Bolton Book Cites Effort to Halt Powell's Iran Initiative

[deminks]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/21/AR2007102101042.html

On the eve of the 2004 presidential elections, then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell secretly attempted to shift U.S. policy on Iran by telling key allies he wanted to offer "carrots" to the Islamic Republic to halt its nuclear ambitions, former U.N. ambassador John R. Bolton writes in his soon-to-be-published memoir.

Bolton, then undersecretary of state, says that he worked hard to thwart Powell's plans -- only to discover, to his dismay, that Powell's replacement, Condoleezza Rice, would pursue the same approach in President Bush's second term.

(snip)

Bolton's recounting of these episodes adds to the growing body of insider accounts about the inner workings of the Bush administration, though this is one of the first by a leading conservative figure. It will likely cause angst at the State Department and in some foreign capitals, including London, because of Bolton's depiction of the diplomatic exchanges. In typically pugnacious style, Bolton lashes out at his opponents in the administration and overseas, repeatedly referring to European Union diplomats as "EUroids" and foes in State's East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau as "EAPeasers."

Bolton in particular criticizes Rice and one of her top aides, Undersecretary R. Nicholas Burns, for what he considers poor diplomacy. He recounts his anger -- and that of other administration conservatives -- at many of her decisions, especially her handling of North Korea, Iran and the Israeli war, arguing that Rice was too willing to make unnecessary concessions in pursuit of ineffectual achievements.

(snip)

"Powell had violated our long-standing Iran policy, colluded with the EU-3 against it and come out nearly endorsing Kerry's position only weeks before our election," Bolton writes. "Along with others, I had foiled Powell's legacy gambit. I knew it, and he knew I knew it."

But then to Bolton's shock, Rice adopted the same approach when she became secretary. He says he began thinking of leaving the administration when Rice gave him the news over dinner in 2006. A depressed Bolton pointedly ordered carrot soup with the meal.

(end snip)

Well, another reich wing tirade I will not be reading. Thank the maker that he was not approved by Congress. But, the damage that Cheney wanted to prep for the Iran war has been done.

[Tom Joad]

1. But listen to Bolton here. In a candid conversation with his friends in aipac,

Bolton basically says that his hopes were that Iran would do something to escalate the conflict.

...I think the Iranian reaction to the sanctions resolution has been very telling in that respect, although they’ve passed a resolution in parliament to re-evaluate their relation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, they have not rejected the sanctions resolution, they have not done anything more dramatic, such as withdrawing from the nonproliferation treaty, or throwing out inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which I actually hoped they would do – that that kind of reaction would produce a counter-reaction that actually would be more beneficial to us.

More of that conversation here:
http://www.stopaipac.org/boltontape.htm

(includes a link to the audio of that conversation)

The original full audio of Bolton's conversation was posted by Atlas Shrugs, an aipac/bolton groupie. She later took the audio recording down. Unfortunately, some folks found it before she did.

[scarletwoman]

2. He apparently thinks the Iranians are as blockheaded as he is.

Perhaps he needs reminding that the Persians invented the game of chess.

sw