Trump Unleashes On Uber-Hawk Bolton: We'd Be Fighting "The Whole World At One Time"

I do not know how anyone can be a hawk. There is no rational basis for War itself, but ample rationalizations.  The entire wealth of a nation is based on its young people in particular and their future economic contribution. Every death is a direct loss of wealth.

Yet so many are caught up in the rationalizations and become true chicken hawks.  Trump has allowed these to do their job.  Thus they present a robust face to the chicken hawks everywhere else while leaving the final decision to Trump.  Today the Iranians understand that only Trump saved them from a nasty attack and possible war even.

A large part of this is Kabuki Theater of course as it is likely the Iranians are also responding to pressure from China to stir things up with plausible deniability.  This allows Trump to establish a red line for the Iranians and stops Chinese meddling here. The Chinese badly need to change the conversation away from the burgeoning trade war.  It just did not happen.

I do think that the stage is well set for the Mullahs to crumble and be replaced by a true nationalist secular Iranian government that may even be democratically elected.



.

Trump Unleashes On Uber-Hawk Bolton: We'd Be Fighting "The Whole World At One Time" 


by Tyler Durden
 
Mon, 06/24/2019 - 08:11 


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-23/trump-unleashes-uber-hawk-bolton-he-would-take-whole-world-one-time

In a stunningly frank moment during a Sunday Meet the Press interview focused on President Trump's decision-making on Iran, especially last week's "brink of war" moment which saw Trump draw down readied military forces in what he said was a "common sense" move, the commander in chief threw his own national security advisor under the bus in spectacular fashion. 

Though it's not Trump's first tongue-in-cheek denigration of Bolton's notorious hawkishness, it's certainly the most brutal and blunt take down yet, and frankly just plain enjoyable to watch. When host Chuck Todd asked the president if he was “being pushed into military action against Iran” by his advisers in what was clearly a question focused on Bolton first and foremost, Trump responded: 

“John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he'd take on the whole world at one time, okay?” 

Trump began by explaining, “I have two groups of people. I have doves and I have hawks,” before leading into this sure to be classic line that is one for the history books: “If it was up to him he'd take on the whole world at one time, okay?” 

During this section of comments focused on US policy in the Middle East, the president reiterated his preference that he hear from "both sides" on an issue, but that he was ultimately the one making the decisions. 

When pressed on the dangers of having such an uber-hawk neo-conservative who remains an unapologetic cheerleader of the 2003 Iraq War, and who laid the ground work for it as a member of Bush's National Security Council, Trump followed with, “That doesn't matter because I want both sides.”

 

And in another clear indicator that Trump wants to stay true to his non-interventionist instincts voiced on the 2016 campaign trail, he explained to Todd that: 

I was against going into Iraq... I was against going into the Middle East. Chuck we've spent 7 trillion dollars in the Middle East right now. 

It was the second time this weekend that Trump was forced to defend his choice of Bolton as the nation's most influential foreign policy thinker and adviser. When peppered with questions at the White House Saturday following Thursday night's dramatic "almost war" with Iran, Trump said that he "disagrees" with Bolton "very much" but that ultimately he's "doing a very good job". 

Bolton has never kept his career-long goal of seeing regime change in Tehran a secret - repeating his position publicly every chance he got, especially in the years prior to tenure at the Trump White House. 

Tucker's epic "bureaucratic tapeworm" comment: 

But Bolton hasn't had a good past week: not only had Trump on Thursday night shut the door on Bolton's dream of overseeing a major US military strike on Iran, but he's been pummeled in the media. 

Even a Fox prime time show (who else but Tucker of course) colorfully described him as a "bureaucratic tapeworm" which periodically reemerges to cause pain and suffering.