Bolton Smears ElBaradei As Iran Apologist, Says ‘Even A Stopped Clock Is Right Twice A Day’
Bolton Smears ElBaradei As Iran Apologist, Says ‘Even A Stopped Clock Is Right Twice A Day’
Two weeks ago, Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on CNN that an attack on Iran would “lead absolutely to disaster.” He added that there is no evidence of a “concrete, active nuclear weapon program” going on inside Iran.
Today on CNN’s Late Edition, neconservative warhawk John Bolton responded by smearing ElBaradei as “an apologist for Iran” and said the United States is “paying the price” for not opposing him more vociferously.
When host Wolf Blitzer reminded Bolton that ElBaradei correctly warned prior the Iraq war that there was no evidence of a nuclear weapons program, Bolton derisively dismissed his warnings by claiming “even a stopped clock is right twice a day”:
BLITZER: But, you know, in fairness to Mohamed ElBaradei, before the war in Iraq, when Condoleezza Rice and the president were speaking about mushroom clouds of Saddam Hussein and a revived nuclear weapons program that he may be undertaking, he was saying there was absolutely no such evidence. He was poo-pooing it, saying the Bush administration was overly alarming and there was no nuclear weapons program that Hussein had revived. He was right on that one.
BOLTON: Even a stopclock is right twice a day.
Watch it:
Bolton insisted that “there was never any real disagreement” between the IAEA and the Bush administration on Saddam’s “physical capacity for a nuclear weapon.”
In fact, in February 2002, ElBaradei insisted that there was “no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear related activities in Iraq.” Meanwhile, Bush asserted that Saddam was meeting with his “nuclear mujahedeen” and that the United States could not wait “for the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”
Transcript:
BOLTON: Mohamed ElBaradei is an apologist for Iran. He has taken positions in flat violation of three Security Council resolutions, and he needs to learn that he works for the member governments of his agency, not the other way around.
BLITZER: But he got a second term. They voted. Despite the Bush administration’s opposition, he was reelected to a second term.
BOLTON: He got a third term, actually, which is even worse.
BLITZER: Third, and so there — he does have the confidence of some people.
BOLTON: I don’t think we were effective in our campaign to oppose him. I don’t think that he did nearly what we should have done, and I think we are paying the price now and will pay it into the future.
BLITZER: But, you know, in fairness to Mohamed ElBaradei, before the war in Iraq, when Condoleezza Rice and the president were speaking about mushroom clouds of Saddam Hussein and a revived nuclear weapons program that he may be undertaking, he was saying there was absolutely no such evidence. He was poo-pooing it, saying the Bush administration was overly alarming and there was no nuclear weapons program that Hussein had revived. He was right on that one.
BOLTON: Even a stopclock is right twice a day. Look, Saddam Hussein kept together over 1,000 nuclear scientists and technicians that he called his nuclear mujahadeen. There may not have been centrifuge cascades spinning, but Saddam had the intellectual capability to put that program right back together.
BLITZER: But that was an important issue, trying to justify the war, the mushroom clouds, the fear, the smoking gun could be a mushroom cloud, and that’s not just a little issue that he was right on. He was right on a major, major justification for going to war.
BOLTON: I’m not aware there was any disagreement with the Bush administration that Saddam did not have the physical capacity in his nuclear program, but he did have the intention and he had the record of having pursued them in the past.
BLITZER: He also said this about the early September Israeli airstrike on some sort of suspicious facility in Syria that reports have suggested was some sort of North Korean nuclear reactor facility that they were building to develop centrifuges in Syria. Listen to what ElBaradei said to me on this program two weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELBARADEI: To bomb first and then ask questions later, I think undermines the system it and doesn’t lead to any solution to any suspicion, because we are the eyes and ears of the international community. It’s only the agencies and the inspectors who can go and verify the information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: He said if the Israelis were concerned, they should have gone to the IAEA and made their case and then the inspectors, presumably, could have gone in since Syria is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
BOLTON: In you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. The notion that Israel or the United States would put their national security in the IAEA’s hands is just delusional. And let me make one important point.
Eyes and ears of the international community? Look, the IAEA functionally gets most of its sensitive information from foreign intelligence services including our own, and that’s why it’s more properly called the U.N.’s nuclear watchpuppy.
BLITZER: So you don’t believe, obviously, this guy, anything he’s basically saying?
BOLTON: I think he’s actually undermining the credibility of the IAEA by his overly politicized role in the Iran crisis.
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61 Responses to “Bolton Smears ElBaradei As Iran Apologist, Says ‘Even A Stopped Clock Is Right Twice A Day’”
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A little bit of projection going on there with the stopped clock comment.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:50 pmA stopped clock is right more often than Bolton.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:57 pmJohn Bolton, a man not bigger than the job he has to do and grateful for every day he gets to do it.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:00 pmNo no johnny.
The lack of opposition the United States is "paying the price" for would
November 11th, 2007 at 2:04 pmbe our government's and our media's lack of opposition to your lords,
dick and junior bush.
i simply do not understand why this man continues to be tolerated as an expert... he is bombastic, rude, absolutely undiplomatic, and an extremist ideologue...
And, yes, I DO take it personally
November 11th, 2007 at 2:06 pmThis administration is right as often as a digital clock without electricity.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:07 pmAnytime anyone associated with CheneyCo speaks on TV there should be a laughtrack as accompaniment.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:13 pmIt's really too bad that Blitzer didn't ask Bolton how often he has been right. But, Blitzer is just another Republican sycophant, so I don't expect much from him.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:13 pmWar Made Easy
November 11th, 2007 at 2:13 pmHow is it that the Botch administration is NEVER correct? Don't they have a broken clock?
November 11th, 2007 at 2:14 pmMy question is why someone like John Bolton is even asked for his opinion. Really, does Wolf Blitzer think Bolton's opinion is worth airing?
Obviously someone at CNN does, and the question is why?
Shows like this really aren't worth watching if all they're going to do is ask inane questions to guests who so often are the ones who either got us into the deadly mess we're in now or support it. When the majority of the country wants peace and diplomacy why have war mongers on?
Damn people, there are incredibly important issues that should be discussed, and those issues don't include petty issues like whether Obama's black enough or Hillary's "pulling the gender card" or a game of 'gotcha'!
CNN and people like Wolf and Tim and Chris are blathering away while someone like Keith Olbermann is getting to the meat of issues that really matter every night!
November 11th, 2007 at 2:14 pmYes, TRDaggett.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:21 pmOur msm is a HUGE part of the problem.
Whoever owns our government also owns our media.
They write the script, then 'catapult the propaganda' .
The real question should be why Blitzer continues to give Bolton a forum for his lies. Bolton hasn't had an original thought in years, if he ever had any to begin with. And now it's starting to look like N. Korea never was enriching uranium as charged by Bolton et al. Here
November 11th, 2007 at 2:29 pmDo you ever get feeling they ownership of CNN wants it property to look bad? The ownership wants Wolf Blizter to have zero credibility?
Giving air time to John Bolton certainly goes along with acheiving that goal but otherwise I really don't see how he could add value to CNN's brand.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:35 pmIt continues to play out as if all they have to do is broadcast bullsh|t on
November 11th, 2007 at 2:35 pmtheir television stations, then follow it by doing whatever they please.
It will likely continue until after the revolution.
And that won't be televised.
How can Bolton so lightly dismiss that El Baradei was 100% right about Iraq's WMD programs? Could it be because he KNOWS Iran, just like Iraq, is not anywhere close to a nuke? Could it be because he doesn't really CARE whether or not either has/had a nuke program? Could it be that he just wants war at any cost, and doesn't really care what justification is used, or whether or not the country being attacked really poses any threat to our country???
November 11th, 2007 at 2:41 pmBrianFL . . . bingo ! Yes ! All of your assumptions are correct !
He is a mouthpiece for our government that is clearly under control,
November 11th, 2007 at 2:47 pmand not by their taxpayers.
My digital clock stopped and flashes 00:00 and its not right even once a day...
November 11th, 2007 at 2:49 pmWhat a bunch of double talk the walrus spouts.
November 11th, 2007 at 2:52 pmA very compelling argument - for realizing Bolton is full of $HIT!
The real qustion is:
When I poop out a massive turd - do I get part of the appearance fee when it goes on Wolf's show?
November 11th, 2007 at 2:57 pmUnfortunately Mr Bolton, Iraq's WMD was a (stopped) clock, which, to this day is still correct...
November 11th, 2007 at 2:57 pmOK, OK, I give - please quit with the massive smear job!
I apologize to all the massive turds we've all pooped that are way smarter than the Walrus!
November 11th, 2007 at 3:04 pmIs Bolten gay, because if he isn't, the vibes he puts off have gay written all over them!
November 11th, 2007 at 3:12 pmMy gay friends would like to see him in a Capn' Crunch uniform....
November 11th, 2007 at 3:14 pmAbrasive arrogance beyond belief!
November 11th, 2007 at 3:25 pmThe neocons are planning to discredit El Baradei at every turn because they don't like his having been proved correct in the past and his disagreement with them at this time.
I agree with many here today - why is Bolton given any time on TV? Why ask for his opinions? He is a Bush apologist, a neocon, and a warmonger. He is always wrong - for him to accuse El Baradei of being incorrect is ridiculous.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:28 pmjust how many more disastrous wars are these neocrazies willing to start???? Guiliani was talking the other day about going to war with Russia and China for christ's sake!!!! Have Hitler and the nazi's been reincarnated into the republican party???? What the hell is wrong with these people, but what the hell is wrong with the people who should be trying to stop them, namely those incompetent spineless clueless democrats???? These people are driving us into world war three and the next great depression at the same time. And the idiot democrats just sit back and whine that they can't do anything about it, when the fact is they WON'T do anything about it!!!
November 11th, 2007 at 3:35 pmThe press has been in a continual state of decline since the MSM business interests became aligned with the consevatives and Republicans. Ownership concentration, such as the economic powerhouse - GE - owning NBC results in either subtle or direct pressure for the new organizations to help the corporate owner achieve their political and economic goals. Jack Welch made no bones about this; neither did Murdoch.
One would think that the likes of Ollie North would have been laughed off the networks because of his criminal conduct during the Iran Contra affair. Yes, he escaped criminal liability on a legal technicality, however, he was unrepetant about his underlying criminal conduct. We see the same with Newt Gingrich and other right wingers who never would have achieved notariety in an earlier. The same goes for Bolton. Indeed, we know that an attack against many of the right wing pundits, news makers and opinion leaders would not cause a public backlash. Look at the record of lies (Giuliani and medical care), unethical conduct (Thompson as counsel during Watergate tipping off the WH on the tape issue - so much for legal ethics), pedofiles, bribe takers, and violators of international law.
The long term affect will be to degrade our public discourse and degrade the morality of our citizens. Why not break the law? The ends justify the means. There is no punishment for breaking the law as long as you do it for the "right" side.
I
November 11th, 2007 at 3:37 pmBolt-on.
When a strap-on just won't do!
November 11th, 2007 at 3:41 pmWhere does the bolt go?
November 11th, 2007 at 3:45 pmBolton should be fed to the starving polar bears along with fat old puss gut Cheney.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:57 pmWhy doesn't Wolfie interview Hans Blix? At least Mr Blix is thoughtful honest and was correct in his prewar views. I would actually like to hear from Hans Blix.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:08 pmWait until the Giuliani Energy Plan takes effect, things will get much worse.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:09 pmBolton should be fed to the starving polar bears along with fat old puss gut Cheney.
Comment by jb — November 11, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
Hey! Polar bears have enough problems as it is.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:11 pmI'm sure the polar bears (do they know they are polar?) would love some sun-dried Cheney!! Delicious!!
November 11th, 2007 at 4:14 pmHas Bolton even been right once?
November 11th, 2007 at 4:17 pmHey! Polar bears have enough problems as it is.
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — November 11, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
They already eat garbage and a high fat diet is normal for them. It's the best use I can come up with for Bolton & Cheney & a few others as well.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:18 pmNo. His parents were never right either!!!
November 11th, 2007 at 4:20 pmRight about Iraq's lack of nukes, this morning; right about Iran's, this afternoon - I'll take it!
November 11th, 2007 at 4:22 pmBolton? Why the hell does anyone interview Bolton? Why are we supposed to care what he thinks? He is the discredited disastrous UN Ambassador that even this pitiful Congress would not confirm. He got his UN post by Bush's recess appointment, then was tossed out.
WHY is he still being interviewed? He's a dangerous punk, a Bush shill.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:46 pmAs far as being right or correct, the stopped watch has more credibility then Bolten. He doesn't know the difference between his own a-hole and a hole in the ground.
November 11th, 2007 at 4:53 pmDon't look Lady Z, it's just that dumbass walrus....Keep scrolling....Blessings
November 11th, 2007 at 5:01 pmBolton should be fed to the starving polar bears along with fat old puss gut Cheney.
Comment by jb — November 11, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
They will just give the bears indigestion and give them tummy aches.
November 11th, 2007 at 5:02 pmSome things just are not edible.
A stopped clock may be right twice a day... But a neocon wanker is always wrong.
November 11th, 2007 at 5:33 pmPersonally, I don't watch enough T.V. to justify cable, so, I can pick and chose how much exposure I get to the slobbering sycophants (psyco-phants?) of the MSM. Getting my news from papers, the web and PBS, I can't believe some of them haven't been tarred and feathered. One would think that enough people would see through their B.S.
Of course, the bar keeps lowering. What amazes me about the neocon bobble-heads is that they not only get there facts wrong, they then make the worst possible choice given the wrong facts. These dangerous idiots couldn't find a peanut in a bag of peanuts.
November 11th, 2007 at 5:38 pmHere's another draft dodger as Bolton never served in the Military when needed but at lease he said he was scared to die, which means he wouldn't give his life for his country but has no letting others die based on lies. Bolton is in good company with the White House as it's full of cowards who didn't and wouldn't serve to protect the United States of America.
November 11th, 2007 at 6:40 pmbolten is the cream of THEIR crop. aipac motivated and payed. an israeli before an American.
November 11th, 2007 at 6:47 pmWho keeps letting this rabid varmint out of his cage and muzzle?
November 11th, 2007 at 7:23 pmWhat makes Bolton think he is more accurate than a stop watch? Even a Broken one?
November 11th, 2007 at 7:29 pmwhy is john bolton still allowed to run his mouth on tv?
November 11th, 2007 at 8:35 pmoh, that's right - it's cnn, aka crazy noise nothing.
And you're not the sharpest tool in the shed -
not the shinniest spoon in the drawer -
why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free-
why buy the pig if all you want is a little sausage -
All as relevant as Bolten and the entire Bush administration
Buck Fush
November 11th, 2007 at 9:12 pmEven a stopclock is right twice a day.
And this would mean that Bolton is less than broken clock, because he and his pals in the Bush administration couldn't be right even twice a day.
Saddam had the intellectual capability to put that program right back together.
But that was not how the war was sold to the American public. Prior to the invasion, the Bush administration insisted that Hussein's WMD were a reality, that Hussein had "stockpiles" of "weapons of mass murder", that Iraq was a "unique threat", a "gathering threat", etc.
The casus belli was built on the immediacy of the threat, not that Hussein could, maybe, perhaps, possibly, one day possess WMD.
Way to move the goal posts, Mr. Bolton.
I think [ElBaradei is] actually undermining the credibility of the IAEA by his overly politicized role in the Iran crisis.
Translation: The IAEA won't bend to our will and is, therefore, "overly politicized".
Of course, the US' standoff with Iran has become a "crisis" because the Bush administration has decided to make it into one.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:07 pmComment by Gregor Samsa — November 11, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
Correct, but, if the clock is running backwards (i.e. RePugniScum time) then the clock is NEVER right. Why?
Even though the hands of a clock running backwards crosses time with a correct clock running forwards the backwards running clock is always wrong. Why?
The backwards running clock is always wrong is its direction alone. Therefore never correct, just accidentally matching the comparision forward running correct clock ever so often.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:32 pmFrom whitehouse.gov April 18, 2003:
"The U.N. and U.S. intelligence sources have known for some time that Saddam Hussein has materials to produce chemical and biological weapons, but he has not accounted for them:
26,000 liters of anthrax—enough to kill several million people
38,000 liters of botulinum toxin
500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agents
Almost 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents
From three Iraqi defectors, we know that Iraq in the late 1990s had several mobile biological weapons labs. But he has not disclosed them."
These were all lies. The "yellowcake from Africa" was known to be based on a poor forgery eleven months before it went into the SOTU Speech. The aluminum tubes use for nuclear weapons, also in the speech, was known to be false eleven months before.
The Mohammed Atta meeting in Prague was a lie. The ties to al Qaeda was a lie. The drones were a lie. The shack in the north was a lie.
Everything Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA, Hans Blix, Scott Ritter, and the other weapons inspectors said was true. Nothing they said was false.
Saddam did turn over about 20,000 pages accounting for past materials.
November 11th, 2007 at 11:04 pmWhy does this POS is used as an expert in the US? He is like a fresh piles of dog poop on the street of Paris, all coming out of him is hot air and a stink that is hard to forget.
Why do people look at him with any credibility? Questioning the world recognized IAEA chief who is the nobel prize winner.
Shame on CNN to bring this low life to their program and giving him air time.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:23 amBolton is an arrogant deluded pr1ck, much like our resident troll Bigfwat: he's frequently completely incorrect, incapable of admitting his mistakes, and wrongly convinced of his superiority over others..
November 12th, 2007 at 9:05 amOf course, the US’ standoff with Iran has become a “crisis†because the Bush administration has decided to make it into one.
Comment by Gregor Samsa — November 11, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
These people use fear as the way to manipulate the American public in supporting all kinds of unAmerican behavior -- preventative war, torture, spying on Americans, and an incredibly long list of other unconstitutional and FASCIST actions. Time to put these nuts back in the asylum they escaped from.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:52 amWhy does CNN even give Bolton a voice. Every thing he has ever said has turned out to be crap. He is even so stupid as to think his "stopped clock" comment was effective. Perhaps the real story here is that Wolf Blitzer once again allowed a right-wing nut job bowl him over.
November 12th, 2007 at 12:28 pm#58 - i couldn't agree more - what is bolton's job anyway? - and didn't he say that the iaea gets a lot of information from foreign intelligence agencies including the usa? - so is he discrediting the cia? - what the f**k is this guy's agenda? - get him off the air and let him ramble on to himself and lick windows at a home for the bewildered somewhere
November 12th, 2007 at 5:44 pmIs this the same banty rooster that walked into the recount office in Florida and said "the count is over'?
Was he not a thug for the US Attorney's Office at the time?
The clock should have stopped for him at that moment but since it did not, this twit is now part of the coup that gave the Supremes a new tune, 5 to 4.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:59 pmOf course, the US’ standoff with Iran has become a “crisis†because the Bush administration has decided to make it into one.
Comment by Gregor Samsa — November 11, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
-------------------
Please, understand this: have you ever tried to prove the negative?
That's what Bolton is all about. He throws accusations at you and you're supposed to defend yourself and prove that HE'S wrong while he, and those in the MSM, don't worry if his charges are based on fact.
It's somewhat like saying: prove to me that you're not a child molester!
November 12th, 2007 at 8:14 pm