Former national security adviser John Bolton said he has serious concerns about a new report alleging Russian bounties are on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and President Trump’s denial that he was briefed on the matter.
On Sunday, Bolton called a recent New York Times report that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan, including U.S. troops, one of the most serious issues to arise within the Trump administration. Hours earlier, Trump said he hadn’t been briefed about the alleged bounties and demanded that the paper reveal the anonymous intelligence officials sourced in the story.
…Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration. With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine – Where’s Hunter? Probably just another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax. Who is their “source”?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2020
“I’ve been puzzled over the tweet of the president saying, ‘I don’t know anything about this,'” Bolton said on CNN’s State of the Union.
“What would motivate the president to do that? Because it looks bad if Russians are paying to kill Americans, and we’re not doing anything about it. So, what is the presidential reaction? It’s to say, ‘It’s not my responsibility, nobody told me about it.’ And therefore to duck any complaints that he hasn’t acted effectively. This is part of the problem with Trump — President Trump’s decision-making in the national security space. It’s just unconnected to the reality he’s dealing with. It’s about his personal position,” he continued.
The report also said the aim of issuing bounties is to put an end to the long-standing war in Afghanistan. Bolton declined to call the report true, saying media outlets can report information incorrectly from time to time.
“My only caution is, before we go too far down the track, just because it’s in press reports doesn’t necessarily mean it’s accurate,” he said.
He added that if the report is true, the United States needs to consider a series of strong measures against Moscow, particularly when the lives of American soldiers could be at risk. The former national security adviser said taking action against Russia would also be difficult with Trump in office.
“It’s very hard with the herky-jerky way the president approaches these things to be able to do that,” he said. “Make no mistake, though, when you go after American service members, directly or indirectly, you are attacking the United States, and I think it could call for some very severe measures against the Russians.”
In 2019, 22 U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan.
