Who is John Bolton & why picking him as US NSA is creating a buzz

The news of US President Donald Trump picking John Bolton, a man about who he initially had a reservation because of his moustache, as the national security adviser has the international world in attention.

Bolton, who will replace army veteran HR McMaster as the third national security adviser in April, is known to an extreme hawk. The man has no regard for international diplomacy and wants to bomb countries like North Korea and Iran straightaway.

Bolton, 69, had served as the US ambassador to the United Nations in 2005-06 when the Republican George W Bush was in power. He also acted as the foreign policy adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012. Associated with a number of a conservative think tank, Bolton is against the Iran deal and supported the Iraq war and is still unmoved from his position. Bolton has also spoken in favour of military action to change regimes in Syria, Libya and Iran.

The man is currently donning different mantles. He is a senior fellow at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, senior adviser at the Freedom Capital Investment Management, a Fox News commentator and a counsel to a law firm in Washington.

Bolton has just one way forward: Bomb'em!

Bolton's arrival in place of a moderate McMaster means the US foreign policy could see an ultra-hawkish turn in the days to come and the administration might not even care for Congressional ratifications before going for unilateral moves. Bolton's appointment also comes ahead of the likely talks between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

Bolton has just one way forward to deal with North Korea and it is through bombing it, something he has made known in the past as well. Post-April 9 when he formally joins as the national security adviser, his extremist thoughts could be translated into an official US policy.

The man also has a little respect for bodies like the UN which means his long tenure (both of his predecessors served comparatively shorter stints and we never know what Trump does tomorrow) could see Washington exhibiting even more disregard for international diplomacy.

Bolton's book titled 'Surrender is Not an Option' also speaks as ruthlessly about Iran and he criticised former US president Barack Obama's efforts to arrive at a deal with Iran's nuclear programme. According to Bolton, the only way to deal with Iran is to send bombers to ruin it to prevent disaster.

Bolton had served in other Republican administrations even before George W Bush. He had senior positions in the Ronald Reagan and George Bush senior administrations and he had let his mind known by opposing global controls on biological weapons.

Bolton's arrival was only a matter of time as insiders of US politics say. In his inside account of the White House 'Fire and Fury', Michael Wolff said that even Trump's former senior counsellor Steven Bannon, another right-wing conservative, had asked the president to take Bolton on board.

OneIndia News