John Bolton: America’s biggest problem is the ‘self-induced weakness’ of Team Obama

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton predicted a dire year for the United States in 2015, at least when it comes to foreign affairs.

And he’s not alone in that assessment: Retired Gen. Bob Scales saw the same for the coming year, Newsmax reported.

“I think the long shadow of Iraq will cast itself well into 2015,” Mr. Scales said during a recent interview on “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” on Fox News. “And then there is the other issue, God forbid, what happened in Iraq is going to happen in Afghanistan when, perhaps, we pull out again precipitously. The future, frankly, is not too bright.”

Mr. Bolton, meanwhile, pointed to the dangers of Iran and North Korea and those nations’ emerging nuclear weaponry programs, as well as “a host of other threats from China and Russia,” he said, Newsmax reported.

But the biggest problem facing America?

“[It’s] the self-induced weakness of the administration’s policies,” and the ongoing perception of a weak America, Mr. Bolton said, to Ms. Van Susteren.

“It’s not just military power,” he said, Newsmax reported. “It’s political power as well.”

Mr. Scales said: “There is an old saying in the military that if you create a strategic vacuum, somebody’s going to fill it. Generally, you don’t like who fills it.”