War-hawk hack John Bolton, who of course is also President Stable Genius's National Security Advisor, is now on the warpath with real power against Iran.
Richard Engel is an expert on the Middle East and isn't impressed with the Trump "Administration" rationale for adding warships to the Gulf:
RICHARD ENGEL: There are several Iran hawks, people in this administration who have for years been speaking about, been advocating for a hard line against Iran, if not direct violence against Iran, and regime change in Iran. Rudy Giuliani has been one of them. John Bolton has been another. And they have spoken at gatherings sponsored by the MEK. The MEK used to be a terrorist organization. It was taken off the terrorist list. Iran certainly considers it a terrorist organization. You go to these speeches. Generally, the MEK gives you money to appear at the speeches, and you talk about regime change in Iran, and Bolton and Rudy Giuliani have both been deeply tied into the MEK, and both have said that they have not disclosed how much they've ever taken in financial remunerations from the group.
Here's a video from the New York Times about the MeK and Bolton:
Of course, the fact that all of this is happening during a week when Trump very much wants a "wag the dog" distraction is lost on no one.
Emptywheel has an even lower opinion of Bolton than the general consensus:
