|
|
Mike Gravel on Foreign PolicyLibertarian for President; Former Democratic Senator (AK) |
A: I want to take you to task at your rhetoric about the tremendous increase in their defense. They're only 10% of American defense. They haven't had a tremendous increase. 10% of our defense. And I want to take all of the other candidates to task--because this amount of demagoguery about China is shameful. The Chinese people have a problem. And when we continue this rhetoric of beggar thy neighbor, where our interests always come first, there should be the interests of human beings. Because when you have a foreign policy that's beggar thy neighbor, we all become beggars. And so when they talk about the currency of China, what about the manipulations we do? What about the American companies that dump things abroad? What about the tariffs?
A: No, not at all. In fact, I would reach out to him. Do we forget that our CIA tried to depose him? Do we forget that? So, is he an enemy? No, he's not an enemy. We've created him as an enemy. We're doing the same thing with Iran. What's the difference if Chavez deals with Iran? We hope that a lot of countries begin to interchange their leadership and begin to think about the globe as one entity. There's nothing wrong. The same thing with Fidel Castro. Why can't we recognize Cuba? What's the big deal, after 25 years, that these people 125 miles from this country are discriminated against? It makes no sense at all. We need to open up our arms to all nations and treat them as friends, not start looking for enemies.
A: The problem is because we haven't owned up to our responsibilities to a sense of global governance. And so now, you've got a situation where the US wants to go in, but the African nations don't want us there. What's the message? They're afraid of us. They're flat afraid of us.
A: It's very simple. If we have a president, he has to have moral judgment. Most of the people on this stage with me do not have that judgment, and have proven it by the simple fact of what they've done.
A: We have no important enemies. What we need to do is to begin to deal with the rest of the world as equals. And we don't do that. We spend more as a nation on defense than all the rest of the world put together. Who are we afraid of? Iraq has never been a threat to us. We invaded them. The military industrial complex not only controls our government, lock, stock and barrel, but they control our culture.
Ironically, it has been the so-called "internationalists" who have isolated Americans, deciding for our allies what their military postures should be, setting up & toppling non-conforming client states, and forbidding travel, trade, & even diplomatic representation with many communist countries.
The new internationalism will incorporate military nonintervention, the tolerance of revolutionary politics, and a reassessment of the inequalities of enjoyment of the planet's resources, which are so vastly, and precariously, in our favor for this historical moment.
We must demonstrate renewed respect for international law & institutions, as our best hope for creating the conditions for peace.
The US, as the most powerful country, must now lead the way in building up the power and capacity of the UN to act effectively in areas of conflict.
In the long-run, I believe the UN must develop into the primary peace-keeping force on earth, and we should take the lead in this development.
A more powerful UN must grow slowly, applying its influence initially in regions where the conflicts of interest are limited and where the parties involved want to avoid war and seek peace. Beyond this, it can apply sanctions in cases of colonial oppression to permit independence movements to achieve legitimate ends. And it can maintain a permanent stand-by peace force, to serve as a presence whenever armed conflict threatens.
