Monday, November 19, 2007

JONATHAN TOBIN ON BOLTON MEMOIRS

Jonathan Tobin writes about John Bolton's new memoir of his time as UN ambassador, Surrender is Not an Option. And among the discussions Bolton includes in his book:
"I didn't like the direction of our policy on too many issues, particularly Iran, North Korea and Arab-Israeli issues," he says. Under the ascendancy of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, things would, in his opinion, "only get worse."
And even Colin Powell doesn't escape criticism here:
The chief villains in his account are secretaries of state Rice and Colin Powell. During Bush's first term, when Powell was in charge, the drive to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions lost critical ground. Rather than seek to lead our European allies into a coalition that would impose serious sanctions on that Islamic republic, Powell left "the driving to the European Union." That meant years - when Tehran's program was still far from success - were wasted. This convinced the Iranians that nothing would or could stop them.
Bolton deserves much praise for understanding just how poor a secretary of state Rice happens to be, and also Powell.

No comments:

Post a Comment