However, it is the Iraqis' responsibility to decide for themselves what kind of government they will have, even to the extent of whether Iraq should be broken up into two or more countries, he said.

"We didn't have any responsibility to provide tutorage for them," said Bolton, adding that he didn't have a lot to do with Iraq policy because former Secretary of State Colin Powell "excluded me from it, probably the best favor he ever did for me."

The world today is not a very safe place, Bolton said, although we don't face extinction by an all-out nuclear exchange of the Cold War.

And despite the problems in Iraq, America can't ignore Iran's effort to develop a working nuclear weapon and long-range ballistic missiles to deliver that bomb, he said.

If Iran keeps at its nuclear program, it is probably too late for even harsh international sanctions to stop the weapon's development, he added. In which case Western powers will have only two options — regime change and/or strategic airstrikes to take out Iran's weapons program, he said.

Action in Iran "would not involve any troops on the ground" in that country, Bolton said.

Do not assume that the Iranian people in general support or like the theocracy government now in power, he said. There are severe economic troubles, as well as ethnic problems in Iran, he said, adding that a young, well-educated populace knows that its lives could be much better outside of the mullahs. America and the West have opportunities to effect change inside the now-closed culture, Bolton said.

There really is no way to influence North Korea, a "criminal government who will sell anything to anyone for hard currency — including nuclear technology," he said. That government must fall, and China can either bring it down or prop it up, Bolton said.

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