Farewell John Bolton
(Washington, D.C.): Today’s announcement that John Bolton will forego further efforts to remain at his post as the (ironically named) Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations brings to end one of the ugliest episodes of government misconduct.
The source of the misconduct was never Mr. Bolton, however. Rather, it was those in the Senate and elsewhere who falsely accused him of various actions – ranging from brutalizing subordinates to skewing intelligence to holding the UN in well-deserved contempt – which they insisted disqualified him from serving at Turtle Bay, even after he served there with distinction for a year-and-a-half on a the basis of a recess appointment.
The true scandal involves the likes of Senators Christopher Dodd and Joseph Biden, who refused to allow a vote on Mr. Bolton’s confirmation the first time around. When President Bush submitted the nomination again earlier this year, they bottled it up in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with the help of defeated Republican-in-Name-Only Sen. Lincoln Chafee.
In the end, the Senators were motivated by an ideological vendetta against a superbly qualified man. They persisted in it despite the indisputable evidence from Amb. Bolton’s time at the UN that they were wrong to oppose him in 2005 and remain wrong today. They have done the country a disservice in time of war when the need for a representative with the sorts of skills Mr. Bolton brought to the job is greater than ever.
We can only hope that this will prove to be but a brief interval away from government service for John Bolton as individuals with his intellect, experience and commitment to the Reagan philosophy of “peace through strength” are always in short supply. Those responsible for his departure at this time will bear a heavy responsibility for his involuntary absence from duty as the War for the Free World becomes more parlous by the day.
Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country. He is an associate author of highly acclaimed Shariah: The Threat to America and the publisher of over a dozen other books and monographs from the Center for Security Policy Press.
In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving U.S.-USSR relations, nuclear forces, arms control, missile defense policy and U.S.-European defense ties. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO’s senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.
From August 1983 until November 1987, Mr. Gaffney was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy under Assistant Secretary Richard Perle.
From February 1981 to August 1983, Mr. Gaffney was a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by the late Senator John Tower (R-Texas). And, in the latter 1970’s, Mr. Gaffney served as an aide to the late Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-Washington) in the areas of defense and foreign policy.
Mr. Gaffney holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Mr. Gaffney’s leadership has been recognized by numerous organizations including: the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award (1987), the U.S. Business and Industry Council’s Defender of the National Interest Award (1994), the Navy League of the United States’ Alfred Thayer Mahan Literary Achievement Award (1999), and the Zionist Organization of America’s “Louis Brandeis Award” (2003), the Western Conservative Summit’s Stephen H. Long Award (2015), the Council for National Policy’s George Washington Military Leadership Award (2016) and the IMPACT Award from Ginni Thomas and United in Purpose (2017).
Mr. Gaffney was born in 1953 and resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
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