by John Bolton;
“I believe former senior officials have virtually an obligation to explain what they did while in government.… It is jarringly apparent to government veterans that those who have never been ‘inside’ find it difficult, if not impossible, to understand what goes on and why. Press accounts and ‘instant histories’ are far too often lacking in insight and understanding of the government in operation. Accordingly, memoirs are critical to parting the curtain for the uninitiated, as Gates does.
“As to Gates’s timing, I believe the criticisms are unfair and misplaced. There is no better moment for a prospective author to write than while his memory is still fresh, just after leaving government service. If such timing is inconvenient for the incumbent administration or former colleagues, that is their problem, not the author’s. Especially for those subject to the kind of withering criticism Gates levels at Obama, no time is convenient. Imagine what those now complaining about Gates’s timing would have said had the book emerged in September 2012.
“Indeed, if Gates is subject to criticism on timing, it is precisely that he did not publish before the 2012 election, where exposing Barack Obama’s views on Afghanistan and his lack of interest in the global war on terrorism could have been significant. For example, voters could well have benefited from knowing what Gates was thinking during a March 2011 National Security Council meeting in the White House Situation Room, listening to the Commander in Chief: ‘The president doesn’t trust his commander, can’t stand Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him it’s all about getting out.’
“The harder, more important question is whether Gates violated the implicit confidences of the president and other senior colleagues. In some respects, this criticism parallels the justification for ‘executive privilege,’ namely, that the president must be able to receive candid advice from his subordinates, and that such candor is simply impossible if people expect to read about it thereafter. Since the integrity of Executive Branch decision-making is under siege from virtually every direction imaginable, it is no small matter if it is vulnerable from the very people directly advising the president.
“But the executive-privilege analogy is only superficially accurate. All histories pose a threat to executive privilege, and insiders have been leaking internal administration battles since Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson propagandized against each other through partisan newspapers. Somehow, President Washington muddled through. Moreover, executive privilege’s true justification is to defend against an intrusive congress or judiciary, and its rationale is therefore different from the normal human expectation that confidences do not last forever. Except in the case of classified information, not at issue here, adults in US politics today understand that they are always on stage. There is no rule of omertà in politics, except perhaps in Chicago.”
I stand by these views still today.
After greeting me at the Pentagon’s ceremonial entrance, Mattis and I enter the building for our first meeting, on March 29, 2018, ten days before my official start as National Security Advisor.
Happy times just before Pompeo’s swearing-in ceremony as Secretary of State, at the Department, in Washington, on May 2, 2018.
At the G7 meeting in Canada on June 10, 2018, I was there as the Europeans pushed Trump into a corner, literally. It turned out not to be a good moment for the Western alliance.
I met with King Abdullah at the residence of Jordan’s Ambassador to Washington on June 22, 2018, just before the King’s meeting with Trump to discuss the continuing crisis in Syria, and Iran’s support for the Assad regime.
Getting together with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for lunch at Osobnyak House in Moscow on June 27, 2018, to prepare for the Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki. Unfortunately, the summit ended in disarray when Trump appeared to cast doubt on US intelligence about Russian interference in our elections. E. PESOV
Laying a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, Israel, on August 21, 2018, a traditional stop for high-level visitors.
I met Nicolas Patrushev, my Russian counterpart, for the first time, at the US mission in Geneva on August 23, 2018, and made a point of addressing Russian election interference.
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes me to our second 2018 meeting in Moscow’s Kremlin, on October 23, where, among other things, Putin joked that Russia would sell weapons to Saudi Arabia if the US did not. Fiona Hill, NSC Senior Director for Europe and Russia, looks on. AP PHOTO/ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO
Pompeo and I speak while waiting for Trump, typically late, to join the G20 meetings in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 30, 2018, as relations with Russia chilled after the seizure of Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait.
One of the turning points in Trump’s decision making on Syria: being briefed by American military commanders at the Al-Asad air base in Iraq, December 26, 2018. AP PHOTO/ANDREW HARNIK
Trump speaks by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi from Al-Asad air base in Iraq on December 26, 2018, after Abdul-Mahdi decided not to meet with Trump at the base.
The final meeting of the Hanoi Summit between the United States and North Korea, February 28, 2019, from which Trump walked away without a deal. AP PHOTO/EVAN VUCCI
Always an experience: reporters accompanying me on one of several Middle East trips on board our military aircraft, March 23, 2019. SARAH TINSLEY
Trump’s meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, April 11, 2019, considered what to do next about North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs after two failed summits with Kim Jong-un.
Johnny Lopez de la Cruz, President of the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association Brigade 2506, gave me an enthusiastic introdution at the brigade’s annual commemoration of their tragically unsuccessful 1961 effort to overthrow Castro’s regime, in Coral Gables Florida, April 17, 2019. AP PHOTO/WILFREDO LEE
After a sad day for the people of Venezuela, I explained to the press outside the West Wing on May 1, 2019, how close the opposition to the Maduro regime had had come to ousting him.
Trump meets with US service members, veterans, and their families at the UK celebration of the 75th anniversary of launching D-Day, on June 5, 2019, at Portsmouth, England, from which much of the Allied invasion armada sailed.
Helicoptering to the Jordan Valley with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on June 23, 2019, Victoria Coates, NSC Senior Director for the Middle East is at left. AP PHOTO/ABIR SULTAN/EPA POOL VIA AP
Bibi took me on a tour of the strategic geography of the Jordan Valley, June 23, 2019; here we overlook the valley from a secure Israeli position on the heights of the West Bank. CHRISTINE SAMUELIAN
Outside the West Wing on September 10, 2019, explaining to my daughter on my personal cell (normally kept in a secure box during the work day) that I am about to resign. TOM BRENNER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES
More from the Author
Surrender Is Not an Option
About the Author
© PHILIP BERMINGHAM
JOHN BOLTON is the former National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump. He served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006. He has spent many years of his career in public service and held high-level positions in the Administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Ambassador Bolton is also an attorney, and was in private practice in Washington, DC, from 1974 to 2018, except when he was in government service. Ambassador Bolton was born in Baltimore in 1948. His first book was Surrender Is Not an Option. He graduated with a B.A., summa cum laude, from Yale College and received his J.D. from Yale Law School. He currently lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
SimonandSchuster.com
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/John-Bolton
@simonbooks
ALSO BY JOHN BOLTON
Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations
How Barack Obam
a Is Endangering Our National Sovereignty
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NOTES
CHAPTER 1: THE LONG MARCH TO A WEST WING CORNER OFFICE
1 John Bolton, Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007).
2 For those interested, see ibid.
3 See, e.g., Josh Dawsey et al., “Giuliani pulls name from contention for secretary of state,” https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/giuliani-pulls-name-from-contention-for-secretary-of-state-232439.
4 Elise Labott, “Donald Trump Told Nikki Haley She Could Speak her Mind. She’s Doing Just That,” https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/politics/state/nikki-haley-donald-trump-united-nations/.
5 Emily Smith, “Trump spent Thanksgiving asking: Mitt or Rudy?”, New York Post, November 27, 2016, https://nypost.com/2016/11/26/trump-spent-thanksgiving-asking-mitt-or-rudy/.
6 See Gregg Jaffe and Adam Entous, “As a general, Mattis urged action against Iran. Now, as a defense secretary, he may be a voice of caution,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/as-a-general-mattis-urged-action-against-iran-as-a-defense-secretary-he-may-be-a-voice-of-caution/2017/01/08/5a196ade-d391-11e6-a783-cd3fa950f2fd_story.html; Josh Rogin, “Mattis clashing with Trump transition team over Pentagon staffing,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/01/06/mattis-clashing-with-trump-transition-team-over-pentagon-staffing/.
7 Kenneth P. Vogel and Josh Dawsey, “CIA freezes out top Flynn aide,” https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/mike-flynn-nsa-aide-trump-234923.
8 See Gardiner Harris, “Where Is Rex Tillerson? Top Envoy Keeps Head Down and Travels Light,” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/world/europe/germany-rex-tillerson.html?searchResultPosition=2.
9 Matt Apuzzo et al., “Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation,” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html.
10 See “Remarks by President Trump Before a Briefing on the Opioid Crisis,” August 8, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-briefing-opioid-crisis/.
11 See Conor Finnegan, “Tillerson: Americans should ‘sleep well at night’ amid N. Korea crisis,” August 9, 2017, https://abcnews.go.com/International/tillerson-americans-sleep-night-amid-korea-crisis/story?id=49111147.
12 See Peter Baker, “Trump Says Military Is ‘Locked and Loaded’ and North Korea Will ‘Regret’ Threats, August 11, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/world/asia/trump-north-korea-locked-and-loaded.html.
13 See Ben Kesling, “On North Korea, Mattis, Mattis Stresses Diplomacy, But Advises Army to Be Ready,” https://www.wsj.com/articles/on-north-korea-mattis-stresses-diplomacy-but-advises-army-to-be-ready-1507591261.
14 Shinzo Abe, “Solidarity Against the North Korean Threat,” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/opinion/north-korea-shinzo-abe-japan.html?searchResultPosition=22.
15 See “Interview with John Dickerson of CBS’s Face the Nation,” September 17, 2017, https://www.state.gov/interview-with-john-dickerson-of-cbss-face-the-nation/.
16 Jackie Northam, “China Cuts Off Bank Business With North Korea As Trump Announces New Sanctions,” https://www.npr.org/2017/09/21/552708231/china-cuts-off-bank-business-with-north-korea-as-trump-announces-new-sanctions.
17 John Bolton, “Trump must withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal—now,” https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/342237-opinion-trump-must-withdraw-from-iran-nuclear-deal-now.
18 See Peter Baker, “Trump Recertifies Iran Nuclear Deal, but Only Reluctantly,” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/us/politics/trump-iran-nuclear-deal-recertifyhtml?auth=login-email&login=email&searchResultPosition=1.
19 See Stephen F. Hayes and Michael Warren, “Getting to No: How the Trump Administration Decided to Decertify the Iran Nuclear Deal,” https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/getting-to-no-how-the-trump-administration-decided-to-decertify-the-iran-nuclear-deal-2009955; and Peter Baker, note 18 above.
20 See John R. Bolton, “How to Get Out of the Iran Nuclear Deal,” https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/08/iran-nuclear-deal-exit-strategy-john-bolton-memo-trump/.
21 Omer Carmi, “How Will Iran Prepare for Potential U.S. Withdrawal from the JCPOA?”, https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/how-will-iran-prepare-for-potential-u.s.-withdrawal-from-the-jcpoa.
22 John Bolton, “Mr. President, don’t put America at risk with flawed Iran deal,” https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/354484-john-bolton-mr-president-dont-put-america-at-risk-with-flawed-iran.
23 See Remarks by President Trump on Iran Strategy, October 13, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-iran-strategy/.
24 See Bolton, Surrender Is Not an Option, especially pp. 233-38.
25 See David M. Halbfinger, “U.S. Funding Cut Reignites Debate on Palestinian Refugee Agency,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/world/middleeast/palestinian-refugee-agency-unrwa.html?searchResultPosition=2.
26 See Stephen Farrell, “Israel admits bombing suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, warns Iran,” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-syria-nuclear/israel-admits-bombing-suspected-syrian-nuclear-reactor-in-2007-warns-iran-idUSKBN1GX09K.
27 Reuters, “South Korea approves record $2.6 million budget for North Korea’s Olympic visit,” February 13, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018-northkorea-payment/south-korea-approves-record-2-6-million-budget-for-north-koreans-olympic-visit-idUSKCN1FY094.
28 See, e.g., Michael Schwirtz, “U.N. Links North Korea to Syria’s Chemical Weapons Program,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/world/asia/north-korea-syria-chemical-weapons-sanctions.html.
29 See Gordon Corera, BBC, “Salisbury poisoning: What did the attack mean for the UK and Russia,” March 4, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51722301.
30 See “Press Briefing by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah,” https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/press-briefing-principal-deputy-press-secretary-raj-shah-03262018/.
31 Nahal Toosi, “Dunford: Military option for North Korea not ‘unimaginable,’ ” https://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/22/dunford-north-korea-military-option-not-unimaginable-240851.
32 Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation (New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1969), p.88.
CHAPTER 2: CRY “HAVOC!” AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR
1 See Ben Hubbard, “Dozens Suffocate in Syria as Government Is Accused of Chemical Attack,” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/08/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-attack-ghouta.html.
2 See Sarah Almukhtar, “Most Chemical Attacks in Syria Get Little Attention. Here Are 34 Confirmed Cases.” https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/13/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-attacks-maps-history.html?searchResultPosition=2.
3 See “Statement from Pentagon Spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis on U.S. strike in Syria, April 6, 2017,” https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/1144598/statement-from-pentagon-spokesman-capt-jeff-davis-on-us-strike-in-syria/.
4 See Karen DeYoung and Missy Ryan, “Strike on Assad for use of chemical agents unlikely to advance wider US goals in Syria,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/strike-on-assad-for-use-of-chemical-agents-unlikely-to-advance-wider-us-goals-in-syria/2018/04/10/0c5fe3f8-3c0a-11e8-974f-aacd97698cef_story.html.
5 The White House statement after this call said Trump and Macron had agreed on a “strong, joint response.” Monique El-Faizy, “Will Macron Do in Syria What Obama Wouldn’t?�
�� https://www.france24.com/en/20180413-france-will-macron-do-syria-what-obama-would-not-russia-ghouta-chemical-weapons.
6 Trump raised the possibility of Russian responsibility publicly later in the day: “So if it’s Russia, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out and we’ll know the answers quite soon.” “Remarks by President Trump at Cabinet Meeting,” https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-cabinet-meeting-7/.
7 These sorts of consultations among allies are commonplace, and often acknowledged publicly, as in this case: “British officials said Monday they are monitoring the situation in coordination with allies.” Carol Morello, “U.N. to meet on chemical attack in Syria, though Russia is expected to stick up for Assad government,” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/un-to-meet-on-chemical-attack-in-syria-though-russia-is-expected-to-stick-up-for-assad-government/2018/04/09/f2e18176-3bf4-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html.
8 See Catherine Lucey and Jill Colvin, Associated Press, “In run-up to missile strike, an orderly, chaotic White House,” https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2018/04/15/in-run-up-to-missile-strike-an-orderly-chaotic-white-house/; and Dion Nissenbaum, Michael Gordon, and Stacy Meichtry, “U.S. Presses Allies to Back a Military Strike on Syria,” https://www.wsj.com/articles/watchdog-agency-to-investigate-syria-chemical-strike-site-1523383551?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=20.
