Replies

The American

By John R. Bolton
Posted: Friday, May 4, 2007

SPEECHES
Conservative Political Action Conference (Washington)
Publication Date: March 1, 2007

And that brings me to my next two subjects, the remaining two-thirds of the axis of evil, Iran and North Korea. In many respects, although our headlines and our minds are filled with the struggle in Iraq and Afghanistan, over the long term the success or failure of the United States in preventing Iran and North Korea from acquiring or keeping their nuclear weapons program will be the real determinant whether we have succeeded in securing America into the future. The threat of the proliferation of all weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological, or nuclear, is real and it is growing. And particularly, the nuclear threats posed by the North Korean and Iranian programs are serious.

Now, we have seen efforts by the Liberals in the media and on the Hill, and, yes, in the permanent bureaucracy of our own federal government to overturn the administration’s policies; to say that North Korea, Kim Jong Il, can be talked out of his nuclear weapons: “Certainly, he is a reasonable person. We will just bargain with Kim Jong Il, and he will voluntarily give his weapons up.” Do we not all believe that? There are people who would believe that.

My judgment is that nuclear weapons for Kim Jong Il are integral to regime survival, and he is not going to give them up voluntarily. What we have to do is apply pressure, apply sanctions as we have been doing, isolate North Korea further and, finally, to achieve the real solution to the North Korean nuclear weapons problem, eliminate the regime in North Korea and reunite the Korean peninsula.

Similarly, when we look to Iran, we have a regime of fanatic mullahs that have been pursuing nuclear weapons for nearly 20 years. The Europeans, to show that they are not like those unilateralist American cowboys, have been trying to negotiate with the Iranians, have been trying to say to them, “You can have a different relationship with us and, potentially, with the United States if you just suspend your uranium enrichment activities and give up the pursuit of nuclear weapons.” With one small exception for nearly four years, the Iranians have been thumbing their noses at the Europeans. And as time has gone by, the Iranians have come closer and closer to a completely indigenous control over the entire nuclear fuel cycle. And when they achieve that, the only limit on when they weaponize their nuclear capacity depends on how much money that they put into it. It is extremely important that President Bush follow through on what he has said, which is that it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons.

Now, I do take President Bush to be a man of his word. And I think when he says, “It is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons,” what he means is, it is unacceptable. And therefore, although we do not look for additional military encounters, it is critical, particularly, that the Iranian government understand that when the president says he never takes the military option off the table, that he is deadly serious because, ultimately, Iran is watching North Korea; North Korea is watching Iran. And a lot of other states that would like to acquire nuclear weapons are watching both of them. And they are particularly watching the United States.

Let’s face it. While we should work with allies and friends like Japan in the case of North Korea and, hopefully, our European allies, particularly, Israel in dealing with Iran, the only country in the world—the only country in the world—that has the capability of stopping Iran and North Korea from getting nuclear weapons is the United States. And let us not have any illusions about it: That is not unilateralism. That is leadership.

http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.26115/pub_detail.asp