An emboldened Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an enriched terror-sponsoring Iran and a feckless U.S. foreign policy will culminate in international turmoil, he said Sunday.
“ISIS has had some setbacks in Iraq and Syria, no doubt about it, but it’s still consolidating its control over that territory, it’s gained new adherents across Libya and North Africa and more adherents around the world,” Bolton told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970.
“We’ve seen the consequences in the attacks in Paris and the attack in San Bernardino, and I think every prospect that the level of terrorist threat will go up,” he added.
“And I think it will get worse in the next year, because our adversaries in Tehran and ISIS and elsewhere, they don’t know who will win our November election any more than we do, but they know they’ve got one more year of Barack Obama, and they’re going to take advantage of it.”
The ambassador said Obama sees issues of national security as a “distraction” from his domestic agenda.
“I don’t think the president gives the attention and priority to national security that he should,” he said. “I think he’s the first president on a bipartisan basis since Roosevelt who doesn’t wake up every morning and ask, ‘What threats does the United States face today?’
Bolton said Obama’s focus is on transforming the country and he sees foreign issues as “a distraction.”
“I think that helps explain the weakness and inattention we’ve displayed over and over again,” he said.
“And where he does get engaged, as in the case of Iran, he leaves us and our friends and allies in much more dangerous place. That’s why this next year, I think, is so problematic, and it’s also why I believe 2016 will be a national security election.”
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http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/267640-ex-un-ambassador-isis-iran-going-to-take-advantage-of-obamas