text: Libya Bolton opposed the deal that George W. Bush made with then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to eliminate the country's weapons of mass destruction program. He was in a key role during initial negotiations but his role became limited over time. According to a 2005 study, Bolton was intentionally kept out of the loop so a final agreement could be reached: "Bolton reportedly was unaware of the December 19 WMD agreement until very shortly before its public announcement. And after initially being given a lead role in implementing it, he pushed so hard to backtrack from the agreement that the British convinced the Bush administration to restrict his involvement in the Libya matter."
  Bolton supported the NATO-led military intervention in Libya that toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
  Iraq
  Bolton is regarded to be an "architect" of the Iraq War. In 1998, he was a signatory to a letter sent to President Bill Clinton urging him to remove Saddam Hussein from power using U.S. diplomatic, political and military power. He supported the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein and continued to stand by his support of the invasion by 2018. In 2007, Bolton said the only mistake the United States made with regard to Iraq was to not leave earlier after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and tell the Iraqis "Here's a copy of the Federalist Papers. Good luck."
  Kosovo
  During 2008, Bolton opposed the declaration of independence by Kosovo. In 2018 he said, "US policy is that if the two parties can work it out between themselves and reach agreement, we don't exclude territorial adjustments," and that the US or Europe would not "stand in the way if the two parties to the dispute reached a mutually satisfactory settlement."