Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton came by today's bloggers briefing at Heritage to talk about his new book, "Surrender is Not an Option," and sound-off on a wide variety of foreign policy issues.
Ambassador Bolton has a knack for memorable lines, and I was extremely impressed by his knowledge of world affairs and his ability to concisely explain complicated issues in a straight-forward, no nonsense manner.
The Ambassador explained that two goals for his book are to show that, "Policy isn’t made by cosmic forces in the sky, it's made by real people," and to demonstrate "how the State Department undercuts the President's policies."
the United Nations
Bolton explained that the UN is one tool in the United State's foreign policy tool box.
The UN is a butter knife. You don’t use it to eat soup or cut steak. As long as you realize that, you’ll be alright.
(More after the jump)
Iran
Iran doesn’t have the slightest intention of giving up it's nuclear ambitions in Ambassador Bolton's view, and he explained that the past four years of negotiating with Iran have been a failed policy.
Engaging in negotiation isn’t a cost free enterprise. Negotiation isn’t a policy, it’s a tool.
He continued by saying that negotiating has a cost, and in this case it's provided Iran with four years of time to work on a nuclear bomb.
Law of the Sea Treaty
Ivan Osorio asked about the UN Law of Sea Treaty, and Bolton unsurprising sad it was a bad treaty that needs to be defeated.
He described it as like Dracula rising out of the grave every time you turn around.
If you want to catch-up on on the issue, The Washington Times has an article about the debate over the treaty's ratification.
FSO's in Iraq
J.P Freire asked about State Department Foreign Services Officers who are complaining about serving in Iraq.
Bolton stated that every FSO agrees to be "available for immediate worldwide assignment," and everyone has taken that obligation freely, knowing the risks.
If you don’t want the hard part of the job, the alternative is to resign.
Hugo Chavez
President Bush has called him Castro without brains.
The State Department
The Ambassador quotes a high-ranking State Department official:
If the American people knew how we made foreign policy, they’d be after us with pitch forks.
Bolton concluded by noting that we need an effective Department of State.
If we don’t have a State Department that’s effective at diplomacy and negotiation, we’re going to get creamed.
After listening to Ambassador Bolton speak, I highly encourage anyone who's concerned about the state of US foreign policy to pick up a copy of Ambassador Bolton's book, "Surrender Is Not An Option."
Opt-In Movement
Mark Meckler told us about Opt-In Movement which offers a no risk-way for conservative political candidates and organizations to quickly and effectively build their email lists. You can find out more about the Opt-In Movement program at OptInMovement.com.
(Disclosure: DAG is a partner with Opt-In Movement.)
