literature-in-an-era-of-endless-war/67668/4
sorry… over to Haftar’s side?
DavidH ultimately it’s about oil which was also the driving force in the creation of Two Sudans and the un-creation of Two Yemens. Personally ( and that counts in that part of the world) , Qaddafi made a point of insulting the House of Saud at every opportunity.They were his arch enemy BUT most importantly before the Regime Change AFRICOM was not the dominant force on the “Dark Continent”. Libya not Nigeria was the strongest nation in Africa, Qaddafi had done a lot with Libyan Oil money to help many countries in Africa and he had influence. Kind of weird but they discovered he had a little private room with pictures of Gonzo-Lisa Rice all over the walls(?) . Apparently he likes African women and that BS about Blacks in Yellow Hats was pure Bullshit by the way courtesy of the a fore mentioned now statesman (sic). Anyway. Peace
Sigal Mandelker is Israeli born Undersecretary of the Treasury who is behind hardline sanctions particularly against Iran. She may even hold Israeli citizenship, refused to answer. How did she get this position? Bolton being gone is a detail so long as pro Israelis dominate behind the scenes. May the farce be with you, shall we say?
Isn’t it strange how so many of America’s hard-core war hawks were once its hard-core draft dodgers?
What, no-one at CN could even pen a few new paragraphs about Bolton’s departure? No-one even to comment how Trump’s disastrous campaign against Iran has driven them firmly into the arms of the Chinese? Since we’re doing self-congratulatory back-slapping let me say that months ago I believed (and said so here) that the best way to prevent the US from bombing Iran back to the stone age was for Russian or Chinese military personnel to be stationed in Iran. Now that has come to pass, so pin a medal on me. Or not. It doesn’t take a shrewd political/policy analyst to understand 5000 years of human power politics.
I’m not ready to fling the confetti and break out the champagne because this administration always manages to find someone even worse, if, in this case, that is even possible.
Thank you vinni- I too have searched in vain for ANY articles about Bolton being out on my progressive sites. I think this is a big deal. It shows that the changing war mentality of amerika is affecting the cheeto. I also think it shows that the fascists are losing, if only a turd at a time. And I think it also is encouraging the Progressives to continue tying the can of war to pelousey and schekels’ tails to pry trump voters away from loving wars. (They don’t want to support anything the Neolibs support) but alas, no analysis anywhere. Thanks for your comment
There is a long editor’s note introducing this article which you must have missed.
One down, two (Pompeo and Pence) to go.
hip-hip hooray! Finally some good news…
Hey, listen… now I love Consortium News and respect John Kiriakou very much for standing up for the average guy, who is me. OK?
Thank you.
However, anybody within spitting distance of Donald Trump is going to get fired at some point, just as sure as there are two fake boobs on a hooker, right? Everybody knows it. Guess what the assclown’s calling card is?
YOU’RE FIRED!
That’s right. With all due respect, a blind goat herder on peyote coulda shoulda woulda seen this one comin’ a mile away. Mmmm hmmm…
Nostradamus with a crystal ball made of meth and everybody else already knew Bolton was going to get fired, because it’s all a damned reality TV show, people!
https://osociety.org/2019/09/09/the-human-zoo/
Well no one else did back in June except Kiriakou writing on this site.
I don’t recall the exact article or date prior to when you ran this Kiriakou piece. Perhaps you know how to consolidate each commenter’s posts. I had predicted this in one of them preceding this piece. I wasn’t going to mention this until I saw this statement.
The reality is that the super wealthy elitists the SWETS are calling the shots for the U.S. through the intelligence community and with the blessings of DOJ . A blackmailed congress is paralyzed.
The SCOTUS now empanels at least on sexual pervert, he will not rule against his elitist bosses because they own him. The entire SCOTUS in owned by the elite interests now and the rest of us need to go to the tool shed for those hoes and scythes as it seems congressmen seem to know what they intend to do with their RA-15.
Good Riddance to Bolton, the Moustache of Doom! You can now purchase his Book “Surrender is not a option” in the bargain bin on Amazon? Like the Cheap Trick song “Surrender “, sings, Mummy’s alright, Daddy’s alright, they just seem alittle weird, Surrender, Surrender but don’t give youreslf away, away, away? Well away with you John Bolton & your limp lipped Moustache, you War mongering SOB! This draft dodging coward won’t be missed by anyone who wants peace in the World! Now Pompeo, the other lunatic, needs to be shown the door by Trump with him saying those words, “You’re Fired”, as well!
Looks like the Moustache of Doom was outmatched by Big Mike Pompeo.
Dunno; it was kind of fun watching Bolton get denied time and time again. However, the writing was kind of on the wall from the moment Erdogan cursed Bolton’s moustache. Bolton did not seem to have the diplomatic cunning needed to navigate outside think tank sandboxes; every time it was his turn to turn the screws, they fell off.
Kind of sad that a guy who dodged Vietnam because he figured that war was lost, didn’t notice Afghanistan, Iran, and Venezuela were no better candidates for warmongering.
However, I think I read Bolton opposed the newest tariffs on China. If so, this possibly raised Trump’s eyebrows more than anything else he’d done. This was the main war; Trump may have been prepared to find opposition from everyone in his cabinet on China escalation, except supposed uberhawk Bolton.
“Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s chief of staff, has very quietly and discreetly begun informal meetings with a list of a half-dozen possible replacements for Bolton.”
That will not be necessary.
Just give Tulsi Gabbard or Ron Paul a call.
I shot all the fish in the barrel first and they were all dead. Luckily DNA Testing revealed that no endangered species were terminated in the act. But kudos to CN anyway.. I said it was a blunder to appoint Bolton in the first place . What if Flynn had had the job the last many months. Would anything be different? Right. Lets hope Israel finally votes Netanyahu out of power. Keep your fingers crossed They the people are not real intelligent despite what you read in the Washington Post, wall Street Journal and New York Times. They have Trump’s ear.
Hasbara 101: The “What if… Would anything be different? Right” Troll
You might label it intellectual relativism . I’m not Jewish . I suppose it is a bit deflating to acknowledge powerlessness. Actually, I would have preferred Flynn to Bolton and McMaster. It was not to be. The jungle drums called for Flynn’s head before Trump’s Inauguration. In my case it’s not Habara 101, just common sense. Trump is the boss , he might listen but he takes his own counsel. Was it Habara 101 that suggested, A wise man keeps his own counsel? Well maybe it wasn’t about Trump whoever it was . I won’t “troll” you again . Peace.
I think today’s headline should be, “Trump Drains his own Swamp!”
It bears repeating:
From the start, Trump has been busy populating his administrative with the very “swamp monsters he promised to rid the city of”.
A removal of Bolton, regardless of the pretext, would not cease the Trump administration’s efforts at the behest of a foreign power.
As pointed out by VIPS member Philip Giraldi, it’s the pro-Israel Lobby, stupid.
“Those who think that the foreign policy of the United States should be the product of serious discussion embracing a variety of viewpoints to come to a conclusion that benefits the American people should perhaps take note of what has been going on in the President Donald Trump administration. The use of unrelenting pressure to include threats of military intervention rather than negotiation has been noted by many, but the media predictably has failed to discuss the implications of having a team in place making decisions relating to the volatile Middle East and beyond that consists overwhelmingly of Orthodox Jews and Christian Zionists […]
“it would be nice, almost unbearably nice, to see the media and Congress just for once doing their jobs by challenging the bona fides of poseurs like Kushner, Friedman, Greenblatt and Schenker not to mention the demented trio of Pence, Pompeo and Bolton. It is not in the United States’ interest to have as its representatives and spokesmen in an important and highly volatile part of the world individuals who are demonstrated partisans on issues that that will surely require some compromise if they are ever to be resolved. Israeli leaders have described with a grin how easy it is to ‘move’ the United States in their favor by virtue of the power of their diaspora associates both in and out of government.”
http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/new/?p=4922#.XQGKq4UcAjF
We are not a nation of laws because if we were, John Bolton would be confined to a cell at a military prison or the super max prison in Colorado. I had so much hope that President Trump would end the wars but he is controlled by the deep state swamp and Boltons departure is not going to change that. Bolton along with Israel and the MIC did get Trump to stay in Syria but I would like to know who authorized our Troops to be in Syria this long? The President can only deploy for a short period of time without approval from congress. Obama is the one who first sent the troops into Syria Illegally but Trump continues the same Illegal action. The war against Iran will still occur at the instance of Israel and the MIC. The destruction of the Middle East will indeed be biblical.
Imelda Marcos’ shoes
Adelson, Paul Singer and Bernie Marcus probably came to the conclusion that Bolton was just too brash and in-your-face about wielding Zionist aggression throughout the Middle East.
It’s akin to Imelda Marcos’ shoes. When certain functionaries become too brazen and embarrassing to the Washington imperialist elite it’s time to show them the door.
John Bolton was destined to be fired either before or after the war with Iran that he tried so hard to foment. Infinitely better for the entire world if that war never happens. This, perhaps, is the start of a long journey towards sanity.
It appears Bolton will be 100% loyal, as long as one accepts it 100% of his advice on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Ukraine, NorKor, not to mention Russia, and China.
There seems to be little doubt that Trump would like to dump Bolton. That he hasn’t done so and is unlikely to do so is by the presence of the 800 pound Golem, Sheldon Adelson, the uber Zionist Jewish billionaire who, according to the NY Times and elsewhere was the one who demanded that Trump fire HR McMaster and replace him with Bolton who has a long record of service for Israel that few Jews, let alone non-Jews could match.
While at the UN for the US, the Israeli ambassdor called him “the sixth man in our office,” and just after being appointed by Trump he was given the “Defender of Israel” award by the ZOA, also funded by Trump.
Also funded by the tens of millions by Adelson is Donald Trump and Adelson’s free paper in Israel, Israel Hayom, exists to glorify his bro, Netanyahu who is also well known as Bibi’s other bro. So Trump is in a bind and going to war nay be the easier choice.
Thank you John for your Patriotism in spite of our government’s persecution.
Now if Trump would fire Pompus Pompeo we would have a slow start to peace. Get rid of Israel and Saudi control of our foerign policies and then mabey we could have world Peace
Quentin – Your comment is true. If we removed every traitorous “representative” in Washington who places Israel’s priorities ahead of those of the U.S., the U.S. would be far better off. Israel is a parasite, a malignant tumor on our country – good at lying, fermenting conflict, and creating computer viruses – not much more. We should end ALL aid for Israel ASAP, and use the money thereby saved for domestic (peaceful) purposes.
Grammar correction: “fermenting conflict” —> “fomenting conflict”. Sorry about that. ;-)
Actually, Ray, fermenting works quite well too when you think about it. And as for Israel (really Occupied Palestine) being “a parasite, a malignant tumor on” the US, it is a far, far worse parasite and malignant tumor on the Palestinians and their rightful dwelling in their land, and is a malignancy and parasitism that we have funded and supported (not only monetarily) mightily since 1948.
Not only no more financial support for that egregious, heinous entity but also a very serious trimming back (hack back really) of the whole MICC enterprise. Let us concentrate our efforts and $$$ on improving the lives of the citizens of this country and leave other peoples and ways of life and governance *alone*.
Thanks John!
Informed perspective!
Hopeful it will soon be a reality.
It should be mentioned that Iran has over the years has invested heavily in anti-ship missiles of the sort that (at least temporarily) rained on the Brit’s parade in the Falklands. the difference being that it’s not at all clear that ship born NATO anti missile systems will be effective against the latest versions of Russian and Chinese anti ship missiles (hich fly at mach 3 a few meters above the water and can be launched in salvos). One thing for sure, all commercial shipping would cease in the straights if we attack Iran(not to mention the economy wrecking increases in insurance for ships operating anywhere near Iran
In fact, with Trump’s appointment of Shanahan, as permanent Secretary of Defense, Bolton’s relative power just increased.
Shanahan has shown himself as quite weak on all insider stuff.
Bolton has been poaching on Shanahan’s turf ever since he became Temporary Secretary, as in dealing with underlinings with no permission. Avoiding proper channels for whatever he wants.
Trump’s implicitly saying that’s just fine.
Shanahan withdrew his name today from nomination.
So, there’ll be another Acting Secretary.
Bolton should remain in the driver’s seat
Whoops – Shanahan just fired.
I am not at all optimistic that this cretin will be shoved out the door; he has strong support from the zionist oligarchs and israel. He is a walking example of foreign agent within the admin as is kushner.
Moreover, he knows how to play the game with this latest stupidity with Iran a prime example-his timing is something:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/bolton-exploits-shanahans-weakness/
Adios to this warmongering, Raving lunatic
Bolton is a self serving, sick, demented individual. It’s been documented that he was a frequent visitor to Plato’s Retreat for swinging singles and forced his wife into group sex. She divorced him. Here’s the side of Bolton that no one talks about…..
http://www.lookingglassnews.org/viewstory.php?storyid=359
and
http://www.lookingglassnews.org/viewstory.php?storyid=6769
Hoping that Bolton are out the door ASAP. They are known as war mongering neocons. Untrustworthy.
May ALL people of faith earnestly PRAY DAILY until this evil destructive warmonger HAS BEEN FIRED. Don’t take anything for granted. This evil monster is pushing NON-STOP for U.S. war with Iran, Venezuela, and continued destruction to Syria.
Trump is an unrepentant neocon who loves Israel. Trump will own the upcoming war with Iran and the World will suffer from his Hubris. WW3 here we come.
U.S. policymakers seek “regime change” in Syria and Iran due to the pro-Israel Lobby, which includes a network of think tanks and policy institutes like American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), which have included rabid pro-Israel war hawk and terrorist lobbyist John Bolton among their members.
The Brookings Insititution is a leading pro-Israel Lobby “regime change” think tank.
The 2009 Brookings report, “Which Path to Persia?: Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran”, was authored by a team of pro-Israel war hawks headed by Martin Indyk, a former staffer at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_iran_strategy.pdf
On 3 December 2017, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser on Middle East/Israel issues, gave his first on-the-record appearance at the Saban Forum at the Brookings Institution.
Addressing the audience at Brookings, Kushner said, “It’s really an honor to be able to talk about this topic with so many people who I respect so much, who have given so much to this issue.” He acknowledged that “We’ve solicited a lot of ideas from a lot of places.”
Kushner used pro-Israel Lobby bellicose rhetoric about “Iran’s aggression” and claims about “their nuclear ambitions and their expansive regional mischief”.
Trump’s Administration, as Kushner’s remarks clearly indicate, obviously bases its understanding of “regional dynamics” on “a lot of ideas” from the pro-Israel war hawks at the Brookings Institution.
Indyk, the “director” of the Saban Center at Brookings, cofounded the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in 1985 with the wife of AIPAC Chairman Lawrence Weinberg and former president of the Jewish Federation, Barbi Weinberg. Despite his well known affiliation with the Israel Lobby and his Australian nationality, Bill Clinton appointed Indyk as the first foreign-born US Ambassador to Israel in 1995. The issuance of his US nationality had been expedited for his previous appointment by Clinton in 1993 as Middle East adviser on the National Security Council.
Kenneth M. Pollack, the “director of research” at the Saban Center, is a former CIA analyst and National Security Council staffer under Bill Clinton. A prominent “liberal hawk” cheerleader for the Iraq War, Pollack is credited with persuading liberals to endorse the invasion of Iraq. His 2002 book, The Threatening Storm, was influential in selling the “WMD” case. His 2005 book, The Persian Puzzle, recycled many of the same arguments, this time directed at Iran.
Michael E. O’Hanlon, the “director of foreign policy research” at Brookings, is a war hawk and frequent op-ed writer for major news outlets like the Washington Post. In recent years, O’Hanlon has pushed for U.S. intervention in Syria. In April 2007, O’Hanlon and Fred Kagan urged the United States to invade and occupy Iran.
In March 2003, shortly after the United States invaded Iraq, O’Hanlon contributed his name to an open letter published by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neoconservative advocacy outfit closely associated with American Enterprise Institute that played a major role generating public support for the invasion of Iraq and pushing an expansive “war on terror.” Among those contributing their names to the document were hardline neocons like Max Boot, Eliot Cohen, Joshua Muravchik, and William Kristol, as well as liberal interventionists like O’Hanlon and Ivo Daalder, also a scholar based at Brookings.
In their landmark book, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy (2007), American political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt note that the Saban Center at Brookings is “part of the pro-Israel chorus” (pg 156).
Mearsheimer and Walt observed that “Saban Center publications never question US support for Israel and rarely, if ever, offer significant criticism of key Israeli policies.”
With the failure of the Israeli-Saudi-U.S. Axis “regime change” project in Syria, Israel has demonstrated its readiness to stage further provocations that may very well take the world to the brink of nuclear war.
One has to wonder if Jarad Kushners involvement in US policy was one reason Pres Trump got past the deep states election selection.
How can a country claim a nationalist agenda when such a huge number of lawmakes, senators and high office gov officials are dual citizenshipped US/Isreal passport holders. MAGA is supposed to imply that the President wants to make America great for Americans, but the deep state wants to make America great for Isreal. Don’t they have their own Homeland to focus on, instead of trying to prepare the US for their useage? No? My bad.
Why aren’t other dual citizen countries equally represented in our gov? Why is it allowed at all? Why is this ignored by, well…everyone. Just because Hitler imposed attrocities on the Jews, do bad people who happen to be Jewish get a free pass? It looks like we are witnessing what happens when they do.
Every informed person knows, or should know, that John Bolton is a certified loony. I know that he is intelligent and aggressive, but simple fact is that he is a true sociopath. He is a disaster for the U.S. and is a major danger to world peace.
I have been appalled by the absolute silence of the main stream media, which should have been announcing to the American people
that Bolton is a madman and is dedicated to pushing the U.S. into war with Iran.
Time to put the shrew back in its cage.
For the self-proclaimed genius that he is, our president seems to surround himself with grifters, conmen, chiselers, and people with proven track records for being toxic. People in DC have been scraping Bolton off their shoes for decades.
Having Bolton around gets people into trouble, tarnishes their carefully-crafted phony images, and generally is disruptive to the workplace. Using a term coined by organizational psychologist Fred Fiedler, John Bolton is everybody’s LPC (least-preferred co-worker). It, therefore, comes as no surprise that Trump is Bolton’s latest victim. There’s one born every minute.
“‘…it would be far more preferable if the United States could cite an Iranian provocation as justification for the airstrikes before launching them. Clearly, the more outrageous, the more deadly, and the more unprovoked the Iranian action, the better off the United States would be. Of course, it would be very difficult for the United States to goad Iran into such a provocation without the rest of the world recognizing this game, which would then undermine it.’
“- Brookings Institution, ‘Which Path to Persia?’ 2009
“For the second time since the United States unilaterally withdrew from the so-called Iran Nuclear Deal, Western reports of ‘suspected attacks’ on oil tankers near the Stait of Hormuz have attempted to implicate Iran […]
“US National Security Advisor John Bolton would – without evidence – claim that Iran ‘was almost certainly involved.’ […]
“This more recent incident will likely be further exploited by the US to continue building up its military forces in the region, applying pressure on Iran, and moving the entire globe closer toward war with Iran.
“The US has already arrayed its forces across the Middle East to aid in ongoing proxy wars against Iran and its allies as well as prepare for conventional war with Tehran itself.
“All of this amounts to a renewed push toward a more direct conflict between the United States and Iran after years of proxy war in Syria Washington-backed forces have decisively lost.
“It is also a continuation of long-standing US foreign policy regarding Iran put into motion over a decade ago and carried out by each respective presidency since. […]
“an obvious method for achieving Washington’s goal of provoking war with Iran would be the US simply staging an ‘Iranian provocation’ itself.
“As the US had done in Vietnam following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, or US fabrications regardings ‘weapons of mass destruction’ Washington claimed Iraq held in its possession, the US has a clear track record of not just simply provoking provocations, but staging them itself. […]
“Washington hopes that either war – or at least the impending threat of war – coupled with crippling economic sanctions, and continued support of political and armed sedition within Iran itself will create the synergies required for dividing and destroying Iran’s political order.”
Convenient “Tanker Attacks” as US Seeks War with Iran
By Tony Cartalucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2019/06/convenient-tanker-attacks-as-us-seeks.html
“On May 13, the day after the sabotage of four oil tankers, including two Saudi vessels, a story in the New York Times reported that Israeli intelligence “had warned the United States in recent days of what it said was Iran’s intention to strike Saudi vessels,” citing a “senior Middle Eastern intelligence official” — the term traditionally used to refer in the press to a senior Israeli intelligence official.
That Israeli intelligence warning, moreover, was part of a broader Israeli warning to the United States on alleged Iranian plans to attack U.S. troops and other U.S. and allied targets in the Middle East. On May 6, leading Israeli national security correspondent Barak David reported that warning had been given to Bolton and other senior U.S. officials in an April 15 meeting in the White House. The New York Times Jerusalem bureau reported virtually the same warning by Israeli intelligence that Iran or its proxies were planning a possible strike or strikes against American and/or Saudi targets in Iraq and elsewhere, again citing the “senior Middle Eastern intelligence official.”
Furthermore, those Israeli claims have been “stovepiped” directly through Bolton, who leads the U.S. team of senior national security officials in regular meetings with senior Israeli officials aimed at agreement on joint strategies on issues of policy toward Iran. Those meetings began in December 2017 with agreement on an initial “Joint Work Plan,” and include “joint preparation for different escalation scenarios in the region concerning Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.”
The implications of this arrangement for the internal U.S. politics of Iran policy are profound and dangerous. It means that intelligence analysts have been removed from the process, allowing Bolton and Pompeo to determine the validity of the intelligence warnings on Iran coming from the Israelis. That same stovepiping gives Bolton, who has long had a long reputation for cynically twisting intelligence to advance his own political aims, a crucial source of power over intelligence on Iran.”
by Gareth Porter
https://www.salon.com/2019/06/03/pentagons-phony-iran-evidence-new-rationale-for-u-s-intervention/
Thank you, Gregory, for highlighting Gareth Porter’s discussion of the stovepiping of bogus Israeli “intelligence” by Bolton’s team of pro-Israel Lobby swamp monsters.
It is important to note that both the Obama and Trump administrations are guilty of stovepiping of Israeli “intelligence” about events in Syria and Iran.
Who believes the warmonger Bolton, who for years is on record threatening a regime change war against Iran? Or Pompeo, who recently publicly claimed that Trump might be the next Messiah, sent by God to save the world. Or Trump, who cannot get past lunchtime without telling a dozen lies.
100% in agreement.
If Trump wants to avoid another war, this time with Iran, he had better get of Bolton immediately. There are going to be more false flag ops on tankers in the Gulf, especially now that Bolton knows his days are numbered.
That John Bolton is a disruptive force, or a loose cannon, is not news. Some time back, Marjorie Cohn reported that when Bolton left his position at USAID, the staff presented him with a bronzed hand grenade to mark his tenure.
And this morning two tankers “attacked” in the Gulf of Oman just as Abe was leaving Iran after meeting with Khamenei and Rouhani. Conflicting info proliferating about who rescued whom, and what caused the explosions. And – what a coincidence! – the products they were carrying are tied to Japanese business interests. What absolutely intriguing messaging.
Scanning all the reports out there, the most honest thing I read was from Zarif who tweeted “It is beyond suspicious what happened this morning.”
And Assad launched a gas attack in Syria just as a UN envoy was arriving there. Right. Absolutely. Who could doubt it?
Show of hands: who thinks Bolton will go quietly, if indeed he’s going at all?
It’s not important that we, the war-weary masses, believe any of the official narrative that is concocted, only that it provides sufficient cover for those in positions of responsibility to do what they have been primed to do.
All the regrets and crocodile tears of our “patriotic” pols for their Iraq AUMF vote were only forthcoming when the cover – made of the worst shoddy yet from the US war machine – melted and disappeared even as the destruction raged. By my count there are seven Democratic US Senators vying for the POTUS nomination. Wouldn’t it be reality altering if they all held a joint news conference calling for the US to immediately de-escalate the tensions against Iran? I know, you want some of what I’m smoking.
More likely (than Democrats calling for peace) will be the Bolton-Pompeo faction of the Neocon shadow government actually preempting the Democrats in a violent coup as Trump attempts to remove them from office for this rebellious affront against his office (assuming he doesn’t simply choose to roll over and cede all real power to them). Or maybe it’s what he really wants, as Bibi promised him some continuing role as a figurehead in the new U.S. government. The point of ultimate FUBAR is nearly upon us, that’s for sure.
President Pussygrabber made a major error in employing Bolton in that he assumed that Bolton, who’d greased him up, was going to be loyal to the Trump regime – but Bolton is loyal to one thing only, war against Iran.
He plainly has a lot of backing from some fairly evil sources for this, and I can only assume the money he makes out of constantly pressing for war is the reason for it.
After all, there aren’t that many people who could openly flaunt working for a group like MEK, then on the FBI’s terrorist list, with no consequences at all – Bolton has high-level protection inside and outside the corporate-intelligence complex – including (maybe) from Israel, which is also desperate for the US to attack Iran, and the Saudis, who are mortally afraid of Iran..?
A powerful combination of protectors.
President Pussygrabber made a major error in employing Bolton. in that he assumed that Bolton, who’d greased him up, was going to be loyal to the Trump regime – but Bolton is loyal to one thing only, war against Iran.
He plainly has a lot of backing from some fairly evil sources for this, and I can only assume the money he makes out of constantly pressing for war is the reason for it.
After all, there aren’t that many people who could openly flaunt working for a group like MEK, then on the FBI’s terrorist list, with no consequences at all – Bolton has high-level protection inside and outside the corporate-intelligence complex – including from Israel, which is also desperate for the US to attack Iran, and the Saudis, who ate mortally afraid of Iran..?
A powerful combination of protectors.
I certainly hope that Bolton will soon be out.
It was Bolton that persuaded Trump to withdraw from the INF treaty using unproven claims about Russian non-compliance as the pretext.
According to William Nitze, whose father negotiated the treaty, there may be a further hidden motive for withdrawal:
“The United States may be seeking to avoid scrutiny of our own possible noncompliance with the treaty. The Aegis ashore systems deployed in Romania and planned for Poland could be modified to have the ability to launch nuclear-tipped cruise missiles in excess of the range limitations set by the INF and could be armed with these missiles very quickly. The INF Treaty not only prohibits both sides from deploying such weapons, but also provides that neither side have the launchers that would allow such weapons to be put in place quickly. ”
https://www.thenation.com/article/trump-inf-treaty-russia-national-security/
My question is this: why did Trump appoint him in the first place? It’s not like Bolton was an “unknown commodity”. His positions were fundamentally antithetical to Trump’s foreign policy goals. Even I knew that Bolton would not carry out Trump’s objectives. In fact, even I knew that Bolton would do the opposite!
I think it’s well known that Bolton is a puppet of Sheldon Adelson, one of Trumps biggest campaign donors, and was hired at Adelson’s request. It’s pretty clear that Trump has been politically “captured” by the Zionists. His other top campaign funders are Paul Singer and Bernard Marcus. Follow the money.
You are assuming perhaps too much ala Trumps objectives. His major objective was reached…(s)elected president. Secondary objective is the same as jn business, money and control. His association with Adelson, Singer,et al was not post election. The primary actions of his admin were and still are indicative of his goals…making the Zionist cabal happy. Bolton was a natural for Trump, as was Pence. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that he intended for his inclusion before he was even inaugurated.
Apparently Trump does not know that a leopard cannot change it’s spots.
Why have the freedom to bear arms, if you cannot use them to get rid of vermin? You get my drift?
Mr Kiriakou, thank you for this ‘possibly’ good news.
Re: John Bolton. It is said one isn’t paranoid if the whole world truly is against you. I can imagine all those countries plotting against Bolton (not really), and I think you could throw in Cuba and a few other countries as well. I have disliked this man seemingly forever. It’s no small wonder baby Bush could only get him into the UN on a recess appointment. If only they could have stashed him in those 10 floors Bolton had wanted to get rid of, so he would still be gong door to door looking for someone else to harm and threaten.
I can only hope what was said to you over an adult beverage or three was indeed the truth. Adelson will be ticked off though so there might be some hell to pay, and maybe a call back on some of Trumps laundered casino chips. But in any case, the thought of Bolton being nowhere near a position of power in this country is a joy to hear!
Trump has been busy populating his administration with the very “swamp monsters he promised to rid the city of”.
A removal of Bolton, regardless of the pretext, would not cease the Trump administration’s efforts at the behest of a foreign power.
As pointed out by VIPS member Philip Giraldi, it’s the pro-Israel Lobby, stupid.
“Those who think that the foreign policy of the United States should be the product of serious discussion embracing a variety of viewpoints to come to a conclusion that benefits the American people should perhaps take note of what has been going on in the President Donald Trump administration. The use of unrelenting pressure to include threats of military intervention rather than negotiation has been noted by many, but the media predictably has failed to discuss the implications of having a team in place making decisions relating to the volatile Middle East and beyond that consists overwhelmingly of Orthodox Jews and Christian Zionists […]
“it would be nice, almost unbearably nice, to see the media and Congress just for once doing their jobs by challenging the bona fides of poseurs like Kushner, Friedman, Greenblatt and Schenker not to mention the demented trio of Pence, Pompeo and Bolton. It is not in the United States’ interest to have as its representatives and spokesmen in an important and highly volatile part of the world individuals who are demonstrated partisans on issues that that will surely require some compromise if they are ever to be resolved. Israeli leaders have described with a grin how easy it is to ‘move’ the United States in their favor by virtue of the power of their diaspora associates both in and out of government.”
http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/new/?p=4922#.XQGKq4UcAjF
Nice to see you back on the horse, Mr. Kiriakou! I’m sorry for what Obama did to you in violation of decency and probably international law. Thank you for your heroic work in exposing torture.
Thanks for your support!
This is the kind of reporting that is not necessarily of general usefulness
The article states:
“He (Bolton) said in a Wall Street Journal podcast that he believes five countries are spreading “lies about dysfunction in the Trump administration.” Those countries are North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and China. That’s laughable. What Bolton is saying is that there is a vast and incredibly well-coordinated international conspiracy that includes some of the most important countries in the world, the main purpose of which is to embarrass him.”
But what it claims is just not there. There is nothing in Bolton’s statements that claims he is the target of a vast and incredibly well-coordinated international conspiracy that includes some of the most important countries in the world, the main purpose of which is to embarrass him.
What he actually said was he believes other nations are spreading lies about dysfunction in the Trump administration. One can argue it is false or true but it is just a statement. The claim that Bolton believes he is the target of all these lies is not supported but rather invented by the author.
I disagree, CitizenOne. What Bolton wants us to believe is that these countries are able to coordinate an international campaign against the White House by spreading rumors and lies.” That would have to be incredibly well-coordinated. I can tell you after 15 years at the CIA that no country in the world has its act together to that extent.
Trump came into office without any personal political infrastructure to rely on. Unlike governors or other politicians with years of interacting and developing loyalties with other experienced party pols he really had nothing. And even when you do have those things, people come and go in administrations all the time and sometimes scandalously. So, most of this personnel merry-go-round nonsense like the Bolton can be attributed to that. He has had to learn on the job way more than most. And, he has to do this while finding a way to fit working within the legal confines and party rivalries of the Presidency into his wild personal management style. I find it all very interesting in that sense.
Two and a half years into a four year term and he’s still “learning on the job?” Don’t you feel that the job of Presidency of the United States ought to be taken a little more seriously than this?
It would seem voters did not feel so well served by his predecessors. And instead of supporting a new President they have tried to obstruct him nearly every step of the way. Not to mention the antifa nonsense that started the day after the election. Funny how antifa isnt protesting all the warmongering going on. Both parties seem to be mostly on the same page.
Good points. The thing the establishment really hates about Trump is that he is not an imperialist. He is not interested in empire. The elaborate system of alliances which US Imperialism has created has no value for him. This is intolerable.
Send that POS to the cannibalistic Korowai tribe of Indonesian New Guinea and we’ll see how his “bad-ass” NEOCON self works out.
I am not surprised Bolton is on the way out. I think doppie Donald got the briefing about what Iran’s military can do. The strait is not that large, and if shut down the economic house of cards would fall, along with 2020. Donald is dumb, not stupid.
Did you mean”dopey” Donald? Funny how dumb people think they can elevate themselves by jumping on the elite bandwagons.
John, were to God that you are right, but we’ve seen these reports before. As long as Bolton fluffs Trump in private and doesn’t upstage Trump in public, I suspect that he is staying.
That would be great. However, knowing that both Trump and Mulvaney are doing the choosing, the new one could be crazier than Bolton. Hard to imagine, I know, but…and we still have the deranged Mike Pompeo on the job. God, John, I hope you are right.
Regardless of what Mr. Kiriakou’s “friends are saying”, it’s pretty clear who Trump’s “friends” are.
Trump’s efforts on behalf of Israel began immediately after the election, prior to his taking the oath of office. His administration has aggressively pursued the pro-Israel Lobby agenda of conflict with Iran.
Bolton owes his job to the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, the biggest individual donors to the GOP in the 2018 election cycle and to the Trump campaign in 2016. The Adelsons had long promoted Bolton for a top foreign-policy position once they moved to support Trump’s presidential candidacy in the spring of 2016.
Pompeo has worn his Christian evangelical faith on his sleeve with, among other things, his references to The Rapture. The ardent Zionism of Protestant evangelical leaders derives from a peculiar British 16th-century interpretation of the Book of Revelations. The Christian Zionist camp of the pro-Israel Lobby has consistently supported Netanyahu’s belligerence and threats against Iran.
Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of the pro-Israel Lobby group Foundation for Defense of Democracies, was quite frank about the Trump administration “policy” game:
“I think Bolton loves it, and I think the president does, too. It opens up some diplomatic space for him to go back and forth between a very hard-line position and holding talks.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/us/politics/trump-john-bolton-north-korea-iran.html
Trump remains deep in the pockets of the pro-Israel Lobby.
So there’s absolutely no need for surprise or confusion with Trump’s recent Israeli-style bid for “talks”.
Because with “friends” like these…
“peculiar British 16th-century interpretation of the Book of Revelations.” 19th century. See _Whwb Time Shall Be No More_, Paul Boyer, Harvard U. Pr., 1995
Excellent post.
The ending sentence in this paper is nonsensical. The people that Trump has surrounded himself by have, for the most part, been incapable and unethical. So, why would it matter if Mulvaney finds someone to replace Bolton who “both he and Trump like”? It will still be someone that is inept, unethical, and bad for America.
American troops won’t leave Afghanistan until the CIA finds another source for cheap drug inputs to feed its street drug sales program to garner cheap funds for its black projects.
If Trump suddenly had a “road to Damascus” moment and decided to keep the promises he made about world peace during the campaign, I am sure that the Republican wing of the Deep State would quickly conspire with the Democrats to remove him from office. Most of the current officeholders across the spectrum are simply too beholden to the monied string pullers like Adelson and Soros to let Trump act as an independent agent elected by and for the people. Irrespective of Trump’s wishes, legacy or either party’s poll numbers, the insiders will, as they always do, work sneakily behind the scenes to get their puppet of choice elected (or seemingly so) to the office. If the result seems counterintuitive, objectionable or suspicious to most of the public, they will again claim outside interference and blame Putin, which is never a problem, just another bloody shirt to wave to rally the sheeple. They’ve already got the public believing that Putin is a ruthless assassin across the world stage. Why not blame him if the most expedient move is to poison Trump tomorrow rather than to impeach him next month? I think Trump wanted to be loved like JFK, but not for the same reason, so I doubt he will rock the neocon-piloted ship of state.
neocon-piloted ship of state is the crucial phrase. to say that war with iran “makes literally no sense” is naive. iran is the last country in the yinon wars aka seven countries in five years. it makes sense to bolton and it makes sense to the likud/mossad because it continues to turn the functioning countries around israel into failed states.
the only realistic hope for this widening catastrophe is trump’s one state solution: israel recognized as sovereign in all of palestine, from the gaza to the golan, from all of jerusalem to all of the west bank, and one person one vote in this eretz israel. we can then figure out what to do with the next six trillion dollars not spent on more countries in more years and the world’s goodwill from the next two million people we don’t murder.
Exactly whom are you quoting? Not me, that’s for sure. I made no comment about the “sense” of war with Iran.
If you wished to make a response directly to Mr. Kiriakou, I believe you’d find that he considered the proposition nonsensical because of the vast collateral damage, both physical and economic, within Israel and all its neighbors, both those reviled and embraced, that would occur from such an action. Indeed, the economic consequences would reach even to the United States.
I’m not sure that Mr. Trump or the United States is entitled to a preferred solution, be it one entailing a single state or some other number, as to who holds political sovereignty over the land owned and worked by Palestinian people for over a thousand years before some Europeans and Americans decided to make a gift of it to some Jews that had been persecuted by Germany during World War II. Mighty generous of you to concede one vote per person regardless of ethnicity in your new vision of Israel, but I don’t think that’s what Bibi has in mind whatsoever. Simple population numbers and reproductive rates would put the Palestinians in charge practically overnight, and be assured that will never be allowed.
No, Bibi’s real plan is to keep all the territory in “Greater Israel” in the hands of ethnic Jews with whatever military force need be provided by the United States of America. And, if it’s Bibi’s plan, it goes down in the record as Donald Trump’s plan… and Jared Kushner’s plan. When it comes to that special relationship, the Trump family has simply appropriated Hillary’s motto: With a little play on pronouns, “I’m with her” becomes “We’re with him.”
No one-state solution would work in Palestine. Could anyone suppose that a population of 50% poor could be equal to a fanatical religious oligarchy comprising the other half? How does it work in the US with 30% much less poor, and a 2% fanatical zionist oligarchy? We have been fighting Mideast wars solely for their fanaticism since the 1950s with no end in sight. It is a plainly zionist recipe for more land theft and subjugation.
Only a two state solution could work, with the joint resources divided to provide adequate coast, ports, urban areas, and infrastructure to both, the land area and resources carefully apportioned to population before some date, a broad agricultural DMZ guarded by the UN, both sides to relocate to the new areas, all property owners relocated to their zones with equivalent property or stock in the DMZ/infrastructure, complete demilitarization enforced on all sides, and increasing shared education and cultural exchange. Give that three generations and then loosen things up a bit.
Could anyone advocate a one-state “solution” as anything but a nazi “solution” on behalf of zionists?
Any sentient being knows that John Bolton has absolutely no decent characteristics and that he has never done any act which would benefit humanity or the environment. Trump appointed him, but we can hardly say “against his better judgment” as if Trump has any judgment either.
I dont believe one word of it. Trump anf family are totally in control, bark the orders and drive the minions. Then they sack a few minions and propagate total BS to any listening journalist about how ghey would dearly love to bring the troops home. BS FROM BEGINNING TO END.
Trump is a willing tool of warmaking oligarchs and he loves the pay grade and status. Dinner with the queen of england WOW.
Trump promoted a hateful, torturing, animal to head the CIA. That says it all.
Trump’s appointment of Pence, Pompeo and Bolton must add to the toll.
Yet another “sabre rattler” step on tRump’s bone spur laden feet. Fear not, loyal citizens, there will be yet another “sabre rattler” to take his place. Iran, the first real democracy in the ME, was overthrown by our competent CIA, (sarcasm), and they won’t go down easy.
Before I get too giddy about the prospects of this cretin leaving, I recognize the character of this zionist trump administration and the remaining expremists, pompeo, foreign agent kushner, et al.
And there is a new character in play: David Schenker
This guy appears to be a zionist in the extreme-look for lebanon to receive increased threats and unrelenting threats:
http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/welcome-david-schenker/
It’s not clear to me which is more important, Bolton’s loyalty to Trump or Trump’s loyalty to Bolton and his gang. The best time to escape the fangs of the viper is before it sinks them deep into one’s flesh. With Bolton, Pompeo, Pence, and other agents of the warmongering deep state it may be too late for Trump to act significantly. It seems to me that the swamp has drained Trump.
Yup… Trump’s weakness is that he is really poor at hiring good folks (OR, he’s really good at hiring bad folks): this is why he’s so good at firing people!
US spy agencies warned that Trump could be blackmailed, suggesting the threat was from Russia when it was actually from THEM (US spy agencies- well, make that the Western World’s spy agencies – Five Eyes).
Trump is caught up in his own delusional world from which he cannot escape.
I believe Trump is sincere about his desire to extricate the US from current and future wars. Not because he is a man of peace, but because he thinks they’re a waste of money and resources. I see no reason to believe Trump is innately a hawk. And who cares anyway? It’s enough that he wants us out.
But that raises at least two questions. First, why does Trump put men like Bolton in key roles? The answer may be as simple as Mr. Kiriakou states: Trump values loyalty above all else.
Second, why do Democrats oppose Trump’s efforts toward peace? Here I think the reasons are more disturbing. Unlike Trump, Democrats genuinely are hawks: they don’t want peace. And, as important, if there is to be peace, they don’t want Trump getting credit.
Yippeee!!!
Beautifully stated and I agree with you on all points you discussed.
From what I have read, Sheldon Adelson, the old casino magnate, gave Trump lots of money for his campaign and also funds John Bolton’s lobby group stink-tank. Adelson is all-out for Israel, good friend of Bibi, apoplectically anti-Iran. But Adelson hasn’t been in news, maybe is sick (didn’t look too healthy in photos I saw last). I hope John Kiriakou is right.
Sort of shocked that Israel, Bolton’s protector and job benefactor, wasn’t even mentioned in the article (although Saudi Arabia was).
Agreed. I don’t see how one can assess and analyze Bolton’s presence in US government without at least a mention of his decades-long ties to Israel. Bolton periodically receives “awards” from Israel affiliated groups, such as the “Defender of Zion” award. I find it odd that Kiriakou chose not to note Bolton’s long service to Israel. It’s not like it’s been hidden from view.
Yeah, yeah…and Trump will pull the U.S. out of Yemen right around…election time.
The hardliner neocons Republicans advised Trump to point Bolton, Pompeo, Abram Elliot, Mnuchin and others Ziocons, hawkish warmongers. But, the international force correlation situation in countries as Afghanistan, Iran, and Yemen and Bolton’s extremist stance is in open contradiction with Trump seeking a diplomatic agreement. Bolton warlike perception, and he podcast about his disagreement with President Trump make unbearable situation to reach such diplomatic deals. Bolton who echo attack, and bomb Iran, attack Venezuela, and continuing the weaponry sales to Saudi Arabia stay in Afghanistan.
There’s just no means to improve this administration no matter who comes and goes. While it obviously is the most horrific in our history, Trump has already set the new pace towards fascism that isn’t going away with these 2 establishment parties. Even if Trump is the guy John is attempting to create, he’s already neck deep in no return.
I think Trump is in trouble for not remembering what he promised to do if he got elected. Trump has also turned his back on Julian Assange, which angered many. Is he under coercion from Pompeo, Pence, Bolton, etc? They overrule him constantly. It appears they are in charge. Trump seems to have learned that WAR = PROFIT, and he does understand that! He has never been concerned with human lives or well-being; Never!
Playing “the Devil’s Advocate” I wonder if “crazy like a fox” Trump is keeping his friends close and his enemies (Bolton/Abrams/Pompeo etc.) closer??!
” Playing “the Devil’s Advocate” I wonder if “crazy like a fox” Trump is keeping his friends close and his enemies (Bolton/Abrams/Pompeo etc.) closer??! ”
You’re not playing the role of “Devil’s Advocate” , you’re playing the role of ” Increasingly-Desperate Trump Apologist”.
Bolton belongs in prison. The War Machine must love him. He creates enemies faster than we kill them.
Yes, indeed. Bolton belongs in prison along with all of his neo-con war criminal cronies. But he won’t be sent there. The major media, esp. the WashPost, loves Bolton. They love war and Israel which are the two masters he serves.
And the neoliberal war criminals
And neoliberal war criminals
Hahahahahahahahahaha – thanks for the good laugh – it was so needed today
When Mueller had Trump on the ropes, Trump probably cut a deal with the Neocons to save his skin. Now that the investigation is over, he is dumping Bolton, who is anathema to his base.
Just another day in the swamp.
I wish him a very good bye bye if this is true. Millions worldwide will celebrate this wonderful news. Let him go to Alaska and start fishing and making wars between the fish.
Good riddance. But what I can never understand is why does Trump hire these swamp monsters in the first place? Surely he knew Bolton’s record as a war monger.
why? because he was ordered to by the Singer family and the Adelsons – ultr-zionist Jews who have ruled this country since and before WW2. We are being given the treatment the Bolshevic _ Jews gave to Russia after their jewish revolutions there. We’re buggered until these globalist dual-citizens are brought under tight control
Well articulated!
Watch the documentary, “JFK to 9/11: Everything Is A Rich Man’s Trick” (if you can find it!), and you will then see “who” financed Hitler and this is all historically documented!
How many believe that all those tanks and trucks and planes Germany was using for their invasions were “made in Germany”?? Check out how “Ford Motor Co.” helped Hitler and on and on. Besides the mentioned documentary, “Trading With the Enemy” by Charles Higham is a good place to start serious research into “the ugly truth”.
The policy of the US is not planned by Adelson or other people that give money for the election of the President this is not true.
The Council of Foreign Relations,CFR,dictates and applies the plans which are long term.
The President is a puppet without any power and he has to obey the orders otherwise…..
Fine, but.
But, Trump hired Bolton.
He knew what he was getting.
Viz. also Pompeo, Abrams, and all of Trumps picks for ambassador to the JSP, etc.
They are all version of Bolton.
The only possible explanation I can find for his hiring Bolton is that no one else would work for Trump.
In which case, good luck in finding a replacement.
One thing to remember about Trump is just how few people he knows, how small his social and business circle has been for his whole life.
When he took office, there were a few skeezy, Tri-State area money types of his acquaintance whom he could plug into administration jobs here and there, people like Wilbur Ross, Linda McMahon, and Woody Johnson. Larry Kudlow he had seen on TV. Some Mar-a-Lago cronies are running Veterans Affairs *from Mar-a-Lago*. But mostly Trump has to hire (and make judicial appointments) from those the “swamp” he pretends to decry puts in front of him.
In the national security realm (as it’s laughably called), he didn’t know anybody at all, and people with dissenting views never get on TV. Bannon was different (for better or worse), but Bannon’s long gone. So whatever rudimentary better instincts in terms of war and peace Trump may have, he has no way to find people to effectuate them.
And we shouldn’t kid ourselves about this incredibly corrupt individual’s supposedly good intentions in the first place. In Venezuela for example, I assume Trump knows exactly what he is doing, i.e. fishing for 2020 votes in Florida, with nothing else of much interest to him.
But hey, I understand that Tucker Carlson had Stephen Cohen on, so maybe there’s hope. (as if)
And to think that people like Bolton takes us to the very edge of the abyss. His “friends” should tell him that he falls into this abyss too.
They can’t get him out of there fast enough. It is a measure of Thump’s incompetence that he installed him in the first place. As long as Revoltin’ Bolton and Pompous are running the foreign policy shop, the US will single handedly keep the world in disarray.
Bolton at least seems to have been fading out for some time. It can also be difficult to discern the truth from the perceptions created by media, so who knows? But one sentence here threw me off: “Trump is concerned, like any president is near the end of his term, about his legacy.” This implies that Mr. Kiriakou is confident that Trump won’t be re-elected. I personally guess that he will, mainly because of the deep split among those who had traditionally voted Democrat. It wo0uld be interesting to hear more from Mr. Kiriakou about why he thinks otherwise.
I noticed the same sentence and had exactly the same thought.
@ “This implies that Mr. Kiriakou is confident that Trump won’t be re-elected.”
That is only one plausible inference. Another, and more likely, is that Trump is concerned that he won’t be re-elected and so is concerned with his legacy.
“That is only one plausible inference. Another, and more likely, is that Trump is concerned that he won’t be re-elected and so is concerned with his legacy.”
This is also how I read it, the second time around.
Thanks for the question. It’s been my experience that pretty much everything that a president accomplishes happens in the first term. The second term is usually just muddling through. If I had to bet money today, I’d say that Trump wins reelection, only because the Democratic “frontrunners” are all neo-liberal Republicans-lite.
Some young enterprising person should start a factory which produces John Bolton toilet paper with Warmonger Bolton’s full face image on it, and his snotty mustache enabled to be the main factor of the “WIPE”.
Goodby WMJB ( War Monger John Bolton). I hope your photo hangs in millions of bathrooms on a roll of Toilet Tissue. You deserve it!
Not sure if this is appropriate, but I would not feel comfortable wiping my ass with Bolton’s face. Just sayin’….
I pitched a fit when Bolton came out from whatever rock he was hiding under. I’m surprised we’re not in a war with Iran now. (Why not just overthrow a democratically elected Iranian president in 1953?)
If it were logistically do-able, we would invade VZ, Cuba, NK and Iran simultaneously. Maybe even Russia and China.
Bolton and Bibi have never met a war they didn’t want other people to fight.
Get rid of Bolton and then oust Bible-thumper Pompeo and convicted war-criminal Abrams – the Troika of Evil. Plenty more we could say bye-bye to, but these three will be a good start.
and Pence, maybe he can be uplifted to heaven
Let him go and quickly before he blusters the USA into a tragic war with Iran. Let him move to Israel whee they love him and where his heart is.
Justified.
Here is another. Zionists should be kicked out of governments world over. They should be charged with crimes against humanity. Any politician who pledges the oath to Israel should be run out of politics. BDS should be practiced world over.
Correctly it would be Anti Zionist
Here’s another— No elected official in state or federal government in these United States will be allowed to hold any office while said official is a dual citizen of any nation as well as the USA, whether such “citizenship” be honorary or not.
John Bolton going out? I’ve been waiting for this, hoping it would happen before he and the Pentagon bombed Iran, a country with highly intelligent people. Don’t forget, though, Hillary Clinton would have done that already.
Why are our leaders so ignorant?
Bolton’s departure can’t be too soon.
John
Great article Bravo! More people need to tell it like It is. Awoke this morning to your article being the first thing I saw and read
Happy Fathers Day ! By the way
Barbra j Armentrout
John I agree 1oo% with Barbra — bravo and right on! I hope you are right about this and I have no doubt all your sourcing is 100% correct. But I do fear the “forces” who put Bolton in place still want him there…… and would push hard on Trump to keep him on, trying to force Trump to “tolerate” Bolton while trying to isolate him.
We could have had so much progress in multiple areas by now ….but, the continuing needless/useless wars, North Korea, Iran, VZ, enmity with Russia/ China etc ….all still a mess. Such a shame. Keep up the great reporting.
The most obvious question that needs to be asked is why does he pick people like Bolton and Pompeo in the first place? Is he really that stupid? Or is he being controlled? Or is he lying about what he really wants to accomplish? If he wants out of Afghanistan and Iraq, he needs to pick people who support that position and he needs to use the “bully pulpit” effectively to counter the MSM shills constantly selling war.
Skip, I’m going to post a link that addresses this issue but in a radically different way to perhaps foster discussion.
I posted this link on June 11th. but there was no response. It is so radically different than what we’re hearing that I now feel insecure about it. The source is Thierry Meyssan whom I’ve come to trust over time so let’s see what this forum thinks…
https://www.voltairenet.org/article206707.html
Hi Bob-
Interesting link. I wonder if the Russians will convince Iran to depart Syria, possibly in exchange for a guarantee of protection from the USA at home? I admit that I am not a scholar on mid-east affairs, I’m just hoping and guessing.
Scott, IIRC both Russia and China provided Iran with guarantees of protection from the U.S. military, about two months ago. There was almost no press coverage.
Thanks Paul.
“Although he can sometimes adopt flamboyant initiatives, he is quite capable of stepping back when he thinks he is wrong. It is in fact because he has this capacity of assuming personal responsibility for the errors of his side that President Trump has maintained him in this function.”
Meyssan would have done well to cite an example or two to flesh this out. If Bolton has admitted he was wrong and assumed personal responsibility for it, I’d be interested to know when.
Between Iran and Israel, it is apparent that the “provocateurs” aren’t the ones defending Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. The aggressor is clearly Israel. Does Meyssan think the intentions and behavior of Israel will change if Iran makes some kind of good faith withdrawal from Syria? Would the U.S. “recognize” the Syrian government and withdraw from her oil fields if Iran makes some kind of good faith withdrawal from Syria?
Course not.
Peace will come when the aggressors stop their aggression.
More here…
https://www.globalresearch.ca/russian-american-israeli-meeting-jerusalem-syria-iran-table/5680395
There are virtually no people in Washington like that. If you know anything about the great game, we will never leave the Middle East or Afghanistan, (or Africa, SA, Pacific, etc.) just like we never left anywhere else since WWII.
Tulsi Gabbard is a non-interventionist, as is Rand Paul. As for the great game, it is the path to Armageddon. Time for some real change.
I get the bully bromance of these two. Bullies get along so long as they can beat up weaker victims together. When one bully starts to bully the other–well the bromance ends pretty quickly. Here’s to hoping for a Bolton demise sooner rather than later.
John Kiriakou says the white house is in disarray, so what’s new about this? I think Bolton is the public face of the deep state and whether he’s there or not will not deter the deep state from doing what it wants. Apart form Bolton, Pompeo is hardly Mr nice guy, and I think Pence is a nasty, but quiet figure in the background who looks like he’s just waiting for something to happen to Trump. Never under estimate the deeps state ability to scheme and get what it wants. FALSE FLAG ANYONE ?
I hope Mr. Kiriakou is correct – good riddance to bad rubbish. However, let’s not forget that when Trump announced the Syrian pull-out the Democrats in DC were apoplectic. Also, with his connections maybe the author could have shed some light on those being interviewed, as this administration seems to go from bad to worse in most of its staffing and appointments (though it’s hard to imagine someone waiting in the wings worse than Bolton.)
Does this mean that Trump will move our embassy back to Tel Aviv? Will he renounce the occupation of West Bank territory and the Golan Heights land grab? I think not. It seems also that the “Deal of the Century” won’t even rise to the status of “dead on arrival” because it won’t even be offered up; it’s worse than that – stillborn. Maybe he should sack Kushner also and force his daughter’s divorce. That would fit in perfectly with Trump’s reality TV WH tenure.
It’s been my suspicion that both Trump and Pompeo are there at the insistence of Sheldon Adelson who told Trump that “no Bolton and Pompeo, then no campaign moolah.” It’s also my suspicion that Trump chooses his lackeys based on his assessment of how many lurid headlines those crazies will generate for our great leader, and in that Bolton has succeeded admirably. Ever the reality TV guru.
One last observation: it wasn’t Bolton (apparently) that motivated Trump to trash the JCPOA. Our “very stable genius” of a President did that all on his own out of spite and ignorance.
I’d like to celebrate the final (hopefully) passing of John Bolton here in the wee hours of the US’ dark night, but I’m waiting for the other shoe to hit the floor. To put a fine point on it: I don’t think this effing moron Trump has a clue – about anything.
I don’t think Trump trashed the JCPOA on his own. I doubt he knew much about it. He was pushed, and pushed hard! The benjamins again!!!
Could be, I don’t know.
But even if he were to dump Bolton, Good God, he still has Pompeo and other lesser figures, all equally disastrous to the world’s peace and stability.
The argument around loyalty made here I recognize as valid, but don’t forget that Trump has his whole tribe of Neocons for a very specific reason.
When feeling seriously threatened concerning his remaining in office, he turned to extremely wealthy Americans for support and comfort, people whose interests include other matters, especially Israel.
He clearly received what he needed, but he had to pay a price, and that price was the appointment of creatures like Bolton and Pompeo plus his entire mad policy over Iran.
I really wouldn’t expect to see any dramatic changes.
America is not returning to Enlightenment principles any time soon.
Full speed ahead on trying to tell the rest of the planet what it is to do and on displaying open contempt for rule of law.
Just recall, Pompeo’s terrible words very recently about Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the next British election.
Here was the American Secretary of State openly vowing to work against fair elections for the Mother of Parliaments.
Truly, America, corruption, hypocrisy, and dishonor are becoming the chief characteristics of your national government.
Instead of Old Glory, maybe it should be renamed as Old Tawdry.
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/
John Chuckman wrote:
“The argument around loyalty made here I recognize as valid, but don’t forget that Trump has his whole tribe of Neocons for a very specific reason.
“When feeling seriously threatened concerning his remaining in office, he turned to extremely wealthy Americans for support and comfort, people whose interests include other matters, especially Israel.
“He clearly received what he needed, but he had to pay a price, and that price was the appointment of creatures like Bolton and Pompeo plus his entire mad policy over Iran.”
It indeed looked like a deal with the military–industrial complex…
Dear John,
in the May 11th comment on your blog, you posted that Trump “turned to various elements of America’s Israel Lobby for support and a huge war chest for 2020, and he got them”.
In today’s comment, you post that Trump “turned to extremely wealthy Americans for support and comfort, people whose interests include other matters, especially Israel.
“He clearly received what he needed, but he had to pay a price, and that price was the appointment of creatures like Bolton and Pompeo plus his entire mad policy over Iran.”
The problem with this analysis is that Trump’s devotion to Israel was already “1000 percent” prior to the 2016 election.
At a 2015 gala hosted by the Algemeiner Journal, Trump declared “We love Israel. We will fight for Israel 100 percent, 1000 percent.”
VIDEO minutes 2:15-8:06
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiwBwBw7R-U
Trump’s bid for the presidency was announced soon after. His whole “insurgent” campaign, his purported break with GOP orthodoxy, questioning of Israel’s commitment to peace, calls for even treatment in Israeli-Palestinian deal-making, and refusal to call for Jerusalem to be Israel’s undivided capital, were an elaborate propaganda scam engineered by the Israel Lobby from the very beginning.
Abject obeisance to the pro-Israel Lobby has been amply demonstrated by the Trump administration and the US Congress.
“But Mr. Trump has poked fun at Mr. Bolton’s reputation for hawkishness, joking in meetings with him. ‘If it was up to John, we’d be in four wars now,’ one of the senior officials recalled Mr. Trump as saying.”
Trump Tells Pentagon Chief He Does Not Want War With Iran – The New York Times, May 16, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/16/world/middleeast/iran-war-donald-trump.html
Here is a look back in time at what a large number of former American ambassadors had to say about John Bolton:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2019/06/john-bolton-force-for-global-insecurity.html
Given his penchant for blustering and bullying, this unelected, multi-administration Washington insider is a man to be feared. However, there is one thing he must be credited for – he certainly is a force for global insecurity.
Bolton is a war criminal and moral coward, just like Trump, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Obama, Clinton, and most members of the US Congress.
That’s painting with a broad brush, but spot on!!! Read The End of Myth by Greg Grandin….. truly scary history that the u.s. has.