Former U.S. diplomat John Bolton alleged Thursday that the Obama administration leaked a story about covert Israeli activity in order to foil potential plans by the country to attack Iran’s nuclear program.
Bolton, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the George W. Bush administration, was responding to an article in Foreign Policy magazine that quoted government sources claiming Israel had been granted access to airfields in Azerbaijan — along Iran’s northern border.
The article did not state exactly what the Israelis’ intentions were, but it suggested it could point to a possible strike on Iran.
“I think this leak today is part of the administration’s campaign against an Israeli attack,” Bolton claimed on Fox News.
The White House did not respond to Bolton’s claims Thursday.
Bolton, a Fox News contributor, noted that a strike launched from Azerbaijan would be much easier for the Israelis than a strike launched from their own country — jets could stay over their targets longer and worry less about refueling. But he said tipping the Israelis’ hand by revealing “very sensitive, very important information” could frustrate such a plan.
Speaking afterward to FoxNews.com, Bolton said he didn’t have hard proof that this was an intentional administration leak to halt an Israeli attack.
But he noted widely reported comments from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in February that he thinks the Israelis could strike as early as April. If that’s the case, Bolton said, then it would be “entirely consistent” for the administration to try to avoid that impending outcome.
The Foreign Policy article quoted what were identified as “high-level sources … inside the U.S. government.” It specifically mentioned “four senior diplomats and military intelligence officers.”
One intelligence officer, who was unnamed, told the magazine that the U.S. was “watching” the activity and was “not happy about it.”
The Foreign Policy article did not specify whether any of the information came from the White House, and there is no direct evidence that this was a coordinated leak.
“Clearly, this is an administration-orchestrated leak,” Bolton told FoxNews.com. “This is not a rogue CIA guy saying I think I’ll leak this out.”
“It’s just unprecedented to reveal this kind of information about one of your own allies,” Bolton said.
(Source: Fox News)
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6 Responses
makes sense, obama is afraid of a fight and will do anything to screw the Israelis.
guess the USA is only an allie of israel when it suites them
this together with the remarks made by obama to russia this week should really make us pause before voting in november for those of us who still arent sure who to vote for
just another act of treason by this administration. Obummer needs to be prosecuted on all his treasonous acts!!!!
Rabosai, do not equate Obama, Clinton and their clique to the US. Obama is the most anti-American president to ever occupy the White House. As such, he is naturally against America’s allies, Israel included.
This is a “Quid-pro-Quo” by Obama.
He cannot control what Netanyohu will do, so he is negotiating secretly with Iran to get a guarantee that, if Israel strikes Iran, America will not suffer retaliation.
So, he’s acting as a de-facto ally of Achmadinejad by giving him a heads-up on what Israel is doing.
Obama is a great president. He killed Bin Laden, stepped up drone attacks against terrorrists and has begun to help turn the econonmy around – just look at the stock market. He is also smart enough to try to stop Netanyahu’s hairbrained ideas which will only unleash worldwide antisemitism against Jews, increase the price of gas tenfold and plunge much of the world into recession. Obama has generated much support for biting sancations and has got the Iranians thrown out of SWIFT. Give him some credit.