Putin says nobody believed in Trump’s victory “except us”

December 23, 2016 By administrator

Russia‘s President Vladimir Putin said Friday, December 23 that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump accurately read the popular mood in the United States to win the election, although “nobody except us” believed in his success.

The U.S. president-elect “precisely felt the mood of the society and worked in that precise paradigm, he went to the end, though nobody believed that he would win except us,” Putin said while answering a state media journalist at his annual press conference.

Asked what he thought about support among some Americans for him, Putin said “I don’t put it down to me, the fact that a large part of Republican voters support the Russian president.”

“It means that a large part of the American people have the same idea of how the world should be, of our common dangers and problems,” he said.

“It’s good that there are people that sympathise with us in our concept of traditional values,” he said, and it may be a good starting point in “building relations” between the United States and Russia.

Russia and Putin has been accused by Washington of meddling in the U.S. elections but the Kremlin leader broadly dismissed this as attempts by the election losers to save face by blaming outside factors.

Putin suggested that the hackers behind the massive breach of Democratic Party emails did a public service by exposing “true information” which is more important than the nature of the hack.

“The most important thing is the gist of the information that hackers provided to the public,” he said.

“What is the best evidence that the hackers unveiled true information?” he said. “That after the hackers showed how public opinion is manipulated inside the Democratic Party… the chief of the Democratic National Committee (Debbie Wasserman Schultz) quit.”

“That means she admitted that the hackers showed the truth,” he said, but “instead of apologising… they started to shout about who initiated the hack attacks.”

“Does that really matter?” Putin asked.

The U.S. Democratic party have lost not just the presidential election, but also in the Senate and Congress, Putin said. “Was that also our doing?”

“They are losing on all fronts and are looking for the guilty party on the side,” he said. “That’s beneath their dignity. You have to lose with dignity.”

Trump nominates Exxon’s Rex Tillerson as US Secretary of State

December 13, 2016 By administrator

US President-elect Donald Trump has picked ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be the next secretary of state. Trump praised Tillerson’s “deep understanding of geopolitics”.

Trump officially announced his nomination of ExxonMobil’s Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, following numerous media reports.

“His tenacity, broad experience and deep understanding of geopolitics make him an excellent choice for Secretary of State,” Trump said in a statement released by his transition team.

Trump praised Tillerson’s business acumen and called his career “the embodiment of the American dream.”

“Rex knows how to manage a global enterprise, which is crucial to running a successful State Department,” Trump said.

Washington’s pending top diplomat said in a statement he would focus on strengthening international alliances while “enhancing the strength, security and sovereignty of the United States.”

Obama is doing his best to muddy the water between Russia and U.S. before he leaves.

December 10, 2016 By administrator

US President Barack Obama has ordered American intelligence agencies to investigate Russian cyber attacks as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concluded that Russia moved deliberately to help elect Donald Trump as president, not just to undermine the US political process more generally.

Obama requested that the intelligence agencies issue a report before he leaves office next month, White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Lisa Monaco told reporters Friday.

“The President has directed the Intelligence Community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process. It is to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders,” Monaco said.

Obama issued the order shortly before The Washington Post reported that US intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who were part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and reduce Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the election.

Apparently, before publishing the report, the Post informed the White House about the content of its story, as this is standard practice with some American newspapers.

Citing unnamed US officials briefed on the matter, the Post said individuals connected to Moscow provided thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including the chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign, to WikiLeaks.

The hacked emails provided to WikiLeaks were a regular source of embarrassment to the Clinton campaign during the presidential race.

“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” the Post quoted a senior US official as saying. “That’s the consensus view.”

It was now “quite clear” that electing Trump was Russia’s goal, the Post quoted officials as saying on condition of anonymity.

However, the CIA’s conclusion was not based on a formal assessment by all 17 US intelligence agencies, the Post said. There are still minor disagreements among intelligence officials about the assessment because some questions are unanswered.

Intelligence agencies did not have specific information showing Moscow directed the individuals to pass the hacked emails to WikiLeaks and those individuals were “one step” removed from the Russian government rather than government employees, another senior official told the Post.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said in a television interview that the Russian government was not the source of the emails, the Post said.

In October, the US government formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Trump has repeatedly rejected reports that Russian hackers were working to help his campaign and says the reports were politically motivated.

Trump’s transition office issued a statement Friday questioning the credibility of the CIA in response to the report. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.'”

Breaking News: A retired general John F. Kelly, to lead the department of homeland security

December 7, 2016 By administrator

Gen. John F. Kelly left Trump National Golf Club after a meeting with the president-elect in Bedminster, N.J., last month. Credit Hilary Swift for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump has settled on Gen. John F. Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general whose son was killed in combat in Afghanistan, as his choice for secretary of homeland security, placing defense of American territory from terrorism in the hands of a seasoned commander with personal exposure to the costs of war.

General Kelly, 66, who led the United States Southern Command, had a 40-year career in the Marine Corps, and led troops in intense combat in western Iraq. In 2003, he became the first Marine colonel since 1951 to be promoted to brigadier general while in active combat.

Mr. Trump, a person briefed on the decision said, has not yet formally offered the job to General Kelly, in part because the general is out of the country this week. The president-elect plans to roll out the appointment next week, along with his remaining national security positions, including secretary of state.

Donald Trump is Time magazine’s Person of the Year

December 7, 2016 By administrator

US President-elect Donald Trump has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2016, the BBC reports.

The property tycoon was awarded the title following his unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton in November’s presidential election.

Mr Trump told NBC’s Today show shortly after the announcement it was a “great honour” which “meant a lot” to him.

He was chosen from a shortlist that included Mrs Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The former leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, was also on the list for his role in the successful campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.

Mrs Clinton came second in the selection, Time’s managing editor Nancy Gibbs said, adding that the choice of Mr Trump was “straightforward”.

Time said the president-elect had redrawn America’s political rules.

The magazine invites readers to vote on who they think has earned the title, but the final decision is made by editors.

Others considered included gold-medal winning US gymnast Simone Biles, singer Beyonce Knowles and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Ex-Goldman Sachs banker expected to lead US Treasury

November 30, 2016 By administrator

ex-goldman-sachs-banker Trump has tapped his campaign finance chairman and Goldman Sachs veteran Steven Mnuchin for secretary of Treasury, US sources report. Billionaire Willbur Ross is set to take over the Department of Commerce.

The president-elect recruited the two Wall Street insiders for top economic jobs in his cabinet, news agencies reported on Wednesday. Their appointments have not yet been officially announced.

Mnuchin, set to become Treasury Secretary, has no previous government experience. He has spent 17 years in the notorious US bank Goldman Sachs, leaving it in 2002 to launch a hedge fund. He bought a failed California mortgage lender in 2009 and turned it into a profitable OneWest Bank. Housing advocacy groups, however, accuse the bank of being too quick to foreclose on homeowners.

The 53-year-old investor also managed a hedge fun for billionaire and Trump opponent George Soros, and helped finance several major blockbuster movies, including “American Sniper,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Suicide Squad.” Mnuchin joined Trump’s camp in April as the national finance manager and raised millions for the campaign.

Even so, his ties to Goldman Sachs might prove a bitter pill for Trump supporters, as many Americans still blame the bank for the 2008 financial crash.

‘King of bankruptcy’

If Mnuchin is confirmed by the Republican-dominated Senate, he will take on the key responsibilities in enacting Trump’s financial policy, including the promised tax cuts, infrastructure investments, and reshaping of foreign trade agreements.

He is likely to be joined by Willbur Ross as the new secretary of commerce. The 78-year-old Ross is another staunch Trump supporter and has influenced his positions of trade policy, especially the criticism of the NAFTA accord with Canada and Mexico.

Ross was nicknamed “king of bankruptcy” for buying, restructuring and then selling off troubled companies. He is just one of several billionaires tapped for Trump’s cabinet.

Diplomacy and defense up for grabs

On Tuesday, Trump also announced an outspoken Obamacare critic Tom Price as health and human services secretary and Elaine Chao as secretary of transportation.

The next US president is still mulling over his picks for the key positions of secretary of state and secretary of defense. Trump has met with Republican moderate Mitt Romney, retired General David Petraeus and several others while considering the next State Department chief. According to media reports, the leading candidate for defense secretary is retired Marine General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis.

dj/gsw (Reuters, AP, AFP)

Donald Trump met with Bernie Sanders supporter Tulsi Gabbard to discuss Syria

November 22, 2016 By administrator

Tulsi Gabbard

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-HI., nominates Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., for President of the United States during the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Tuesday, July 26, 2016. Gabbard is meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, Nov. 21, 2016. J. Scott Applewhite AP
By Alex Daugherty,

The Democratic U.S. congresswoman from Hawaii was one of the first Democrats to support Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and now she is one of the first Democrats to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.

Gabbard met with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Monday morning, but Trump spokesman Jason Miller said it was “premature” to discuss Gabbard’s potential role in the Trump administration.

Instead, Gabbard and Trump talked foreign policy.

Gabbard is a noted critic of intervention in Syria, and does not support a no-fly zone or using U.S. resources to topple Syrian president Bashir al-Assad’s regime. She argues that fighting Assad makes it harder to resist ISIS and al-Qaeda.

“Where I disagree with President-elect Trump on issues, I will not hesitate to express that disagreement. However, I believe we can disagree, even strongly, but still come together on issues that matter to the American people and affect their daily lives,” Gabbard said in a statement after the meeting.

“President-elect Trump and I had a frank and positive conversation in which we discussed a variety of foreign policy issues in depth. I shared with him my grave concerns that escalating the war in Syria by implementing a so-called no fly/safe zone would be disastrous for the Syrian people, our country, and the world.”

Gabbard is a noted opponent of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, and was part of a rally on Capitol Hill on Saturday to protest the deal that is supported by Barack Obama.

Trump also opposes the TPP.

“I think they both understood the country very well,” Trump senior adviser and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said to pool reporters Monday afternoon. “Rep. Gabbard went against her party quite boldly early on. I think you are hearing people like Rep. Tim Ryan also raising concerns. So I think there’s a recognition that there’s a big country, a massive amount of voters that feel disaffected from their party, the Democrats.”

Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, reportedly likes Gabbard because of her stance on guns, refugees and Islamic extremism along with her ability to invoke strong anti-establishment populist sentiment on the left.

Gabbard did not join the majority of her Democratic colleagues in the House by co-sponsoring gun control legislation this summer. She was one of 47 Democrats who voted in favor of a Republican-sponsored bill that requires refugees from Iraq and Syria to receive background checks from the FBI.

Her district is geographically diverse and rural, it includes all of Hawaii except for Honolulu and some of its suburbs.

Last week, 169 Democrats signed a letter condemning Bannon’s appointment by Trump – but Gabbard was not among the signers.

Gabbard, who voted for Hillary Clinton, was a write-in candidate for vice president among dissenting backers of Sanders who refused to vote for Clinton or Trump.

The Democrat was elected to the Hawaii legislature at age 21 and stepped down from her post to serve two tours of duty in Iraq. Gabbard worked in local politics after leaving active duty and is in her second term in Congress. She is one of two female veterans to serve in Congress and is the first Hindu member.

Gabbard resigned from the Democratic National Committee in protest of Clinton’s foreign policy stance to support Sanders.

A request for comment from Gabbard’s Washington office was not immediately returned.

Trump also met with former Texas governor Rick Perry on Monday, among others. His transition team is not expected to name any new Cabinet picks today.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article116162588.html#storylink=cpy

Why Are State Sponsors of Terrorism Receiving U.S. Taxpayer Dollars?

November 22, 2016 By administrator

terrorist-spocer By Christopher A. Preble,

How a President Trump will approach relations with Russia — and especially what that means for U.S. policy in the Syrian civil war — has become one of the most discussed issues during a tumultuous transition. But we should be paying at least as much attention to what America’s putative partners — including those groups currently receiving U.S. taxpayer funding — are doing to prolong a brutal conflict that has claimed nearly 500 thousand lives, and driven more than ten million from their homes.

During the campaign, Trump even tangled with his running mate Mike Pence over Syria. When Pence suggested during the vice presidential debate that the United States institute a no-fly zone over Syria, Trump promptly swatted the idea away. “He and I haven’t spoken, and I disagree.” Late last week, Trump admitted that he “had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria,” and suggested that he would withdraw support for anti-Assad rebels, and focus on fighting ISIS.

Members of the GOP foreign policy establishment, however, are doubling down on the status quo.

On Tuesday, in one of the first post-election warning shots fired across Team Trump’s bow, Senator John McCain warned the president-elect not to trust “a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny, murdered his political opponents, invaded his neighbors, threatened America’s allies and attempted to undermine America’s elections.”

“At the very least, the price of another ‘reset’ would be complicity in Putin and Assad’s butchery of the Syrian people.

“That is an unacceptable price for a great nation. When America has been at its greatest, it is when we have stood on the side [of] those fighting tyranny,” McCain added. “That is where we must stand again.”

Alas, finding those who are “fighting tyranny” but not secretly committed to imposing it once they prevail is the tricky part. The abundant evidence from Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya — not to mention the Cold War — shows that legitimate freedom fighters are often indistinguishable from charlatans and thugs. Despite this unhappy track record, McCain retains his childlike optimism in the United States’ ability to find the “good guys” and help them to reshape fractured foreign polities.

Few Americans are so inclined. President Obama was caught between wanting to see Bashar al-Assad’s regime overthrown, but not wanting to see violent extremists take its place, for example, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (Conquest of Syria Front), the one-time Al Qaeda affiliate formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra. Unsurprisingly, the president’s efforts to arm the few factions that cleared the vetting process were an abject failure, in part because the tools available to protect the U.S.-approved anti-Assad factions are deeply problematic.

A no-fly zone, for example, may forestall the complete annihilation of certain groups, but only at the risk of widening the war. Since Assad’s Russian ally is also operating from time-to-time in Syrian airspace, a no-fly zone would necessarily threaten Russian planes and pilots. And U.S. planes and pilots would also be at risk. At a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations last month, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told CBS’s Charlie Rose, “I wouldn’t put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft.”

Some in Congress have pushed back against the executive branch’s occasional zeal for intervention in Syria. In the late summer and fall of 2013, members of Congress were flooded with phone calls urging them to block U.S. military action there. Obama got the message too, and backed away from his ill-advised red line that would have entailed direct U.S. military action in the civil war.

But the Obama administration continued to funnel money to some anti-Assad rebels. Since then, a few in Congress have tried to cut off funds for the so-called “Syrian Train and Equip” program. An amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill sponsored by Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Austin Scott (R-GA) garnered 135 votes from both Republicans and Democrats, despite opposition from party leaders and the White House. It is reasonable to believe that a similar effort would fare even better in the post-election environment.

Read More: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/why-are-state-sponsors-terrorism-receiving-us-taxpayer-18452

Armenians Should Reach Out to Trump Through Republican Friends in Congress

November 17, 2016 By administrator

Harut Sassounian Photo by gagrule.net

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

An unprecedented U.S. presidential campaign came to an end with the unexpected victory of Donald Trump!

Since the November 8 elections, there has been endless speculation by self-styled Armenian analysts about the President-elect’s business ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey, wrongly concluding that he would side with Armenia’s enemies! Since Trump has made no comments on Armenian issues, no one can really know what his position is likely to be….

Beyond Trump’s sweeping campaign promises to “drain the swamp in Washington,” and “make America great again,” no one can predict what he might do on domestic or foreign policy fronts. In addition, there is no guarantee that he will stick to the positions he assumed during the campaign. In recent months, and particularly since the election, Trump has moderated his views on a number of major issues, such as banning all Muslims from entering the United States, building a wall along the Mexican border, deporting 11 million illegal aliens, and repealing Obamacare. As Pres. Obama explained during his November 14 press conference, Trump is a pragmatist, not an ideologue with fixed opinions.

Consequently, rather than speculating about what Trump may do as President, let’s follow Hillary Clinton’s wise advice to keep “an open mind” and give Donald Trump “a chance to lead!”

Since the President-elect has not yet taken a concrete position on Armenian issues, now is the time for Armenian-Americans to ask friendly Republican members of Congress to convey the community’s vital concerns to Trump and his team. It would be much more difficult to make such contacts once the President is inaugurated in January and has given his marching orders to the new Cabinet. Meanwhile, Turkish and Azeri officials are busy establishing their own contacts with Trump’s transition team and Congress through their high powered lobbyists in Washington! Furthermore, while many heads of state, including those of Armenia and Azerbaijan, have sent congratulatory messages to the President-elect, Turkish President Erdogan personally telephoned Trump, urging closer ties between their countries!

Already there are warning signs that two of Trump’s closest aides, who may be appointed to top positions in the new administration, are rabid Turkophiles:

1) Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has repeatedly declared his admiration for Kemal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, viewing him as a hero;

2) Retired Lt. General Michael Flynn wrote an article in The Hill last week, calling on the U.S. government “to adjust our foreign policy to recognize Turkey as a priority. We need to see the world from Turkey’s perspective.”

While Armenian-American ties with the President-elect are practically non-existent, the community has fortunately cultivated excellent relations with many reelected members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, who can adopt bills and pass resolutions on issues of importance to Armenia and Armenians.

Over 90% of the Congressional candidates endorsed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) were elected on November 8. In the House of Representatives, 117 out of the 122 candidates endorsed by ANCA won their election bids, including Congresswomen Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo, Armenian-American Democrats from California. Regrettably, Cong. Robert Dold (Republican-Illinois), Co-Chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, was not reelected; and candidate Danny Tarkanian (Republican-Nevada) lost his bid for the House.

In the U.S. Senate, 7 of the 11 candidates endorsed by ANCA won their election bids on November 8. Armenian Caucus member Cong. Chris Van Hollen (Democrat-Maryland) was elected to the Senate after defeating Turkish Caucus member Cong. Donna Edwards in the Maryland Primary. Unfortunately, Senator Mark Kirk (Republican-Illinois), a staunch supporter of Armenian issues, was not reelected.

Significantly, while 11 members of the Congressional Armenian Caucus did not return to the House due to failure to win, retirement, resignation or seeking other office, the Turkish Caucus suffered a greater loss, with 19 of its members not returning to the House, including Co-Chair Ed Whitfield (Republican-Kentucky) who resigned earlier this year due to an ethics probe.

The substantial electoral success, enjoyed by Congressional friends of the Armenian community, bodes well for the pursuit of Armenian issues in the new Congress. Given that the Republican Party will be controlling both Houses of Congress and the White House, it is incumbent upon Republican Armenians to win over more members of the majority party, while Democrat Armenians can build on their long-established ties with the minority party. After all, the Armenian Cause, as a nonpartisan issue, should be supported by both parties!

Rand Paul: Will Donald Trump betray voters by hiring John Bolton?

November 16, 2016 By administrator

By Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)

Rumors are that Donald Trump might pick John Bolton for Secretary of State. Heaven forbid.

One of the things I occasionally liked about the President-elect was his opposition to the Iraq war and regime change. He not only grasped the mistake of that war early, but also seemed to fully understand how it disrupted the balance of power in the Middle East and even emboldened Iran.

We liberated Iraq, but today their best friend is Iran, their second greatest ally is Russia, and their third strongest alliance is with Syria. Trump really seems to get the lesson. Hillary Clinton never did.

Most importantly right now, John Bolton never learned and never will.

Bolton is a longtime member of the failed Washington elite that Trump vowed to oppose, hell-bent on repeating virtually every foreign policy mistake the U.S. has made in the last 15 years — particularly those Trump promised to avoid as president.

John Bolton more often stood with Hillary Clinton and against what Donald Trump has advised.

None of this is secret. It’s all out there. Perhaps the incoming administration should take a closer look.

Bolton was one of the loudest advocates of overthrowing Saddam Hussein and still stupefyingly insists it was the right call 13 years later. “I still think the decision to overthrow Saddam was correct,” Bolton said just last year.

Trump, rightly, believes that decision was a colossal mistake that destabilized the region. “Iraq used to be no terrorists,” Trump said in 2015. “(N)ow it’s the Harvard of terrorism.”

“If you look at Iraq from years ago, I’m not saying he was a nice guy, he was a horrible guy,” Trump said of Saddam Hussein, “but it was a lot better than it is right now.”

Trump has said U.S. intervention in Iraq in 2003 “helped to throw the region into chaos and gave ISIS the space it needs to grow and prosper.” In contrast, Bolton has said explicitly that he wants to repeat Iraq-style regime change in Syrian and Iran.

You can’t learn from mistakes if you don’t see mistakes.

Trump has blamed George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for helping to create ISIS — but should add John Bolton to that list, who essentially agreed with all three on our regime change debacles.

In 2011, Bolton bashed Obama “for his refusal to directly target Gaddafi” and declared, “there is a strategic interest in toppling Gaddafi… But Obama missed it.” In fact, Obama actually took Bolton’s advice and bombed the Libyan dictator into the next world. Secretary of State Clinton bragged, “We came, we saw, he died.”

When Trump was asked last year if Libya and the region would be more stable today with Gaddafi in power, he replied “100 percent.” Mr. Trump is 100 percent right.

No man is more out of touch with the situation in the Middle East or more dangerous to our national security than Bolton.

All nuance is lost on the man. The fact that Russia has had a base in Syria for 50 years doesn’t deter Bolton from calling for all out, no holds barred war in Syria. Bolton criticized the current administration for offering only a tepid war. For Bolton, only a hot-blooded war to create democracy across the globe is demanded.

Woodrow Wilson would be proud, but the parents of our soldiers should be mortified. War should be the last resort, never the first. War should be understood to be a hell no one wishes for. Dwight Eisenhower understood this when he wrote, “I hate war like only a soldier can, the stupidity, the banality, the futility.”

Bolton would not understand this because, like many of his generation, he used every privilege to avoid serving himself. Bolton said, with the threat of the Vietnam draft over his head, that “he had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy.” But he’s seems to be okay with your son or daughter dying wherever his neoconservative impulse leads us: “Even before the Iraq War, John Bolton was a leading brain behind the neoconservatives’ war-and-conquest agenda,” notes The American Conservative’s Jon Utley.

At a time when Americans thirst for change and new thinking, Bolton is an old hand at failed foreign policy.

The man is a menace.

Our Constitution and our founding fathers were explicit war was not to be fought without the permission of Congress. No matter which party occupies the White House, I will not shrink from my constitutional duty to oppose any advocate for war.

The true statesmen realizes, with reluctance, that war is sometimes necessary but as a country, we should resist any would-be leader who wants to bomb now and think later.

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on changing our disastrous foreign policy. To appoint John Bolton would be a major first step toward breaking that promise.