John Bolton Rejects Proposal For Hotline With Tehran
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on September 26th, 2011 4:36 am by HL
John Bolton Rejects Proposal For Hotline With Tehran
Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton took to Fox News this morning to blast the idea of a “hotline” between Iran and the United States. Bolton is quick to dismiss the concept as cheap political ploy to heighten Iran’s “prestige”: Well it’s not always the best course to assume the Ahmadinejad’s being entirely logical in what […]
Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton took to Fox News this morning to blast the idea of a “hotline” between Iran and the United States. Bolton is quick to dismiss the concept as cheap political ploy to heighten Iran’s “prestige”:
Well it’s not always the best course to assume the Ahmadinejad’s being entirely logical in what I will call the “Western” sense of that word. But it’s possible on the hotline, what he has in mind, is a mechanism that he thinks will enhance Iran’s prestige. After all, how many countries does the U.S. have that kind of hotline with. I think this is part of his charm offensive. It’s hard to use that phrase when he’s also accusing us of masterminding the 9/11 attacks but again, in his rather strange way, this is a signal as well to us as inside Iran to try and enhance his position in the political infighting that’s going on there.
Watch it:
While Bolton is dismissive of establishing a hotline, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen, speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace last week, said:
We haven’t had a connection with Iran since 1979. Even in the darkest days of the Cold War, we had links to the Soviet Union. We are not talking to Iran, so we don’t understand each other. If something happens, it’s virtually assured that we won’t get it right — that there will be miscalculation which would be extremely dangerous in that part of the world. […]
And one day before Mullen delivered his remarks, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials were examining the establishment of a hotline following a series of “near miss” encounters between American and Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf.
Bolton dismisses the hotline as a ploy by Ahmadinejad to increase his “prestige.” But the U.S. military is increasingly voicing concern that a misunderstanding with Tehran could lead to a wider conflict in an already tense region.
Is Joe Bastardi the Worst Long-Range Forecaster Ever?
Many of the key Arctic sea ice records fell this year (see “Record Low Sea Ice Volume, Area and Extent*). In short, the Arctic death spiral continues. Meteorologist Joe Bastardi has always made nonsensical forecasts like “The coming cooling of the planet overall will return it to where it was in the ’60s, ’70s, and […]
Many of the key Arctic sea ice records fell this year (see “Record Low Sea Ice Volume, Area and Extent*).
In short, the Arctic death spiral continues.
Meteorologist Joe Bastardi has always made nonsensical forecasts like “The coming cooling of the planet overall will return it to where it was in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.” No doubt that’s a key reasons he is no longer AccuWeather’s chief long-range forecaster. But before he left, Bastardi made a prediction that reveals how his anti-scientific views destroy his forecasting credibility.
On September 20, 2010, Bastardi predicted that Arctic Sea Ice extent would return to 2005 levels: “We are going to recover dramatically here with a cold that is coming over the next 9 to 12 months“!
I know you are wondering where that cold was (see “Third Hottest Summer Globally, Second Warmest for U.S. With Stunning Weather Extremes, Texas Drought Worst in Centuries“). And for those who find it hard to believe anyone could have made such a ridiculous forecast, let’s go to the videotape [put on those head vises]:
Now Bastardi is safely ensconsed at one of the most extreme, anti-scientist organizations in the world, the “American Tradition Institute.”
He also regularly appears on Fox News, inducing many climatologists to explain he is “completely wrong” and “does not understand the very basics of the science.”
Yet he also landed at WeatherBell, a weather consulting firm, where he is “Chief Forecaster.” To ensure no one would take them seriously, WeatherBell also hired another well-known science denier Joseph D’Aleo as “Chief Forecaster.”
Seriously, how consistently wrong does a forecaster have to be before people stop paying attention?
h/t Neven of the Arctic Sea Ice Blog
