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The Room Where It Happened
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ARCHIVE - BUDDY READ - THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED - DISCUSSION (No Spoilers, please)
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John R. BoltonSynopsis:
As President Trump’s National Security Advisor, John Bolton spent many of his 453 days in the room where it happened, and the facts speak for themselves.
The result is a White House memoir that is the most comprehensive and substantial account of the Trump Administration, and one of the few to date by a top-level official. With almost daily access to the President, John Bolton has produced a precise rendering of his days in and around the Oval Office. What Bolton saw astonished him: a President for whom getting reelected was the only thing that mattered, even if it meant endangering or weakening the nation. “I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations,” he writes. In fact, he argues that the House committed impeachment malpractice by keeping their prosecution focused narrowly on Ukraine when Trump’s Ukraine-like transgressions existed across the full range of his foreign policy—and Bolton documents exactly what those were, and attempts by him and others in the Administration to raise alarms about them.
He shows a President addicted to chaos, who embraced our enemies and spurned our friends, and was deeply suspicious of his own government. In Bolton’s telling, all this helped put Trump on the bizarre road to impeachment. “The differences between this presidency and previous ones I had served were stunning,” writes Bolton, who worked for Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43. He discovered a President who thought foreign policy is like closing a real estate deal—about personal relationships, made-for-TV showmanship, and advancing his own interests. As a result, the US lost an opportunity to confront its deepening threats, and in cases like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea ended up in a more vulnerable place.
Bolton’s account starts with his long march to the West Wing as Trump and others woo him for the National Security job. The minute he lands, he has to deal with Syria’s chemical attack on the city of Douma, and the crises after that never stop. As he writes in the opening pages, “If you don’t like turmoil, uncertainty, and risk—all the while being constantly overwhelmed with information, decisions to be made, and sheer amount of work—and enlivened by international and domestic personality and ego conflicts beyond description, try something else.”
The turmoil, conflicts, and egos are all there—from the upheaval in Venezuela, to the erratic and manipulative moves of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, to the showdowns at the G7 summits, the calculated warmongering by Iran, the crazy plan to bring the Taliban to Camp David, and the placating of an authoritarian China that ultimately exposed the world to its lethal lies. But this seasoned public servant also has a great eye for the Washington inside game, and his story is full of wit and wry humor about how he saw it played
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John R. Bolton served as Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor from April 2018 to September 2019.
Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Bolton served as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI); of counsel at Kirkland & Ellis; a contributor to FOX News Channel and FOX Business Network; and his op-ed articles were regularly featured in major media publications.
Ambassador Bolton was appointed as United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations on August 1, 2005 and served until his resignation in December 2006. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Bolton served as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security from May 2001 to May 2005.
Other positions he has previously held include Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Department of State, 1989-1993; Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, 1985-1989; Assistant Administrator for Program and Policy Coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1982-1983 and General Counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1981-1982.
Ambassador Bolton is the author of Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the U.N. and Abroad, published by Simon and Shuster (November 2007) and How Barack Obama is Endangering our National Sovereignty, published by Encounter Books (April 2010).
Ambassador Bolton was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Yale College in 1970, and received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1974. He currently resides in Maryland with his wife, Gretchen. They have one daughter, Jennifer Sarah, who also graduated from Yale College, and received her MBA and SM degrees from MIT in 2014 and is currently a senior manager at Nissan’s facility in Nashville.
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“I can’t believe I’m saying this: it’s worse than I even imagined.” – Stephen Colbert
“As much as you think you know about the arrogance, vanity and sheer incompetence of Trump’s years in the White House, Bolton’s account will still astonish you... No wonder the White House was so determined to block this book.” – David Ignatius, Washington Post
"A scathing and revelatory account... indispensable, jaw-dropping, and specific...what a truth he offers us." – The New Yorker
“Bolton's bombshell book shows it's still possible to be shocked by Trump's presidency.” – The Guardian
“Mr. Bolton’s volume is the first tell-all memoir by such a high-ranking official who participated in major foreign policy events and has a lifetime of conservative credentials. It is a withering portrait of a president ignorant of even basic facts about the world, susceptible to transparent flattery by authoritarian leaders manipulating him and prone to false statements, foul-mouthed eruptions and snap decisions that aides try to manage or reverse.” – The New York Times
“The most substantive, critical dissection of the president from an administration insider… lays out a long series of jarring and troubling encounters between the president, his top advisers and foreign leaders.” – Washington Post
“A book full of damning details.” – The Economist
“Explosive” – Business Insider
“Devastating portrait” – Telegraph
“Eye-popping” – CNN
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Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1 - The Long March to a West Wing Corner Office - 1
Chapter 2 - Cry "Havoc!" and Let Slip the Dogs of War - 43
Chapter 3 - America Breaks Free - 61
Chapter 4 - The Singapore Sling - page 77
Chapter 5 - A Tale of Three Cities - Summits in Brussels, London and Helsinki - 127
Chapter 6 - Thwarting Russia - 159
Chapter 7 - Trump Heads for the Door in Syria and Afghanistan and Can't Find It - 183
Chapter 8 - Chaos as a Way of Life - 223
Chapter 9 Venezuela Libre - 247
Chapter 10: Thunder out of China - 287
Chapter 11: Checking into the Hanoi Hilton, then Checking Out, and the Panmunjom Playtime - 319
Chapter 12: Trump Loses His Way, and Then his Nerve - 363
Chapter 13: From the Afghanistan Conterterrorism Mission to the Camp David Near Miss - 423
Chapter 14: - The End of the Idyll - 445
Epilogue - 483
Photographs - 494
About the Author - 492
Notes - 495
Index - 543
Copyright - 578
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Cover
Week One: June 29th - July 5th
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1 - The Long March to a West Wing Corner Office - 1
Week Two: - July 6th - July 12th
Chapter 2 - Cry "Havoc!" and Let Slip the Dogs of War - 43
Chapter 3 - America Breaks Free - 61
Week Three: -July 13th - July 19th
Chapter 4 - The Singapore Sling - page 77
Week Four: - July 20th - July 26th
Chapter 5 - A Tale of Three Cities - Summits in Brussels, London and Helsinki - 127
Week Five:- July 27th - August 2nd
Chapter 6 - Thwarting Russia - 159
Week Six: - August 3rd - August 9th
Chapter 7 - Trump Heads for the Door in Syria and Afghanistan and Can't Find It - 183
Week Seven: - August 10th - August 16th
Chapter 8 - Chaos as a Way of Life - 223
Week Nine: - August 17th - August 23rd
Chapter 9 Venezuela Libre - 247
Week Ten: - August 24th - August 30th)
Chapter 10: Thunder out of China - 287
Week Eleven: - August 31st - September 6th (pages 319 - 363)
Chapter 11: Checking into the Hanoi Hilton, then Checking Out, and the Panmunjom Playtime (page 319)
Week Twelve: - September 7th - September 13th (pages 363 - 423)
Chapter 12: Trump Loses His Way, and Then his Nerve - (page 363)
Week Thirteen: - September 14th - September 20th (pages 423 - 445)
Chapter 13: From the Afghanistan Counterterrorism Mission to the Camp David Near Miss (page 423)
Week Fourteen:
Chapter 14: - The End of the Idyll - 445
Week Fifteen - Epilogue and Book as Whole and Final Thoughts
Epilogue - 483
Photographs - 494
About the Author - 492
Notes - 495
Index - 543
Copyright - 578
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Chapter 1 - The Long March to a West Wing Corner Office
Bolton describes his first days at the White House prior to taking the National Security Advisor position, the interview process and his initial impressions. As the chapter proceeds, Bolton discusses the early days and his impressions of and interactions with some of the other major players in the Trump administration.
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Discussion Topic and Question:
1. What is the relevance of Bolton's epigraph above from your viewpoint? How does the Duke of Wellington have anything to do with Trump or Bolton?
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CHAPTER 1
THE LONG MARCH TO A WEST WING CORNER OFFICE
"One attraction of being National Security Advisor is the sheer multiplicity and volume of challenges that confront you. If you don’t like turmoil, uncertainty, and risk—all while being constantly overwhelmed with information, decisions to be made, and the sheer amount of work, and enlivened enlivened by international and domestic personality and ego conflicts beyond description—try something else.
It is exhilarating, but it is nearly impossible to explain to outsiders how the pieces fit together, which they often don’t in any coherent way. I cannot offer a comprehensive theory of the Trump Administration’s transformation because none is possible. Washington’s conventional wisdom on Trump’s trajectory, however, is wrong.
This received truth, attractive to the intellectually lazy, is that Trump was always bizarre, but in his first fifteen months, uncertain in his new place, and held in check by an “axis of adults,” he hesitated to act.
As time passed, however, Trump became more certain of himself, the axis of adults departed, things fell apart, and Trump was surrounded only by “yes men.”
Source: Bolton, John R. . The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir (p. 1). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.
Discussion Topics and Questions:
1. "How was" and "why was" Washington’s conventional wisdom on Trump’s trajectory wrong according to the author? Do you agree with or disagree with his assessment? Why or why not?
2. How did the extremely heavy turnover of Trump's inner circle (either because Trump fired them or because they left out of desperation) contribute to the remaining or the new inner circle being afraid of telling the president that he was making errors in judgement or that his decisions would cause major turmoil? This reminds me of the old folk tale of "The Emperor who had no clothes"
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Week One: June 29th - July 5th
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1 - The Long March to a West Wing Corner Office - 1
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My name is Bentley and I am the group founder and leader of the group. This book is of interest to me because of the events of this year including the impeachment proceedings where Bolton could have played an important role. I am from the Metro NYC area and New England (both are important to me).
I hope you will join in on the discussion and let us know you are here.
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In the future, I will get back to that practice but right now I am concentrating on getting the discussions begun. It takes a lot of time and effort.
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You can copy and paste below to get your spoiler right:
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However if we discuss folks outside the scope of the book or another book is cited which is not the book and author discussed then we do have to do that citation according to our citation rules. That makes it easier to not disrupt the discussion.
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If you go ahead of the assigned reading - then this is how the spoiler html would look.
For example:
Introduction
(view spoiler)
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Everyone is welcome but make sure to use the goodreads spoiler function if you get ahead of the assigned weekly pages.
If you come to the discussion after folks have finished reading it, please feel free to post your comments as we will always come back to the thread to discuss the book.
The rules
You must follow the rules of the History Book Club and also:
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Respect other people's opinions, no matter how controversial you think they may be.
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1 John Bolton, Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007).
Bolton refers to his previous book in Chapter One:
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ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson has emerged as the leading contender for the job.
"I fully respect and understand his reasons for remaining in the private sector," Donald Trump said./i>
By JOSH DAWSEY and SHANE GOLDMACHER 12/09/2016 04:32 PM EST Updated 12/09/2016 06:45 PM EST
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani pulled out of the secretary of state sweepstakes late last month, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team said Friday, as Trump has widened his search to select the nation’s top diplomat.
"Rudy Giuliani is an extraordinarily talented and patriotic American. I will always be appreciative of his 24/7 dedication to our campaign after I won the primaries and for his extremely wise counsel,” Trump said in a written statement. “He is and continues to be a close personal friend, and as appropriate, I will call upon him for advice and can see an important place for him in the administration at a later date.”
The transition team said that he withdrew on Nov. 29, though aides had mentioned him as one of four contenders multiple times after that date. One transition source said Giuliani continued to be the subject of internal discussions for the job through mid-week.
Giuliani had previously mounted a vigorous public campaign for the post, irritating Trump. On Friday, he explained his decision to withdraw.
“The whole thing was becoming kind of very confusing and very difficult for the president-elect, and my desire to be in the Cabinet was great, but it wasn't that great,” Giuliani said in a Fox News interview. “He had a lot of terrific candidates, and I thought I could play a better role being on the outside and continuing to be his close friend and adviser.”
Remainder of article: https://www.politico.com/story/2016/1...
Source: Politico
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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DONALD TRUMP TOLD NIKKI HALEY SHE COULD SPEAK HER MIND. SHE’S DOING JUST THAT.
BY ELISE LABOTT
ILLUSTRATION BY LUCIE BIRANT
SEPTEMBER 2017
"Nikki Haley was under consideration to become Donald Trump’s secretary of state when she flew to New York to meet the President-elect for the first time since his election victory.
The South Carolina governor was torn. The baggage from the 2016 campaign – she supported Marco Rubio in her state’s all-important presidential primary and later backed Ted Cruz – didn’t suddenly evaporate for Trump, who never forgets a slight.
Remainder of article:
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/...
Source: CNN Interactive
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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By Emily SmithNovember 26, 2016 | 7:58pm
"The talk at Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving dinner at his Florida club was all about if he should pick Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani for secretary of state.
The president-elect held court on Thursday at his Palm Beach, Fla., Mar-a-Lago club at a large table with family members including wife Melania and sons Eric and Barron.
One witness told us Trump took a prime table next to the fireplace in the club’s living room, but spent a lot of time greeting members and asking who they think should be his top diplomat.
The spy said, “Donald was walking around asking everybody he could about who should be his secretary of state. There was a lot of criticism about Romney, and a lot of people like Rudy. There are also many people advocating for [former US ambassador to the UN] John Bolton.”
Remainder of article:
https://nypost.com/2016/11/26/trump-s...
Source: The New York Post
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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On Friday, one of Michael Flynn’s closest deputies on the National Security Council was denied clearance. | Getty
The agency denied a security clearance for a key aide to the National Security Adviser — ratcheting up tensions between Flynn and the intel community.
By KENNETH P. VOGEL and JOSH DAWSEY 02/10/2017 10:16 PM EST Updated 02/10/2017 11:09 PM EST
"A top deputy to national security adviser Michael Flynn was rejected for a critical security clearance, effectively ending his tenure on the National Security Council and escalating tensions between Flynn and the intelligence community.
The move came as Flynn’s already tense relationships with others in the Trump administration and the intelligence community were growing more fraught after reports that Flynn had breached diplomatic protocols in his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
On Friday, one of Flynn’s closest deputies on the NSC, senior director for Africa Robin Townley, was informed that the Central Intelligence Agency had rejected his request for an elite security clearance required for service on the NSC, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.
That forced Townley, a former Marine intelligence officer who had long maintained a top secret-level security clearance, out of his NSC post, explained the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.
One of the sources said the rejection was approved by Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump’s CIA director, and that it infuriated Flynn and his allies.
Remainder of article:
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/0...
Source: Politico
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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Rex W. Tillerson boarded his flight to Germany on Wednesday, making his first foreign trip as secretary of state. He has been conspicuously absent from several prominent events, often relying on a surrogate.Credit...Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By Gardiner Harris
Feb. 15, 2017
"BONN, Germany — When President Trump met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the White House on Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson was conspicuously absent. He was on his first flight overseas as America’s top diplomat, pretty much alone.
Mr. Tillerson, who has no government experience, also missed two other important occasions in Washington this week: a lunch with Russia’s ambassador and Mr. Trump’s meetings with the prime minister of Canada. He has yet to hold a news conference.
Remainder of article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/wo...
Source: The New York Times
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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By Matt Apuzzo, Maggie Haberman and Matthew Rosenberg
May 19, 2017
President Trump met with Russian officials at the White House last week. American journalists were barred, but Russia released photographs.Credit...Russian Foreign Ministry
WASHINGTON — President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.
“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
Mr. Trump added, “I’m not under investigation.”
Remainder of article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us...
Source: The New York Times
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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Trump National Golf Club
Bedminster, New Jersey
3:12 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Secretary Price, for your work to address the crisis of opioid, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines. It is a tremendous problem in our country, and we’re going to get it taken care of as well as it can be taken care of, which hopefully will be better than any other country which also has the same problems or similar problems.
Nobody is safe from this epidemic that threatens young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural communities. Everybody is threatened. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, and opioid overdose deaths have nearly quadrupled since 1999. It is a problem the likes of which we have not seen.
Meanwhile, federal drug prosecutions have gone down in recent years. We’re going to be bringing them up and bringing them up rapidly. At the end of 2016, there were 23 percent fewer than in 2011. So they looked at this scourge and they let it go by, and we’re not letting it go by. The average sentence length for a convicted federal drug offender decreased 20 percent from 2009 to 2016.
During my campaign, I promised to fight this battle because, as President of the United States, my greatest responsibility is to protect the American people and to ensure their safety. Especially in some parts of our country, it is horrible what’s going on with opioid and other drugs. But the opioid is something that nobody has seen anything like it.
Today, I am pleased to receive a briefing from our team on ways we can help our communities combat this absolutely terrible epidemic and keep youth from going down this deadly path.
The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place. If they don’t start, they won’t have a problem. If they do start, it’s awfully tough to get off. So we can keep them from going on, and maybe by talking to youth and telling them, “No good; really bad for you” in every way. But if they don’t start, it will never be a problem.
We’re also working with law enforcement officers to protect innocent citizens from drug dealers that poison our communities. Strong law enforcement is absolutely vital to having a drug-free society. I have had the opportunity to hear from many on the front lines of the opioid epidemic, and I’m confident that by working with our healthcare and law enforcement experts, we will fight this deadly epidemic and the United States will win.
We’re also very, very tough on the southern border, where much of this comes in. And we’re talking to China, where certain forms of manmade drug comes in, and it is bad. And we’re speaking to other countries and we’re getting cooperation, but we’re being very, very strong on our southern border and, I would say, the likes of which this country certainly has never seen that kind of strength.
So we’re going to do our job. We’re going to get it going. We’ve got a tremendous team of experts and people that want to beat this horrible situation that’s happened to our country — and we will. We will win. We have no alternative. We have to win for our youth. We have to win for our young people. And, frankly, we have to win for a lot of other people, not necessarily young, that are totally addicted and have serious, serious problems.
So we thank you all for being here. And we’re going to get on with our meeting. Thank you very much. Thank you all.
Q Any comment on the reports about North Korea’s nuclear capabilities?
THE PRESIDENT: North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening beyond a normal state. And as I said, they will be met with fire, fury, and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.
Thank you.
Source: The White House
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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Rex Tillerson
The secretary of state is pushing for cooler heads and continued diplomacy by Conor Finnegan - August 9, 2017, 8:41 AM
MANILA, Philippines -- While President Trump delivered a brash warning of “fire and fury,” his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is pushing for cooler heads and continued diplomacy.
The belligerent message from Trump was meant to match the aggressive, at times ridiculous, rhetoric from North Korea, according to Tillerson.
“What the president was doing was sending a strong message to North Korea in a language that Kim Jong Un would understand,” Tillerson told reporters as he traveled back from Southeast Asia. “It was important that he deliver that message to avoid any miscalculation on their part.”
He stopped in the small Pacific island of Guam, a U.S. territory, just hours after North Korea threatened to strike it. But he had no qualms about safety while there, he said. “I do not believe there is any imminent threat, in my own view.”
He later said, “Americans should sleep well at night. I have no concerns about this particular rhetoric over the last few days.”
Remainder of article:
https://abcnews.go.com/International/...
Source: ABC News.go
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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A-10 planes lined up for takeoff on Thursday from the United States Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.Credit...Yonhap/Reuters
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — President Trump continued to beat war drums on Friday against North Korea and, unexpectedly, said he would consider a military option to deal with an unrelated crisis in Venezuela. But though he declared that the armed forces were “locked and loaded,” there were no indications of imminent action in either part of the world.
For all the bellicose language emerging from the president’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J., the United States military was taking no visible steps to prepare for a strike against North Korea or Venezuela. The Pentagon reported no new ships being sent toward the Korean Peninsula or forces being mobilized, nor were there moves to begin evacuating any of the tens of thousands of Americans living in South Korea.
The contrast between the heated words and the lack of apparent preparations suggested that Mr. Trump may still be counting on a resolution to the standoff with North Korea as it works to develop a nuclear arsenal capable of reaching the United States. After escalating his rhetoric against North Korea twice on Friday, Mr. Trump emerged from a late-afternoon meeting with his national security team offering a somewhat more restrained message, vowing to give diplomacy a chance.
Remainder of article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/wo...
Source: The New York Times
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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U.S. defense chief tells gathering of soldiers that emphasis is for now on peaceful measures to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
By Ben Kesling -Oct. 9, 2017 7:21 pm ET
WASHINGTON—Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. is using diplomacy and economic pressure to turn back North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, but cautioned a gathering of Army officers and troops that they need to be ready in case negotiations fail.
Remainder of article:
You have to subscribe to The Wall Street Journal to see the remainder of the article.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/on-north...
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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Prime Minister of Japan - Shinzo Abe
TOKYO — The whole world confronts an unprecedented, grave and imminent threat from North Korea. On Sept. 3, the regime carried out a reprehensible nuclear test. Late last week, it launched a ballistic missile over my country, Japan, only two weeks after a similar missile launch. By repeatedly testing missiles — in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions — Pyongyang has shown its reach now extends to the United States and Europe.
North Korea’s actions are an outright challenge to the international community. On Sept. 11, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on a new round of strict sanctions that restrict member states from selling oil to the North, ban North Korean textile exports and ban member states from authorizing North Koreans to work abroad.
They are an important step, but the leadership in Pyongyang has consistently ignored previous resolutions. The international community must stay united and enforce the sanctions.
Remainder of article: (a good history about what has happened in the past with NK)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/op...
Source: The New York Times
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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INTERVIEW - REX W. TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE - SEPTEMBER 17, 2017
QUESTION: Good morning and welcome to Face the Nation. I’m John Dickerson. We’ll get to the story that dominated news coverage most of last week, that of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, but there’s a lot of other news coming up this morning and so we’re going to begin by talking to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Mr. Secretary, welcome. Let me start with the Paris climate accord. The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration was looking for a way to stay in it, but in June President Trump said it was time to exit. So what is the administration position?
SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, the position is being led and developed by Gary Cohn over at the National Economic Council. And I think if you recall, the President also said, look, we are willing to work with partners in the Paris climate accord if we can construct a set of terms that we believe is fair and balanced for the American people and recognizes our economy, our economic interest relative to others – in particular, the second-largest economy in the world, China. If you look at those targets in terms of the Paris climate accord, they were just really out of balance for the two largest economies. So I think the plan is for Director Cohn to consider other ways in which we can work with partners in the Paris climate accord. We want to be productive, we want to be helpful. The U.S. actually has a tremendous track record on reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions.
QUESTION: So there’s a chance that if things get worked out both on the voluntary side from the U.S., the voluntary restrictions for the U.S., that it could change, but then also with China, there’s a chance the U.S. could stay in the accord; is that right?
SECRETARY TILLERSON: I think under the right conditions. The President has said he’s open to finding those conditions where we can remain engaged with others on what we all agree is still a challenging issue.
Remainder of Interview:
https://www.state.gov/interview-with-...
Source: US Department of State
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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Heard on All Things Considered - JACKIE NORTHAM on NPR
The U.S. says that China's central bank has ordered other Chinese banks to stop doing business with North Korea.
Remainder of article and audio:
https://www.npr.org/2017/09/21/552708...
Source: NPR
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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Dean AchesonNote: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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BY JOHN R. BOLTON, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 07/16/17 11:50 AM EDT
© Getty Images
For the second time during the Trump administration, the State Department has reportedly decided to certify that Iran is complying with its 2015 nuclear deal with the Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”).
If true, it will be the administration’s second unforced error regarding the JCPOA. Over the past two years, considerable information detailing Tehran’s violations of the deal have become public, including: exceeding limits on uranium enrichment and production of heavy water; illicit efforts at international procurement of dual-use nuclear and missile technology; and obstructing international inspection efforts (which were insufficient to begin with).
Remainder of article by John Bolton:
https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blo...
Source: The Hill
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One - also please note that the global community of nations involved with the Iran Nuclear Deal believed that Bolton was incorrect in his view of the deal itself and of his recommendation to the President.
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File photo of President Donald Trump flanked by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (left) and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (right) at White House - Pool
Donald Trump was frustrated. Five days earlier, on July 12, 2017, the president had decided for the second time in his young administration that he would certify to Congress Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal he’d promised as a candidate to dismantle. He wasn’t happy with the decision he’d made, and he was angry about the process that led to it. His top national security aides had presented him with a narrow range of options that did not include leaving the deal—or even simply “decertifying” it. On July 13, The Weekly Standard was the first to report Trump’s reluctant decision.
On the morning of July 17, the day the White House was to transmit its decision to Congress, chief strategist Steve Bannon handed Trump an article with the headline “Trump Must Withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal—Now.” The op-ed, written by former United Nations ambassador John Bolton and published the day before in the Hill, made the argument Trump had wanted to make: Iran wasn’t complying with the terms of the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action; the mullahs were advancing their nuclear program, ostensibly with America’s blessing; and the deal certainly wasn’t in the national security interests of the United States.
“President Trump has repeatedly made clear his view that the Iran deal was a diplomatic debacle,” Bolton wrote. “It is not renegotiable, as some argue, because there is no chance that Iran, designated by Ronald Reagan as a state sponsor of terrorism in January 1984, will agree to any serious changes. Why should it? President Obama gave them unimaginably favorable terms, and there is no reason to think China and Russia will do us any favors revising them. Accordingly, withdrawing from the JCPOA as soon as possible should be the highest priority. The administration should stop reviewing and start deciding.”
Remainder of article:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/we...
Source: The Examiner
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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Iranian flag at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. (Reuters photo: Leonhard Foeger)
Although candidate Donald Trump repeatedly criticized Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear agreement, his administration has twice decided to remain in the deal. It so certified to Congress, most recently in July, as required by law. Before the second certification, Trump asked repeatedly for alternatives to acquiescing yet again in a policy he clearly abhorred. But no such options were forthcoming, despite “a sharp series of exchanges” between the president and his advisers, as the New York Times and similar press reports characterized it.
Many outside the administration wondered how this was possible: Was Trump in control, or were his advisers? Defining a compelling rationale to exit Obama’s failed nuclear deal and elaborating a game plan to do so are quite easy. In fact, Steve Bannon asked me in late July to draw up just such a game plan for the president — the option he didn’t have — which I did.
Here it is. It is only five pages long, but like instant coffee, it can be readily expanded to a comprehensive, hundred-page playbook if the administration were to decide to leave the Iran agreement. There is no need to wait for the next certification deadline in October. Trump can and should free America from this execrable deal at the earliest opportunity.
I offer the Iran nonpaper now as a public service, since staff changes at the White House have made presenting it to President Trump impossible. Although he was once kind enough to tell me “come in and see me any time,” those days are now over.
If the president is never to see this option, so be it. But let it never be said that the option didn’t exist.
— John R. Bolton is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Abrogating the Iran Deal: The Way Forward
I. Background:
The Trump Administration is required to certify to Congress every 90 days that Iran is complying with the July 2015 nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — JCPOA), and that this agreement is in the national-security interest of the United States.1 While a comprehensive Iranian policy review is currently underway, America’s Iran policy should not be frozen. The JCPOA is a threat to U.S. national-security interests, growing more serious by the day. If the President decides to abrogate the JCPOA, a comprehensive plan must be developed and executed to build domestic and international support for the new policy.
Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, the President must certify every 90 days that:
(i) Iran is transparently, verifiably, and fully implementing the agreement, including all related technical or additional agreements;
(ii) Iran has not committed a material breach with respect to the agreement or, if Iran has committed a material breach, Iran has cured the material breach;
(iii) Iran has not taken any action, including covert activities, that could significantly advance its nuclear weapons program; and
(iv) Suspension of sanctions related to Iran pursuant to the agreement is –
(I) appropriate and proportionate to the specific and verifiable measures taken by Iran with respect to terminating its illicit nuclear program; and
(II) vital to the national-security interests of the United States.
U.S. leadership here is critical, especially through a diplomatic and public education effort to explain a decision not to certify and to abrogate the JCPOA. Like any global campaign, it must be persuasive, thorough, and accurate. Opponents, particularly those who participated in drafting and implementing the JCPOA, will argue strongly against such a decision, contending that it is reckless, ill-advised, and will have negative economic and security consequences.
Accordingly, we must explain the grave threat to the U.S. and our allies, particularly Israel. The JCPOA’s vague and ambiguous wording; its manifest imbalance in Iran’s direction; Iran’s significant violations; and its continued, indeed, increasingly, unacceptable conduct at the strategic level internationally demonstrate convincingly that the JCPOA is not in the national-security interests of the United States. We can bolster the case for abrogation by providing new, declassified information on Iran’s unacceptable behavior around the world.
But as with prior Presidential decisions, such as withdrawing from the 1972 ABM Treaty, a new “reality” will be created. We will need to assure the international community that the U.S. decision will in fact enhance international peace and security, unlike the JCPOA, the provisions of which shield Iran’s ongoing efforts to develop deliverable nuclear weapons. The Administration should announce that it is abrogating the JCPOA due to significant Iranian violations, Iran’s unacceptable international conduct more broadly, and because the JCPOA threatens American national-security interests.
Remainder of article:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/0...
Source: The National Review
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One; please also note that a global community of nations as well as the previous White House administration was against pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal.
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How Will Iran Prepare for Potential U.S. Withdrawal from the JCPOA? - Omer Carmi - Also available in العربية فارسی - April 3, 2018
President of Iran - Hassan Rouhani
Tehran seems to believe that President Trump will kill the deal next month, so it may start prepping its dormant nuclear facilities, sowing division between U.S. allies, or courting other global powers.
Many observers believe that President Trump's recent appointment of Iran hawks for two top positions—John Bolton as national security advisor and Michael Pompeo as secretary of state—is a further sign that he will withdraw from the nuclear deal next month, when the next deadlines for extending sanctions waivers arrive.
Although Tehran's response to the appointments has been fairly muted so far, this is no surprise given that the country effectively shuts down for two weeks around the Nowruz celebration in late March. After the holiday, Iran will likely start preparing more actively for a potential U.S. decision to reapply old sanctions and essentially nullify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
BOLTON AND IRAN
John Bolton is a well-known commodity among Iran's leadership. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tangled with him for years going back to the 2003 nuclear negotiations with Europe, when Bolton was undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Later, they both served as ambassadors to the UN, where they spent two years arguing with each other on the Security Council podium.
Over the past decade, media outlets in the Islamic Republic have portrayed Bolton as an anti-Iran neoconservative who supports the opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq, and whose policies toward the country are obsolete and counterproductive. For instance, when Bolton issued his August 2017 "memo" to the White House—a National Review article in which he outlined a strategy to withdraw from the JCPOA—Zarif declared that such a policy would be a "huge failure for Washington," resulting in further international isolation for the United States. He emphasized that Bolton's policies were proven wrong in the previous decade, claiming that they spurred Iran to increase its number of uranium enrichment centrifuges "from 200 to 20,000 in ten years." Zarif concluded that this is why no one in Washington "is listening to these proposals anymore."
As for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his basic narrative has always been that America seeks to topple the Islamic regime, and that the nuclear file is only a cover for reaching that goal. Bolton's return to the scene will probably reinforce that line of thinking.
Iran's Supervisory Committee on Implementing the JCPOA—composed of officials such as Zarif, President Hassan Rouhani, Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani, and Atomic Energy Organization director Ali Akbar Salehi—will presumably meet again soon, and one can assume that they will devote at least some attention to Bolton's writings in order to understand his potential impact on U.S. policy. In addition to his 2017 roadmap for annulling the nuclear deal, they are no doubt aware of his January Wall Street Journal op-ed advocating the regime's ouster—and of Pompeo's similar rhetoric over the years.
Remainder of Policy Article:
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/p...
Source: The Washington Institute
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One; please also note that a global community of nations as well as the previous White House administration was against pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal
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President Trump will address U.S. policy toward Iran on Thursday, doubtless focusing on his decision regarding Barack Obama’s badly flawed nuclear deal. Key officials are now briefing Congress, the press and foreign governments about the speech, cautioning that the final product is, in fact, not yet final. The preponderant media speculation is that Trump’s senior advisers are positioning him to make a serious mistake, based on their flawed advice. Wishful thinking about Iran’s mullahs, near-religious faith in the power of pieces of paper, and a retreat from executive authority are hallmarks of the impending crash.
In short, Obama’s Iran nuclear deal is poised to become the Trump-Obama deal. The media report that the president will not withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but instead, under the misbegotten Corker-Cardin legislation, will “decertify” that it is in America’s national interest. Congress may then reimpose sanctions, or try somehow to “fix” the deal. Curiously, most of the suggested “fixes” involve repairing Corker-Cardin rather than the JCPOA directly.
Remainder of article:
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-...
Source: The Hill
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One; please note the above article and opinions are not those of the History Book Club
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1. What are your thoughts and opinions on the Iran Nuclear Deal? Though possibly not a perfect deal and maybe even flawed - was having a deal better than no deal? Was an imperfect deal - imperfect to both sides a better solution than no agreement whatsoever?
2. Why was John Bolton so intent on ruining the global agreement and like a hammer pounding away at what was his singular position - why was he so relentless? Did he know something we did not and why was he so single minded about the whole arrangement when other global leaders warned that his philosophy regarding the agreement was flawed as was Trump's eventually?
3. As either an American or a global member - do you feel safer without the deal or did you feel safer with it?
Sources: BBC News for photo and key details below. Wikipedia, The Obama White House, The New York Times, The Council on Foreign Relations, Business Insider, The UN News, Al Jazeera, Al Monitor
Key Details of Iran Nuclear Deal:
Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle...
More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_C...
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/wo...
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what...
https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-...
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/0...
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...
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Diplomatic Reception Room
12:53 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. My fellow Americans: As President of the United States, my highest obligation is to ensure the safety and security of the American people.
History has shown that the longer we ignore a threat, the more dangerous that threat becomes. For this reason, upon taking office, I’ve ordered a complete strategic review of our policy toward the rogue regime in Iran. That review is now complete.
Today, I am announcing our strategy, along with several major steps we are taking to confront the Iranian regime’s hostile actions and to ensure that Iran never, and I mean never, acquires a nuclear weapon.
Our policy is based on a clear-eyed assessment of the Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world.
Remainder of presentation:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-...
Source: The White House
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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The Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, where much of the population relies on assistance from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.Credit...Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
JERUSALEM — In the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, Mahmoud Ferwana, 59, huddled beneath a flimsy nylon-and-sheet-metal roof while rain drenched the rest of his squalid home’s sandy floor. He earns money collecting broken stones; his children scavenge for copper. But none of it amounts to a living.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is what reliably puts food in their mouths.
If that aid were to stop, Mr. Ferwana said on Wednesday, “I and my children will die.”
That aid, to Mr. Ferwana and more than five million other Palestinians living in refugee camps across the Middle East, is now endangered by what the agency’s leaders are calling the worst financial crisis in its seven-decade history.
The United States, its biggest donor, announced this week that it was withholding $65 million from a scheduled payment of $120 million. The Trump administration said it was pressing for unspecified reforms from the agency, while also seeking to get Arab countries to contribute more.
Remainder of article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/wo...
Source: The New York Times
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel for the first time admitted that it bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 and said on Wednesday the strike should be a warning to Iran that it would not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
Remainder of article:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-is...
Source: Reuters
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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The NK Cheerleaders
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea approved on Wednesday the use of a record 2.86 billion won ($2.64 million) to bankroll the cost of hosting hundreds of visiting North Koreans during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Remainder of article:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ol...
Source: Reuters
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
Discussion Topics and Questions:
1. Did anyone else feel that this was an inordinate amount of money paid by the South Korean government? Why did the North Koreans not pay their own way at the Olympics? Especially for their own cheering squad, teams, their own journalists and orchestra?
2. Did NK say that they would not participate unless all of their expenses were paid for by the South Koreans? Isn't that sort of bypassing what we consider to be the Olympic spirit of good will and sportsmanship?
3. Or did South Korea assume that this was a small investment to pay for better relations with the North? Or do some of you feel that NK takes advantage of the goodwill of others? What did South Korea get in return? Your thoughts?
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Smoke billowed last week after an airstrike on the besieged neighborhood of eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus.Credit...Ammar Suleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
UNITED NATIONS — North Korea has been shipping supplies to the Syrian government that could be used in the production of chemical weapons, United Nations experts contend.
The evidence of a North Korean connection comes as the United States and other countries have accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons on civilians, including recent attacks on civilians in the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta using what appears to have been chlorine gas.
The supplies from North Korea include acid-resistant tiles, valves and thermometers, according to a report by United Nations investigators. North Korean missile technicians have also been spotted working at known chemical weapons and missile facilities inside Syria, according to the report, which was written by a panel of experts who looked at North Korea’s compliance with United Nations sanctions.
The report highlights the potential danger posed by any such trade between Syria and North Korea, which could allow Syria to maintain its chemical weapons while also providing North Korea with cash for its nuclear and missile programs.
Remainder of article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/wo...
Source: The New York Times
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious but both survived the attack
On 4 March 2018 emergency services received a phone call from members of the public in Salisbury who had seen an old man and a young woman ill on a bench. It was a call that would set in motion a chain of events leading to a major crisis with Russia.
After the pair were taken to hospital, local police did an online search on the name of the man taken ill.
The result set off alarm bells. He was a former Russian spy.
A call came into the duty officer at MI6 headquarters that Sunday evening.
The realisation that Sergei Skripal - a man who had provided MI6 with secrets from his time in Russian military intelligence - had been targeted sent shock waves through the building, challenging the very core of its work in recruiting agents to work with the organisation.
Remainder of article:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51722301
Source: BBC News
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
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By NAHAL TOOSI 07/22/2017 09:11 PM EDT Updated 07/24/2017 02:08 PM EDT
Moderator Andrea Mitchell interviews Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chairman Joseph Dunford on July 22 during the Aspen Security Forum at the Aspen Institute, in Aspen, Colorado. | Anna Stonehouse/The Aspen Times via AP Photo
ASPEN, Colorado — Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested Saturday that Americans must be prepared for the possibility of a military confrontation with North Korea, whose nuclear program he deemed an urgent threat.
Although he stressed the importance of applying continued economic and diplomatic pressure aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arms program, Dunford dismissed the oft-stated notion that a military option shouldn't be on the table.
Remainder of article:
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/0...
Source: Politico
Note: The above article was cited in John Bolton's Book Notes for Chapter One
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
History of the Peloponnesian War (other topics)Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? (other topics)
History of the Peloponnesian War (other topics)
Cato: A Tragedy, and Selected Essays (other topics)
Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Thucydides (other topics)Thucydides (other topics)
Graham Allison (other topics)
Joseph Addison (other topics)
H.R. McMaster (other topics)
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