The document governing the nation’s affairs since 1789 created strong brakes on government power and meddling. Decades of drifting away from the Constitution has led to an array of both domestic and foreign problems. Still, the Constitution is the blueprint that made our country the envy of the world. Sad to say, however, reliance on the venerable document hasn’t been the primary focus on the current president’s agenda, or that of his numerous predecessors.
More recently, President Trump has called for “Draining the Swamp” — it is a crowd-pleaser. To most Americans, the “swamp” consists of those people and entities that don’t have America’s best interest at heart. The president has taken a few steps toward lessening the effect of the swamp denizens, but they’re still around and more needs to be done to lessen their influence.
One who most would consider part of the “swamp” is John Bolton. But this man has just been tapped by Trump to be our nation’s newest national security advisor. It’s troubling, as Bolton has inclinations that are the direct opposite of Trump’s early claim to be a noninterventionist.
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Described by many as an experienced diplomat who served our nation as ambassador to the United Nations, Bolton should be known as a neoconservative warmonger, anxious to force the rest of the world to bend to America’s will. His bellicose urgings kept him from gaining senate approval for the UN post given him by President George W. Bush. When the Senate turned thumbs down on that appointment, Bush waited until that body was no longer in session to award Bolton what is termed a “recess” appointment, a tainted award if ever there was one. Numerous senators from both political parties were wary of the man, and he couldn’t win Senate confirmation so Bush gave it to him in a legal but underhanded way.
John Bolton has long been a member of the sovereignty-despising Council on Foreign Relations. It would be difficult to find anyone more committed to unnecessary war. He partnered in wanting a second war against Iraq after the lightning quick removal of Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait in 2001. As a member of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), dreamed up by neocons Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Abrams, Perle, and Armitage, he joined with his PNAC internationalists to have Iraq invaded again. After the first President Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992, these bellicose internationalists tried to get President Clinton to attack Iraq. But Bill had other concerns to deal with and other ideas about how to create the New World Order.
After Clinton’s eight years in office, Bolton called on President George W. Bush to wage preemptive war against Iran. He has lately insisted that our nation should conduct cyber warfare against Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and any other nation accused of this new form of warfare.
The Constitution isn’t being relied upon by the Trump administration. If it were guiding the president and his policymakers, America’s troops would be brought home from endless wars such as those in Afghanistan and Syria. There would be widespread closing down of the U.S. military presence in the 130 nations where American troop contingents are currently posted.
But expecting John Bolton, as the president’s national security advisor, to change Washington’s reigning militarism is unrealistic. John Bolton should be scorned, not elevated to a very sensitive post.
John F. McManus is president emeritus of The John Birch Society. This column appeared originally at the insideJBS blog and is reprinted here with permission.
