National Security Adviser John Bolton said Sunday that the United States had the “Libya model” in mind for its future dealings with North Korea, an…
National Security Adviser John Bolton said Sunday that the United States had the “Libya model” in mind for its future dealings with North Korea, an odd comparison given that Libya’s disarmament prefaced the overthrow and brutal murder of its leader, Moammar Gadhafi.
“We have very much in mind the Libya model from 2003,2004,” Bolton told Fox News’ Chris Wallace in an interview Sunday.
He added later that the United States sought “the full, complete, total disclosure of everything related their nuclear weapons program, with full international verification and, I think, following Libya, verification by Americans and other inspectors could be very important here.”
He told CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan: “One thing that Libya did that led us to overcome our skepticism was that they allowed American and British observers into all their nuclear-related sites. So it wasn’t a question of relying on international mechanisms, we saw them in ways we had never seen before.”
But the comment raised eyebrows given Bolton’s well-known reputation as an extreme hawk. Before joining the Trump administration, Bolton broadcast his distrust of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and, as recently as February, wrote “ The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First ” in the Wall Street Journal.
