John Bolton Said He Was Planning Coups. The Global Outcry Was Swift.

Comment When a former White House national security adviser and US ambassador to the United Nations says he was involved in plotting coups abroad, people take notice. John Bolton, speaking to Jake Tapper live on CNN’s “The Lead” Tuesday afternoon, said the January 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill was not a “carefully planned coup” — and that he would have known it. “As someone who helped plan coups — not here but, you know, in other places — it takes a lot of work, and it’s not [Donald Trump] he did,” Bolton, who served as the Trump administration’s top national security official for 17 months before a bitter exit in 2019, told Tapper. In an interview with CNN, John Bolton says he has planned foreign coups It was a passing reference, apparently as a stinging criticism of the former president rather than a bombshell admission of responsibility. But excerpts of the remarks went viral online, attracting millions of views from all corners. Within hours, they had sparked official condemnation and unofficial speculation from foreign observers, especially in parts of the world where decades of US intervention remain fresh memories. Evo Morales, the former Bolivian president who was ousted by the military in 2019 amid shady election allegations, tweeted Wednesday that the comments showed the United States was “the worst enemy of democracy and life.” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, on Thursday called for an international investigation into Bolton’s remarks. “It is important to know in which other countries the United States planned coups,” Zakharova told Radio Sputnik. Was Bolton serious? Although some in the United States had their doubts, far-right opponents suggested this was just further confirmation of what they already knew. “It is not surprising,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily news conference on Thursday. “The admission simply shows that meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and overthrowing their governments has become standard practice for the US government.” “This is very much part of the US rulebook,” Wang said. Bolton did not specify which coups he was involved in planning, if any, during the interview. When pressed by Tapper, he pointed to the failed 2019 ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but added that the United States didn’t have “that much to do with it.” This was a strange example. First, Bolton had said the attempted ouster of Maduro was “obviously not a coup” in 2019. Maduro’s government has accused the United States of helping to fuel political instability in Venezuela. Maduro did not respond after Bolton’s comments on Tuesday. But Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s permanent representative to the United Nations, jumped on Twitter to respond that Bolton was right: The coups did take a lot of work. “For this reason, he also failed with his local agents in Venezuela,” Moncada wrote. Some international affairs experts said Bolon’s comments could be a setback for well-intentioned US policies. “It’s detrimental to our efforts to promote and support democracy,” said Stanford University Hoover Institution scholar Larry Diamond. “We already have enough trouble dealing with Russian and Chinese propaganda.” Bolton could not be reached for immediate comment. To America’s foreign critics and enemies, Bolton often plays the role of bogeyman, representing the worst of US foreign policy and neoconservative interventionism. As an official, his hard-line views have won him few friends internationally. But he appeared to relish his fame, writing in a book that being labeled “human scum” by North Korean state media in 2003 was “the highest honor” he had received. Bolton had two terms in high office. Under President George W. Bush, he served in senior arms control roles before becoming ambassador to the United Nations in 2005. He was a key supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein. After Bush, Bolton spent years in the foreign policy wilderness—though hardly starving, accepting positions at right-wing Washington think tanks, working with a global private equity firm and serving as a Fox News contributor. He returned to government office in April 2018 as the Trump White House’s national security adviser — his third in less than 18 months. He did not last long, leaving the administration in September 2019. Foreign policy appeared to be a major source of disagreement, with Trump later tweeting that despite Bolton’s reputation as a hawk, Trump actually had “stronger” views for Cuba and Venezuela. Exactly what coups might John Bolton have been involved in? In Turkey, local media supporting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan linked Bolton’s latest remarks to the failed attempt to overthrow the Turkish government in July 2016. Bolton, who was not in government at the time, was a critic of Erdogan at the time. time. Takvim, a pro-government tabloid, published an article on Wednesday citing statements Bolton made in 2016 in support of the “treacherous” coup attempt. The newspaper noted that Bolton had spoken out in favor of Kurdish groups in Turkey and neighboring countries. Takvim pointed to a 2016 appearance on Fox News in which Bolton argued that Erdogan was seeking to “recreate the Ottoman caliphate” with an Islamist government. Bolton criticized Erdogan for not supporting the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. “If it goes down, I shed no tears,” Bolton said. “I don’t think he was a friend of the United States.” Bolton has supported coups in the past. In a 2008 interview with Al Jazeera, he said coups can sometimes be “a necessary way to advance American interests” and defended the orchestrated overthrow of Iran’s democratically elected leader, Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, in 1953. by the Central Intelligence Agency. “I think the U.S. should have that capability,” Bolton said, citing Iran and North Korea as two areas the United States should focus on toppling hostile regimes. But despite the speculation, some former US intelligence agents on Tuesday responded with derision to Bolton’s comments. “Bolton has never touched a coup,” tweeted Milton Burden, a former CIA station chief who oversaw US covert operations in Afghanistan in the 1980s. enough”. Julian Mark contributed to this report. correction An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Bolton’s CNN interview aired Wednesday. It aired on Tuesday. The article has been corrected.