To hardly anyone’s surprise, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, offered some tough words against
Iran in an interview on Fox news. He explicitly said that unilateral military action against
Iran was “on the table.”
Bolton added, “This is put up or shut up time for
Iran.” His words seem to contrast with the Bush administration's new willingness to participate in talks with Iran. The transcript follows:
BOLTON: And I think when the President says it’s unacceptable, I think what he means by that is that it’s unacceptable. So it’s important…CAVUTO: But unacceptable means that if it keeps going on you’re going to do something about it…
BOLTON: That no option is taken off the table. And Secretary…
CAVUTO: Military as well?
BOLTON: Exactly. Secretary Rice…
CAVUTO: Unilateral military action?
BOLTON: Secretary Rice made that point again today. But that’s why I think…
CAVUTO: That we would, I’m sorry Ambassador, that we would act alone if we had to?
BOLTON: That’s why he says no option is taken off the table. But it’s also why he has, the President, has reached out President Putin and other leaders in the past couple of days to say, “We’re making a significant step here,” that will be criticized by many of the president’s staunchest supporters here at home. But he’s taking this step to show strength and American leadership and to say he’s willing to do something that may be unpopular even with some of his supporters, to remove all excuses from
Iran and its supporters to say, “We went the extra mile. We gave
Iran really, this last chance to show that they are serious when they say they don’t want nuclear weapons.” This is put or shut up time for
Iran.
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