On Saturday on the Fox News Channel, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton harshly criticized President Barack Obama handling of the United States’ involvement in Syria, calling
him the weakest president since James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln’s predecessor.
him the weakest president since James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln’s predecessor.
“This is absolutely stunning,” Bolton said. “I’ve been trying to fill in the blank of the following sentence: ‘Barack Obama is the weakest president since…’ And I have to say, the best I can come up with is James Buchanan who watched the country dissolve into the Civil War. We’re watching the collapse of American influence in the Middle East and really more broadly. And I say that as somebody who has been opposed to use of force in Syria. I have to ask if your secretary of state, John Kerry, given the two very strong statements that he has made on this subject since the first indication of the chemical weapons used 10 days ago took place: Are you now thinking of resigning as a matter of principle, having laid out the case, whether you agree or disagree with Kerry, that the United States has to use force here, to see the president take this step.”
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He added that this could send the wrong message to Iran should Congress reject Obama’s call for authorization.
for authorization.
“I’ll leave it to others to say whether Congress can approve it, but you know he needs 60 votes in the Senate to authorize force, and it’s very hard to see that he’s going to get it,” Bolton continued. “And having said, ‘I’ve made up my mind to use force, but now I’ll ask Congress’ — a failure to get it here tells the Ayatollahs in Tehran it is smooth sailing toward nuclear weapons unless Israel strikes.”
Although Bolton said he opposes United States action with Syria, he said that by making these gestures, Obama has made a once-foolish thing with his 2012 red line statement even worse.
