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World News See other World News Articles Title: 5 facts about John Bolton, Trump's new national security adviser 5 facts about John Bolton, Trump's new national security adviser William Cummings, USA TODAY Published 9:24 p.m. ET March 22, 2018 | Updated 10:55 a.m. ET March 23, 2018 National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster was added to the administration's growing list of former White House officials Thursday when President Trump announced he was replacing McMaster with former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. Bolton is a hawk's hawk who has repeatedly said he believes the United States has the right to take the first shot to handle potential threats. Several commentators have expressed concern that Bolton's bellicose approach will only encourage Trump's more aggressive foreign policy instincts and could help lead the United States into what might be otherwise avoidable military conflicts. Here are some facts from Bolton's past that help show why his appointment has made some people nervous. He thinks pre-emptive war with Iran and North Korea is the right call In a February op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Bolton made the "legal case for striking North Korea first" to stop what he deems an "imminent threat" from the nation's nuclear program. Bolton is strongly opposed to the Iran nuclear deal and said on Fox News that the United States "has no other option" than to bomb the country. According to The American Conservative, "he has been obsessed for many years with going to war against the Islamic Republic." He still thinks invading Iraq was the right call In the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Bolton joined other administration officials in expressing confidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that Iraqis would welcome the U.S. overthrow of the regime. Both those predictions turned out to be incorrect, but unlike his new boss, Bolton still believes the invasion was the right decision. "I still think the decision to overthrow Saddam was correct," Bolton told the Washington Examiner in 2015. "I think decisions made after that decision were wrong, although I think the worst decision made after that was the 2011 decision to withdraw U.S. and coalition forces." U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton speaks to the media outside Security Council chambers Aug. 21, 2006, after a briefing by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations about Lebanon at UN headquarters in New York. STAN HONDA, AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen 1 of 23 Next Slide He resisted efforts to investigate the Iran-Contra scandal Bolton was working as an assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration during the Iran-Contra affair. During that investigation, Bolton argued that the Ethics in Government Act establishing an independent counsel was unconstitutional because the authority to direct, supervise and fire any federal prosecutor should remain with "the president or his delegate." According to The Nation, Bolton also "tried to torpedo" then-senator John Kerry's investigation into alleged drug smuggling and gun running by Reagan-backed contra rebels in the civil war against Nicaragua's Sandinista government. Poster Comment: Someone needs to ask John Bolton what he knows about the murder of Barry Seal. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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