- Former national security adviser John Bolton called for a “much stronger” response from Israel against Iran.
- Bolton made the comments after Iran launched a series of retaliatory strikes against Israel.
- John Kirby said NBC News Chairman Joe Biden does not want to engage in a broader war with Iran.
Former national security adviser John Bolton has called for a “much stronger” response from Israel after Iran launched a missile and drone attack on the country.
Bolton, ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush and adviser in President Donald Trump’s administration, spoke to CNN shortly after the attack began to denounce what he called a strategy of insufficient deterrence.
“What we had tonight was a massive failure of Israeli and American deterrence. A massive failure,” he told presenter Wolf Blitzer. “A 200 ballistic missile, a cruise missile, a drone failure.”
“I think despite that there seems to be very little damage, fingers crossed until we get the final assessment,” he continued.
The world is now waiting to see what Israel’s reaction will be. Bolton, for his part, said Israel should “reestablish deterrence in a meaningful way.”
“I think that means, by definition, that Israel’s response – and there should be a response – should not be proportionate,” he told Blitzer. “It should be much stronger, because when deterrence fails to reestablish itself, you have to teach the adversary that any gain they might hope to get from a future attack will be far outweighed by the resulting damage. “
Bolton, who was instrumental in the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, later suggested that the Israeli government should use the attack to “destroy” Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Bolton, however, said on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” that the Iranian government appeared “weak” after its attack.
“Anyway, over 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles and maybe three or four have been tested,” he said. “So who is the madman in this posture right now?” Who looks weak? The Iranian regime seems weak. »
Bolton also lambasted the Biden administration for what he called “weak” on Iran.
The United States helped Israel counter the air attack by intercepting dozens of Iranian drones and missiles.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Israel’s response “would be up to them” and repeatedly asserted that President Joe Biden did not want to engage in a broader conflict with Iran.
“I’m certainly not going to preempt their decision-making,” Kirby said of Israel, adding: “And as the president told Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) last night, this support for Israel’s self-defense ‘Israel will remain ironclad.’
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