We already knew that John Bolton was obsessed with Iran and believed that only bombing and regime change could stop its nuclear threat. Reading his book made me realize how deep and disturbed that fixation went. My take: http://go.iiss.org/2ZtrToK  1/10

Bolton disdained any form of diplomacy concerning Iran, even with allies. He summarily binned negotiations with European partners on how to “fix” the JCPOA, and he sabotaged Trump’s desire to meet Iranian leaders. 2/10

Given all the presidential missteps that Bolton has witnessed over the past half century, it is incredible for him to say that not sparking a conflict with Iran was “the most irrational thing I ever witnessed any President do.” 3/10

Bolton saw an Iranian bogeyman almost anywhere he looked. Whether the issue of the day was China, Syria or Afghanistan, for Bolton the main concern was always Iran. 4/10

Why did Bolton think Iran’s nuclear program was a top-priority issue in Afghanistan? Apparently because he wanted to retain US bases there from which to attack Iran. 5/10

Many of Bolton’s 755 mentions of Iran assert false or unsupportable accusations: about it breaking the nuclear deal a year before it actually did, about it engaging in CW and BW work, about it financing North Korean transfer of a reactor and CW equipment to Syria, etc. 6/10

Some of Bolton’s claims about Iran may be true. The North Korean, Syrian and Iranian regimes are bad actors and had reason to cooperate. But the disastrous invasion of Iraq over false WMD claims should have taught a lesson about acting on unsupported assumptions. 7/10

Given that Bolton has never acknowledged the Iraq disaster nor expressed contrition for his role in the invasion, it is not surprising that he never learned the lesson about not leaping to conclusions. 8/10

No, Iran is not a top-tier threat to the US. It is a problematic middle power whose reach is limited to the Middle East. It does not pose a threat to the US homeland. Its threat can be contained through diplomacy and deterrence. 9/10

Good though it is that he exposed Trump’s criminal misconduct, let us be thankful that Mr Regime Change is now a private citizen without a hearing in the White House. 10/10