Notorious
war hawk John Bolton – who has long been vying for a position in
Trump’s administration – has been especially eager to work with a
president with minimal foreign policy knowledge or experience,
allowing him maximum effect in achieving his policy goals.
by
Whitney Webb
Part
1
Last
Thursday, President Trump announced that former UN ambassador John
Bolton, once called the “most dangerous man” in the entire George
W. Bush administration, would replace H.R. McMaster as national
security adviser, making him the man in charge of what the President
sees and hears regarding issues of national security. Bolton will
officially take over McMaster’s post on April 9.
The
appointment was not surprising. Indeed, earlier this month, MintPress
reported that McMaster was soon to be replaced – largely at the
behest of billionaire Republican donor and militant Zionist Sheldon
Adelson – and that Bolton was a top contender for that position,
largely due to Bolton’s reputation as a “stalwart friend of
Israel” and his frequent calls for military action against Iran,
Israel’s regional arch-rival.
Yet,
Bolton’s appointment – placed in the greater context of recent
changes to Trump’s cabinet – is a harrowing portent for those
opposed to more U.S. regime-change wars. Mike Pompeo, another
proponent of war with Iran, is set to take over the State Department;
and Gina Haspel — whose nickname “Bloody Gina” speaks to her
history of overseeing torture and depreciating human life — is
slated to take over for Pompeo as head of the CIA. Bolton completes
the triumvirate and his ultra-hawkishness speaks to the President’s
posturing for war against not one but several countries — with
hopes of building a unipolar world with the United States as its sole
leader, a perverse distortion of his isolationist campaign promise
“America First.”
Though
he is just one of the war hawks now roosting in the Trump
administration, Bolton is arguably more dangerous than all the rest
due to his bellicose rhetoric, unilateral decision-making, and his
“kiss up, kick down” style of interaction with superiors and
colleagues, allowing him to be remarkably effective in getting his
way. Not only that, but Bolton – who has long been vying for a
position in the Trump administration – has been admittedly eager to
work with a president with minimal foreign policy knowledge or
experience — obviously true in Trump’s case — as it would allow
him to have maximum effect in achieving his policy goals. Bolton has
already exercised great influence over the president, reportedly
adding statements to Trump’s speech at the United Nations without
the knowledge of Trump’s staff.
Thus,
Bolton is set to have a disproportionately influential role in the
Trump administration, making it essential to examine what his
appointment will likely mean for U.S. government policy, particularly
regarding geopolitical “hotspots” such as the Middle East and the
Koreas.
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