John Bolton
PBS
In a scathing critique, former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton criticized President Joe Biden for advising Israel against retaliating to Iran’s assaults over the weekend, labeling Biden as a disgrace to the United States.
Iran’s extensive attack
PBS
Bolton expressed these sentiments during a CNN interview following Iran’s extensive attack on Israel, which involved 185 suicide drones, 110 surface-to-surface missiles, and 36 cruise missiles.
Powerful response
CNN
“And unless Iran sees a powerful response, that risk will continue,” Bolton said. “And the way to reestablish deterrence is not proportional. That’s academic talk. The way you establish deterrence is by telling your adversary, if you ever try that again, the price you will pay will be so much higher than any gain you think you can get, you shouldn’t even think about it.”
Potential targets
CNN
“So I think Israel has a wide range of potential targets. You start by flattening Iran’s air defense capabilities,” he continued. “Next, you might go after headquarters of the regular military and the Revolutionary Guard. You could consider going after their oil infrastructure, the oil fields, the distribution pipelines, the export port facilities.”
Opportunity
MSNBC
“And, most importantly, I think Israel should be looking at this as an opportunity to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which is the existential threat that Israel faces,” he added. “I don’t know what they will do. I can’t predict it. But I will tell you this. If Joe Biden, as some press reports have it, is urging the Israelis not to retaliate at all, he is an embarrassment to the United States,” he said.
International peace
Youtube
“This is an American interest to make sure that Iran, which is the principal threat to international peace and security in the region, is, at a minimum, put in its place to spare Israel, to spare the Gulf Arabs, to spare us from the threat that they pose.”
Retaliatory strike
Youtube
According to reports, President Biden informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday that the United States would not back an Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran.
Bolton criticized
Youtube
Bolton criticized individuals in the U.S. who advocate for diplomacy as the preferred course of action for Israel.
Rejected
Youtube
“Well, how well is diplomacy working so far? Hamas this morning again rejected the cease-fire plan,” he said. “And, by the way, I have heard from people in Israel they believe there are less than 20 hostages still alive, that perhaps 100 of them are dead. And if that’s true, and if Hamas knows it, but has been negotiating these past months on the basis of 40 coming out, with more possibly later, and Hamas itself saying they can only find 27, Hamas may have been conducting a deception operation to build up pressure on Iran, knowing full well it could never meet the diplomatic goals of the administration.”
Failed
Youtube
“So deterrence failed 320 times last night against Israel,” he concluded. “If Iran doesn’t feel the pain, I think it’s only got to get worse for Israel.”
