Seeing that what he predicted should happen by now turned
out differently, John Bolton says we must no longer preoccupy ourselves with
the present, but concentrate on what he now predicts the future holds for the world.
In the same way that he made predictions telling the leaders
of America where to take the
ship of state, he is again telling America 's future leaders where to
take the country. He says it in an article that came under the title: “2017
foreign policy & the 2016 campaign” and the subtitle: “Idealized strategies
founded on hypothetical scenarios no longer useful,” published on December 12,
2015 in Pittsburgh Tribune.
Actually, Bolton begins the
article in a surprising manner. He starts with the description of a current
situation which he says resembles what existed right after the events of 9/11.
Apparently, he believes in the saying that the more things change, the more
they remain the same. In this case 'the same' means that the nation finds
itself under attack by foreign kids and their domestic supporters who believe
that America's interference in the affairs of the Middle East has robbed them
of the decent future they could have had. In their judgment, America 's
activities in the region leaves them with no choice but to attack the country
that’s destroying their region.
In consequence of all that, Bolton has put together a
package of predictions, strategies and tactics he says will benefit America more
than the earlier packages – those that turned out to be duds. And just as it
was critical after 9/11 that national security takes center stage in the
deliberations that followed, it is now “increasingly critical that national
security takes center stage in the 2016's political debate.”
And so, he tells the would-be debaters who happen to be the
current crop of candidates running to be president – what to do next. It is
this: “articulate foreign and defense policies based on the international
reality they will inherit in 2017 … directly address[ing] the world they will
face after they finish the oath of office. Strategies founded on hypothetical
scenarios are no longer useful.”
He tells them to stop critiquing Obama because ISIS is here,
and Iran
continues with its nuclear-weapons program. But why stop critiquing Obama? Good
question. There are three reasons, he says: “First, Obama has done precious
little to reach his self-professed goal to 'degrade and ultimately destroy' ISIS .” As to the second reason: “Despite asserting that
Assad must be removed from power, the president has done almost nothing to make
it happen.” And the third reason has to do with “Tehran making another year's worth of
progress toward the objective of nuclear weapons.”
To honor his recommendation about not critiquing President
Obama, John Bolton goes on to say this: (1) “Obama consistently misread Russia 's position on Syria .” (2) “So blind is Obama that
he continues hoping Putin will change his mind.' (3) “Obama's unwillingness to
act will leave us with Assad more difficult to remove.” And he expects the
other debaters to honor his recommendation not to critique Obama, as faithfully
as that.
Given the similarity or lack of it for which he prognosticated as
to how the situation will look in the future when compared to now, Bolton says this: “it is unrealistic for candidates to
talk about removing Assad from power.” In other words, he says we must no
longer preoccupy ourselves with a present that did not materialize the way he
had predicted – but concentrate on a future about which he now makes
predictions. Here we go again.
He says that in 2017, Russia
will be more entrenched in Syria .
Reversing what he has been saying for the past four years, he now says: “Syria and Assad
are a strategic side show.” Mentioning the word 'Tehran' five times in a row,
he goes on to say this: “The issue is the regime in Tehran … It is Tehran that
is speeding toward nuclear weapons … It is Tehran that threatens Israel … It is
Tehran that keeps Assad in power … And it is Tehran that remains the central
banker of terrorism.”
And so he makes a final recommendation to the would-be new
president: (1) Eliminate Iran 's
nuclear threat. (2) Destroy ISIS . (3) Consider
Assad to be only a symptom of the threat we face, not the real thing.
And this is how John Bolton wants America