John Bolton, the former Bush administration Ambassador to the United Nations who has seemingly been testing the waters for a possible presidential candidacy, is now saying that the Senate GOP leadership’s unsuccessful fight against the START nuclear arms treaty with Russia was a good thing politically — even though the treaty was ratified.
Bolton appeared last night on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, with Tucker Carlson sitting in the host seat.
“But let’s be clear. I think that this fight was worth it, even though the treaty was ratified,” said Bolton, “because I think, people are now well aware of the driven ideology of this administration, to reduce our nuclear capabilities, which I think they now understand will endanger us and our friends and allies going forward.”
Bolton also said this of the Obama administration’s non-pursuit of missile defense: “Their argument is, we have to be vulnerable to a Russian first strike and if we have missile defense, it would frustrate the Russians’ ability to destroy us.”
To say the least, this is a bit of a twisting of both the Obama administration’s intentions and the principle of mutual assured destruction — the idea employed by policymakers in the Cold War that the nuclear arms race of the era made a full-scale war less likely, by making the total destruction of both sides (and most of humanity) the ultimate outcome.
Instead, Bolton seems to be subscribing to the General Jack D. Ripper school of foreign policy in response to disarmament talks — that the answer is more nukes on our side.
Carlson: You’ve been around it a lot. What exactly is the argument against defending yourself by all means necessary? Missile defense is — by definition, purely defensive. What would be the argument against that?
Bolton: Because defense is destabilizing. Their argument is, we have to be vulnerable to a Russian first strike and if we have missile defense, it would frustrate the Russians’ ability to destroy us. This is what mutual assured destruction is based on. The Russians still think that way and they’re worried as the offensive capabilities come down, even a small national missile defense capability would be a threat to their first strike. To which I say: Hurrah!
Carlson: Well, that is — what you just described is so grotesque that I hope it will live forever on YouTube, and will be seen by millions because it’s–
Bolton: That’s why it is called mutual assured destruction or MAD. That’s exactly what it is: Mad.
Carlson: It is mad.
Watch the video below:
