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John Bolton: Only U.S. Can Restrain Iran, North Korea
The United States is the only country in the world that can restrain Iran and North Korea, and it should do what is necessary no matter what the world thinks, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Thursday. "If we can't persuade them [other countries], that's just too damn bad," Bolton said, drawing a standing ovation. Bolton said the U.S. should work to convince other nations of the importance of securing the world against dangerous states. But at the same time, America cannot allow itself to be immobilized if others fail to appreciate contemporary challenges, Bolton told the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. Bolton, a former top arms control official, served as ambassador to the U.N. until last December, when he left the post after Congress refused to confirm him in the post he assumed by recess appointment.
Story Continues Below His time at the U.N. was dominated by the crises over Iran's nuclear ambitions and North Korea's development of nuclear weapons capability. At a time when the Iranians have been "thumbing their noses" at the Europeans over the nuclear issue, the U.S. must keep the military option on the table, Bolton said. "I do take President Bush to be a man of his word, and when he says it is unacceptable for Iran to have nukes, what he means is that it is unacceptable," Bolton said. He also expressed a desire to see the Stalinist regime in Pyongyang "eliminated" and the Korean peninsula united in freedom. At a time when the Bush administration's policies are under siege, he said, conservatives must be mindful of attempts underway to "dispirit" them ahead of the 2008 election cycle, Bolton said. Liberal media are working to convince conservatives that they cannot possibly win the next presidential contest, when this is not the case, he argued. Conservatives should respond by "putting the lie" to notions circulated in the media that the administration has been hopelessly discredited and that a Democratic victory in 2008 is inevitable, Bolton said.
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