Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton spoke at Congressman Steve King’s Conservative Principles PAC Conference in Des Moines, IA.
“National security should be an important in 2012.” He said that our national security and foreign policy should be a tangible issues for voters in 2012 as it impact our independence, freedom, our peace and security.
Blasting Obama he said he wasn’t qualified to be president when he was elected and he noted that he still isn’t since being elected. He said he said national security “doesn’t get him up in the morning.” He said he doesn’t see the world as a very threatening place.” He notes that Obama is an example of multilateralism at its fullest. He wants to cede sovereignty over to international agencies, “he is fascinated by international law.”
Bolton stated “legitimacy for the United States comes from ourselves.” Bolton notes that the U.S. Constitution is our highest authority, not an international body like the U.N. Security Council. He said that President Obama is our first “post-American” President and doesn’t understand American exceptionalism. “If everybody is exceptional, nobody is.”
“Protection for the United States will not be found in the U.N. Security Council,” Bolton said in critiquing multilateralism. He said we can best defend ourselves by making sure our defense is adequately funded. He’s concerned by cuts that the Obama Administration is making, and pointed out that he could find numerous domestic programs to cut to find money for defense.
Criticizing Obama’s Libya policy, Bolton said he is concerned that if Gaddafi is not removed that he could return to international terrorism. He said that if Obama acted earlier the rebels could have possibly removed him by now. He said the rest of his Middle East policy is “chaotic.” He was confused in Egypt, Bolton said, and has no tangible strategy for Iran. He said that instability in the Middle East impacts peace in Israel.
He said we need to have a sustained discussion about the failure of Obama’s foreign policy as we approach 2012.