Donald Trump is assembling a war cabinet

John_Bolton

Last Updated on March 22, 2018.

WASHINGTON — Win Without War Director Stephen Miles released the following statement regarding news that John Bolton will become Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor:

Donald Trump is showing us who he really is by choosing John Bolton to be his national security advisor: a reckless president bent on dragging the United States into more wars. It is clear that a President who ran for office claiming to oppose the disastrous war in Iraq is now assembling a war cabinet to replay that horror show many times over.

Make no mistake, John Bolton is a dangerous and disgraced warmonger who has no business leading our country’s national security apparatus.

On the heels of what looked like a promising push toward diplomacy with North Korea, Trump will now seek counsel on national security issues from someone who has been calling for war with North Korea for years. As recently as last month,he even said the U.S. should launch an unprovoked first strike.

It’s fitting, that as we marked this week the 15th anniversary of the Iraq war — a conflict that cost incalculable lives and trillions of dollars — Trump would choose an unrepentant Iraq war cheerleader who has also spent years pushing for war with Iran.

Already, Trump is close to killing the Iran nuclear deal — one of the greatest diplomatic achievements in U.S. history that has blocked Iran’s pathways to building the bomb . Now, he’ll have in Bolton a top advisor who earlier this year called for regime change in Iran. And just months before the U.S. and its international partners reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, Bolton said that “only military action… can accomplish what is required.”

The United States, and indeed the rest of the world, is on a dangerous path with this appointment. With war hawk CIA Director Mike Pompeo tapped to become the next Secretary of State and Gina Haspel, who oversaw key aspects of the Bush-era torture program, nominated to replace Pompeo, Trump is sending a clear signal that diplomacy and rule of law have no place in his administration.

Because Bolton’s position requires no Congressional consent, his appointment makes the Senate’s votes on Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel all the more vital. Anyone who cares about our nation’s security and hopes to stop the President’s march to war must block these two crucial national security nominations.

 

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Win Without War is a diverse network of national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in America.

March 22, 2018