Tag: Blow torch

WASHINGTON — Shortly after Ambassador John R. Bolton was sent to represent the United States at the United Nations, an institution he had long scorned as an anti-American citadel of corruption, he hosted President George W. Bush for a visit. Mr. Bolton, who takes over Monday as President Trump’s third national security adviser with Syria as his most immediate challenge, and talks with North Korea and the future of the Iranian nuclear deal not far behind, loves nothing more than a good target. North Korea. “I don’t know how that will work out. To those who say I’m going to start a war, that’s what I think.” Some of Mr. Bolton’s harshest critics are those who once worked with him. “This will be the scariest thing that’s happened to us in 50 years,” said Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Mr. Powell when he was secretary of state. He loves the combat.” Mr. Hadley, Ms. Rice and other Bush veterans privately cautioned against Mr. Bolton being named deputy secretary of state when Mr. Trump took office. When the elder George Bush was elected, Mr. Baker named Mr. Bolton assistant secretary of state for international organizations. “I don’t do war,” he recalled Mr. Bolton replying. “It was very consistent with John’s view that we don’t need international staffs, we don’t need new institutions, we just need countries to work together,” said Robert Joseph, an ally on the National Security Council staff.