Not entirely. . .but pretty close.
According to a piece that has just appeared in the International Herald Tribune:
Former U.S. envoy to the United Nations John Bolton said in an interview published in France that the United States has “no strategic interest” in a united Iraq. . .
Bolton suggested in the interview that the United States shouldn’t necessarily keep Iraq from splitting up. The Bush administration and the Iraqi government have said they don’t want Iraq divided.
“The United States has no strategic interest in the fact that there’s one Iraq, or three Iraqs,” he was quoted as saying. “We have a strategic interest in the fact of ensuring that what emerges is not a state in complete collapse, which could become a refuge for terrorists or a terrorist state.”
The Biden-Gelb plan actually posits a central government federation of largely autonomous regions — rather than Bolton’s “3 Iraqs Plan”.
However, it is interesting to see that even people like John Bolton who is tapped deeply into the Cheney national security team would be publicly advocating a strategy so at odds with what the President is saying.
More later.
— Steve Clemons
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