The New York Times - 12.09.2019

A10 N THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONALTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

The 45th PresidentForeign Policy

WASHINGTON — President
Trump’s abrupt ouster of John R.
Bolton, his hawkish national secu-
rity adviser, has reignited con-
cerns among some Republicans in
Congress about the White House’s
waning interest in projecting
American military power around
the world, a doctrine that was
once the subject of a powerful con-
sensus in their party.
It is the latest sign of the divide
among Republican lawmakers on
national security, pitting a camp of
hawkish conservatives including
Representative Liz Cheney, the
House’s third-ranking Republi-
can, and Senator Mitt Romney, the
2012 Republican presidential
nominee, against a newer, anti-es-
tablishment group aligned with
Mr. Trump’s impulses to put an
end to the nation’s intractable mil-
itary conflicts.
Mr. Bolton’s exit, announced
Tuesday by Mr. Trump on Twitter,
following the president’s revela-
tion that he had scheduled — and
then scrapped — plans to meet
with the Taliban for peace talks at
Camp David, dramatized the rift.
Senator Mitch McConnell of
Kentucky, the majority leader,
praised Mr. Bolton’s leadership on
Wednesday in comments that ap-
peared to be directed at the White
House.
“He knows there are many
threats to American interests and
that those threats will not recede if
we retreat,” Mr. McConnell said
from the Senate floor. “He under-
stands that American leadership
is essential to keeping these
threats and enemies at bay, and
that our partners and allies rarely
act without us.”
Mr. Romney called Mr. Bolton’s
departure “an extraordinary loss
for our nation and the White
House,” expressing deep concern
about how Mr. Trump would move
forward in Afghanistan after his
departure.
“We have to regroup and decide
how we’re going to proceed, but
it’s certainly essential that Af-
ghanistan not be allowed to return
as a base for terrorist activity,”
said Mr. Romney, a frequent critic
of Mr. Trump who sits on the For-
eign Relations Committee. “And
that will mean an ongoing Ameri-
can presence there unless we see

a very different response from the

Taliban.”

Ms. Cheney, an ally of the presi-

dent’s, had expressed alarm about

Mr. Trump’s apparent willingness

to host the Taliban at the presiden-

tial retreat.

“Camp David is where Ameri-

ca’s leaders met to plan our re-

sponse after al Qaeda, supported

by the Taliban, killed 3000 Ameri-

cans,” Ms. Cheney tweeted. “No

member of the Taliban should set

foot there. Ever. The Taliban still

harbors al Qaeda. The President

is right to end the talks.”

But in the Senate, Rand Paul of

Kentucky, a libertarian-minded

Republican who has made disen-

gaging from foreign military con-

flict a calling card, hastily sched-

uled a conference call with report-

ers to congratulate Mr. Trump for

jettisoning Mr. Bolton.

During a separate interview, on

the heels of the president’s deci-

sion to abandon negotiations with

the Taliban, Mr. Paul again made

the case for a withdrawal of

United States troops from Afghan-

istan.

“I think they will fight until the

end of time,” Mr. Paul said, noting

that he has several family mem-

bers and friends in the military. “I

have a tough time sending them to

potentially lose their lives in Af-

ghanistan when I can’t delineate

what their mission is, the reason

we’re there any more.”

Mr. Trump’s allies argued that

Mr. Bolton’s departure signaled

that Mr. Trump was reasserting

his own stamp on foreign policy.

“The president is very hawkish

when it comes to dealing with the

economic realm, but when it

comes to war fighting, he’s got

that more populist, even libertar-

ian strain to him,” said Senator

Kevin Cramer, Republican of

North Dakota, who is an ally of the

president’s and sits on the Armed

Services Committee. “The Bolton

dismissal is an outcome of that

push and pull,” Mr. Cramer contin-

ued, adding that Mr. Bolton

“pushed maybe too hard.”

It is not the first time the presi-

dent’s foreign policy has left Re-

publican lawmakers crosswise

with the White House, provoking

their dissent in a way that perhaps

no other issue has. In June, when

Mr. Trump abruptly reversed his

decision to launch a military

strike against Iran after an Ameri-

can spy plane was shot down, na-

tional security hawks in his party,

including Ms. Cheney, publicly la-

mented the decision. Mr. McCon-

nell led Senate Republicans in

January — as well as a group of

Democrats — in delivering a

pointed rebuke of the president’s

announced withdrawal of United

States military forces from Syria

and Afghanistan.

Those who have frequently

found themselves in lock step with

Mr. Bolton, a cadre of hawkish

lawmakers, many of whom have

defense and military back-

grounds, are now without a key

ally in the White House. But they

walked away early this week with

a victory, praising Mr. Trump’s de-

cision to cancel the negotiations to

end the war with the Taliban.

Those lawmakers have argued

that Mr. Trump must not with-

draw American forces from Af-

ghanistan based on a political

timetable, and that any deal with

the Taliban should be viewed with

the utmost skepticism.

“We can’t just wish the war

away because it’s been long, hard

and difficult,” said Representative

Michael Waltz, Republican of

Florida, who is a former Army

Special Forces officer who served

in Afghanistan. “Just because it’s

difficult doesn’t mean it’s not

worth doing. And in my view, we

need to stay on offense, we need to

keep our foot on their neck, we

need them worrying about where

they can sleep at night.”

The president’s frequent

changes of heart on national secu-

rity issues have also taught Re-

publicans to hope that on crucial

decisions, he will oscillate toward

their preferred approach. He rou-

tinely voices frustration with the

worldview that suggests the

United States bears responsibility

for patrolling the globe, and on

Monday groused that soldiers in

Afghanistan were serving, to a

large extent, as policemen. Those

comments have stoked hope

among noninterventionists like

Mr. Paul that the president will fol-

low his instincts and make good

on his campaign pledge.

“I’ve talked to him dozens of

times, and I do believe the presi-

dent wants to end the war in Af-

ghanistan,” Mr. Paul said. “But

he’s surrounded by people telling

him all kinds of reasons why he

can’t.”

Intent on ensuring Mr. Trump

delivers on his campaign promise

to end the forever wars, organiza-

tions like FreedomWorks, a liber-

tarian advocacy group associated

with the Tea Party, and Concerned

Veterans for America, one of the

arms of the Koch network, have

mounted lobbying campaigns on

Capitol Hill in an effort to provide

political cover for Republicans

who back ending military engage-

ment in Afghanistan. They have

found support from strident con-

servatives in the House, like Rep-

resentative Matt Gaetz of Florida

and Representative Andy Biggs of

Arizona.

“At the end of the day, we didn’t

end up in an endless war in Syria

or Iran, and I think that is more re-

flective of the president’s view

than his staff’s,” said Mr. Gaetz, a

close ally of Mr. Trump’s. “I think

the president has been pretty con-

sistent in his desire to not start a

new forever war, and I think the

country can even be more heart-

ened in that ideology with Mr.

Bolton’s departure.”

ANNA MONEYMAKER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Senator Mitt Romney, top, of Utah said the loss of a hawk as the national security adviser was

cause for concern. Above, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was pleased with the personnel move.

TOM BRENNER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

By CATIE EDMONDSON

Ouster of Bolton Shows

Divide Within the G.O.P.

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