John Bolton Hopes Americans Will Choose Another President with a Neocon Foreign Policy

John Bolton says that American voters should have foreign policy at the top of their list of demands for their choice of president. He wishes for another administration that will stray further away from our national interests, and seems to really think that neocons still have any legitimate support base in this country. He certainly doesn't want to realize that a majority of Americans want a total 180 in our foreign policy, and with his pushing that priority down our throats will only have the opposite effect on what he wishes would happen. He is right that next year's election will have a large bearing on our foreign policy, but if the actual majority of citizens vote with any sort of sense, it won't be what he has in mind.

Bolton said the next president will have to cope with countries seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction, countries that already have nuclear weapons and long-term policy challenges from the rise of China and India and the resurgence of Russia with oil at $90 a barrel.

"The way the American president deals with China I think will have a major impact on how China sees itself and continues to evolve," Bolton said.

He said that in continuing the war against terrorists and dealing with the threats of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. currently faces many challenges.

"These are acute threats to the United States and our friends and allies around the world," Bolton said.

Talking about the debate over President Bush's policy in Iraq, he said, "we lose sight that the president's decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein has brought the United States to an enormous strategic victory."

He said that the invasion of Iraq brought an end to the dictatorship.

"This regime was a threat to the United States," said Bolton, who added that the U.S. surge policy in Iraq is working and the level of violence is down.

Talking about Iran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, he said that unless the U.S. is prepared to accept an Iran with such capabilities, the time for diplomacy is over. He said one option is a regime change in Iran and the other is a last resort of targeted use of military force against Iran's nuclear program.