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Pat Buchanan on Foreign Policy
Israelis are our friends; but must bear some responsibility
Buchanan said Bush and Gore have been unquestioning supporters of Israel during the recent conflict in the Middle East. He said Israel bears some responsibility for provoking Palestinian attacks by extending Jewish settlements in the West Bank. “Of
course the Israelis are our friends, but we’ve got to have a more even-handed policy,” he said. “We have friends in the Arab world, and we have to be friends to the idea of justice in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.”
Doesn’t matter to US whose flag flies over Jerusalem
If Palestine wants to fight and die and unite the Arab states around them, we cannot stop them. It’s not vital to America’s security whose flag flies over Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.
Kick UN out of US by 2001; use Marines to “help pack”
My friends, this to me is one of the great issues, now that the cold war is over, and it is whether America is going to remain forever independent and free, with liberty and justice in this country, as determined by us, Americans. Or
whether this decision-making authority is going to go back to the United Nations and leave this country, and that is where a number of elitists want to take us. Let me tell you what I would do if I’m elected president. I will get the
United States out of the World Trade Organization. I will get the United States out of the International Monetary Fund, and I will tell Kofi Annan, up at the U.N.: “Sir, your lease on Turtle Bay has run out. We want the United
Nations out of the United States by year’s end. And if you’re having trouble leaving, we’ll send up 10,000 marines to help you pack.”
Armenia: History shows national interest trumps atrocities
Q: In Buchanan’s book, he praised the way the British were mistreating the Armenians, in what he called the Armenian holocaust. If it’s America first, why did he prefer Britain to Armenia as far as people being mistreated goes? A: I did not say that was a good thing at all. What I said was that if you go back in all these massacres and genocides of peoples, you will find that despite the fact that statesmen say this is awful and it can’t happen again, it does every single time and there has never been a real intervention to stop it.
The British issue was with the Bulgarian massacres by the Turks. Disraeli said we ought to stay with the Turks even though they did it, and Gladstone said we ought to throw the Turks out of Europe even though they’re our allies. What I’m saying was this shows you when national interest come into collision, even with horrific human rights atrocities, every time virtually, national interest wins. I don’t say it’s morally right. I was writing history.
Account for losses before any third-world debt forgiveness
‘Debt forgiveness’ is a fancy phrase for shifting the total burden of defaulted debts off Third World regimes and onto the backs of American taxpayers. These loans are not being wiped off the books; they are being added to the US national debt.
Before one dime in ‘loan forgiveness’ is granted to any Third World government, the American people have a right to know who lost, who looted, and who stole the billions of dollars we are being asked to forgive. We need responsibility; we need a full
accounting of how the generosity of the American people was criminally abused -- by incompetent or corrupt lending officers at the IMF and World Bank, and by the assorted dictators and thieves who stole or squandered the billions in aid
intended for the peoples they misruled. We have a right to know the names of those who lost or stole the money, and to an accounting of any and all efforts to recover the looted billions.
Iraq: end sanctions that kill kids, or pay price later
For ten years, we’ve maintained rigid sanctions on Iraq, resulting in the premature deaths of 500,000 children. Will the parents of those children ever forgive us? Even our European Allies recoil. By keeping these sanctions fastened on Iraq, we flout
every tenet of Christianity’s Just War doctrine, and build up deposits of hatred across the Arab world that will take decades to draw down. One day our children shall pay the price of our callous indifference to what is happening to the children of Iraq.
All US troops out of Europe by end of first term
We can be the peacemaker of the world - or its policeman. Let us use this transitory moment of American power and preeminence to encourage allies to pay for their own defense. If elected, I will have all US troops home from Europe by the end of my first term. Certainly, sixty years after the end of World War II, and fifteen years after the Berlin Wall fell, is not too soon to get all US troops out of Europe and let Europeans provide and pay the cost of their own defense. If not now, when?
Struggle against emerging world government
“Loyalty to the New World Order is disloyalty to the Republic. In nation after nation, the struggle between patriotism and globalism is under way.” Buchanan said the Clinton administration is allowing the UN to intrude on America’s sovereignty.
At the same time, he said, the US is guilty of “trampling on the sovereignty” of other nations by injecting troops in internal conflicts, such as Kosovo. “If ever sovereignty becomes obsolete, we may expect America’s involvement in endless wars until,
one day, we pay a horrific price in some act of cataclysmic terror on our own soil,“ Buchanan said. ”For interventionism is the spawning pool of international terror.“ The UN is increasingly seeking authority over US troops and control of the nation’s
borders, Buchanan warned. ”This then is a millennial struggle that succeeds the Cold War: It is the struggle of patriots of every nation against a world government where all nations yield up their sovereignty and fade away,“ he said.
Cuba: Siege mentality is pillar of power; end embargo
A supporter of sanctions in the past against Cuba, Buchanan said conditions had changed with the fall of Soviet Communism. “Because of the siege mentality our embargo has created inside Cuba,” he said, “our sanctions may today be the main pillar of
Castro’s power.” Dictatorial governments do not justify sanctions, Buchanan said, adding, “No one has deputized America to play Wyatt Earp to the world. Have we succumbed to the hubris of hegemony?”
Russia: Offer EU membership instead of encirclement
Wounded and amputated, bereft of its cubs, the Russian bear should not be provoked. Rather than encircling Russia, let us enlarge Russia’s stake in peace. Bringing Russia into the European Union would be a far wiser guarantee of
Europe’s security than a threat to go to war to defend their frontiers. By moving NATO onto Mother Russia’s front porch, we are driving her into the arms of Beijing and creating a hostile alliance it is in our vital interest to prevent.
Israel: Provide for self-defense, but concede land for peace
Israel will not know peace as long as it occupies Arab land.- The US should end foreign aid to Israel and Egypt, which runs to $5 billion yearly, and lay out the elements of an honorable peace:
- return of the Golan Heights to Syria, and their demilitarization
- Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, with a right of return if Hezbollah uses the territory for attacks.
Palestine: a flag, a land, a capital in Jerusalem
- [An honorable peace with Israel should include]:
- a flag and land of their own for the Palestinians
- a Vatican enclave-capital in Arab East Jerusalem
- any Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza should be demilitarized
- a permanent commitment to Israel of access to US weapons to enable it to maintain a security edge, with Israeli guarantees of no further technology transfers to China.
Iran & Iraq: Abandon dual containment strategy
It is time to abandon a sterile policy of dual containment for a more active diplomacy , especially with Iran. Nothing Iran’s regime has done, despicable as it may be, compares with what Mao’s men did. As for Saddam,
murderous though he may be, he is not a threat to America. Should he use a weapon of mass destruction... his destruction would be total -- and he knows it.
Japan: share burdens(defense) & benefits(trade) equitably
America has a vital interest in ensuring that Japan’s industrial might and military potential are not placed in any global balance against us. Yet in this partnership, Tokyo has done most of the taking. Japan runs up huge trade surpluses, while
denying Americans fair access to its markets. America is obligated to fight for Japan; Japan has no corresponding obligation. We need a new partnership agreement by which the burdens and benefits, risks and responsibilities, are more equitably shared.
Korea: Replace US troops with Koreans
With twice the population of the North and 20 times its economic power, South Korea, with access to US weapons and US strategic support, is capable of manning its own defense. American troops on the DMZ should be replaced by South Koreans;
the US should remove its forces from the peninsula; and any US participation in a future Korean war should be restricted to air and naval support.
Puerto Rico: No statehood; eventual independence
The campaign to make Puerto Rico the 51st state must be defeated. Puerto Rico is a nation, with its own language, history, culture, and flag. To make this island a state means making America a bilingual nation and
denying to Puerto Rican patriots and nationalists, forever, their right to join the family of nations. We cannot do that and remain true to or anticolonial heritage. Puerto Rico should forever retain the right of self-determination.
Quebec: Offer seceding provinces alliances or statehood
Canada has not been a security concern in this century. That is changing. Quebec may declare independence, and the Maritime and Western provinces could separate from Ottawa. Americans may profoundly regret a breakup of Canada, but we are not a
disinterested party; Canada is the most important country on earth for us. Should it come apart, the US should offer trade agreements and security alliances to each successor state, and statehood itself, should any breakaway Canadian province wish it.
Latin America: Support Monroe Doctrine but exit Rio Pact
The next president should restate the US position that the Monroe Doctrine is the cornerstone of American foreign policy, and that the US will consider it unacceptable for any hostile regime to create a bastion in this hemisphere. But the US should
disavow any right or intention to intervene in any Latin American country that does not threaten us or its neighbors. As for the Rio Pact, the US should give notice of its withdrawal. We do not need military allies in this hemisphere to defend ourselves.
Base alliances on their view of US; not on democracy status
The US posture toward other nations should be based not on their internal arrangements but on their stance toward us. Just as policies and regimes pass, so, too, should alliances be temporary and transient. Whether a nation is democratic should
be of less concern to us than how it views America. The form of government nations adopt is their own business. The rise of autocrats does not threaten us if we decline to make the internal affairs of other nations our central concern.
Poland: NATO membership implies nuclear defense
Are we willing to use nuclear weapons to defend Eastern Europe-for that is what NATO membership means. Poland has never been a vital US interest. To assert that Poland’s democracy and frontiers are now matters over which we will fight a nuclear war is a
reckless commitment. NATO is not a social club. It is a military alliance, [stating] “an armed attack on one NATO nation is to be considered an armed attack on all.” Should Russian troops skirmish with Polish troops, America could be at war.
Independence, not isolationism
The message of George Washington’s Farewell Address was not to isolate America from Europe but to keep it independent of Europe. Stay out of foreign wars, Washington admonished. Look west to the mountains, the plains, the Pacific.
That is where our destiny lies. Europe is the past. Avoid “permanent alliances”; devote your energies to your own country. Independence, not isolation, is the American tradition.
Hitler was no threat to US; sought mastery of Europe only
Following his victory [over France in 1940], Hitler made no overt move to threaten US vital interests. As of mid-1940, his actions argue that beneath the overlay of Nazi ideology, he was driven by a traditional German policy of “The Drive to the East.”
In this analysis, Hitler had not wanted war with the West. Hitler saw the world divided into four spheres: Great Britain holding its empire; Japan, dominant in East Asia; Germany, master of Europe; and America, mistress of the Western Hemisphere.
FDR forced Japan to attack US as back door to WWII
In early 1941, FDR froze all Japanese assets, cutting off trade, including oil. Without oil, the Japanese empire must wither & die.. The oil embargo was “economic war” against an oil-starved nation. FDR knew the consequences of an oil embargo & approved,
because he wanted Japan to attack. A war with Japan was the only way he could take us to war in Europe. FDR seemed anxious to get into the war, [but was] elected on a promise to stay out, [so] FDR needed to maneuver Japan into firing the first shot.
Kuwait War benefited Iran; not US
I did not believe Kuwait was vital to the US. Saddam, after all, had stolen Kuwait’s oil to sell it, and Saudi Arabia could be defended without a war on Baghdad. The nation most likely to acheive hegemony in the Gulf is Iran. Iraq, a third as large and
populous, was the Arab counter. If we destroyed it, Iran would be the beneficiary and the US would be left with the obligation to contain both nations, an open-ended commitment America would be unwilling to sustain.
Globalist Elites have not yielded their empire
American boys yet unborn are being committed to fight where no American soldiers have ever fought before. In a 1990 article, I wrote: “The day of realpoliticians, with their Metternichian ‘new architectures’ and balance-of-power stratagems... is over.”
I was wrong. I underestimated the grip that the globalist elites have on power, and the will of these elites never to yield the bureaucratic-military empire--the existence of which gives meaning to their lives. But that hold is weakening.
Practice “masterly inactivity,” not “entangling alliances”
America did very well in the 1800s, Buchanan argues in his book, because it avoided “entangling alliances,” wasting neither men nor treasure on foreign wars. It should not have fought Germany in 1917 (“no vital interest”), nor in the 1940s (“no threat”).
If it wishes to remain the world’s pre-eminent power in the 21st century, it must give wide berth to the Kosovos, Somalias, and East Timors that constantly cry for attention. “Masterly inactivity” is the role Buchanan prefers for his country.
American leaders obsessed with Jewish influence
In a chapter of his book criticizing the power of numerous American ethnic groups over foreign policy, Buchanan writes, “After WWII, Jewish influence over foreign policy became almost an obsession with American leaders.” Buchanan responded to critics
that the observation was lifted from a complex criticism directed at numerous groups. “One paragraph discussing the power of the Israeli lobby is not only legitimate, it is necessary,” he declared.
Hitler was no direct threat to the US after 1940
In his book, Buchanan says that Hitler offered “no physical threat to the US” as of late 1940, after his defeat in the Battle of Britain. Buchanan questions whether Hitler sought war with the West or was driven to it. “Hitler made no overt move to
threaten US vital interests” after his initial victories across Europe, Buchanan writes. Americans had no choice but to fight once Hitler declared war on the US, but Hitler was primarily interested in building an empire to the East, not westward toward t
Push US foreign policy toward isolationism
Buchanan said his goal was to push US foreign policy toward isolationism. “We need a foreign policy that will get us out of all these foreign entanglements and quarrels that are poisoning our politics and assuring the US will be involved in wars in the
future that are none of our business,” he said. Buchanan holds such strongly isolationist views that he believes the US had no compelling interest in fighting in WWII, although it should have supported its allies.
Logistical help OK in East Timor, but no ground troops
Q: East Timor: The president announced that the US would participate, in a limited way, in a UN peacekeeping force going to East Timor. Should the US be participating?A: There should be no American ground troops there. I do believe the Australians should go in, the Portuguese and some Asian nations. That’s a regional problem there. What’s happening there is atrocious, of course. It’s the responsibility of the Indonesian government, which basically overran that area, killed some 200,000 people at the very time the US was funneling aid and support in there. So I think we have a measure of moral responsibility, but I don’t believe American troops ought to be on the ground. We’ve got too many American troops all over the world right now doing peacekeeping functions when their job is to defend the US. I think you should help with logistics, intelligence support, getting those people in there. But this is a job for the Australians and the Asians in the neighborhood.
Israeli lobby should not dominate Mideast policy
Q: In your book, you also seem to express great concern about the influence that Jews have had on American foreign policy.A: I don’t know why you singled out American Jews.
Q: Because you did.
A: There are 16 ethnic lobbies. We mentioned every single one of them.
Q: You say that “the Israeli lobby is the most powerful of ethnic lobbies.” That’s your view?
A: The Israeli lobby is the most powerful of ethnic lobbies in terms of dominating foreign policy. Let me make an honest statement to you. If Pat Buchanan becomes president of the US, the foreign policy of this country and the Middle East policy of this country will be made in the Oval Office by the president of the US alone. We need a foreign policy that puts our own country first. What I am saying is AIPAC, the Israeli lobby or any other lobby, is not going to dominate foreign policy if Pat Buchanan becomes president. Our policy in the Middle East should be based on American values and American interests.
Withdraw from UN; Kyoto Treaty; Rome Treaty
I will demand the US Senate reject Al Gore’s industry-butchering Kyoto Treaty. The Rome treaty creating a new UN war crimes tribunal will be ash-canned. We will withdraw from all UN and global agencies that do not serve American interests. A Buchanan
Administration will recapture America’s lost sovereignty.
End foreign aid; withdraw from most of IMF
The World Bank will be privatized. Not one dime of the International Monetary Fund will go to prop up corrupt foreign regimes or countries hostile to the United States. Fifty years of foreign aid, an ancient relic of the cold war, will be brought to an
end.
Give GOP credit for Reagan’s ending of the Cold War
Under the Reagan Doctrine, one by one, the communist dominos began to fall. First, Grenada was liberated. Then, the Red Army was run out of Afghanistan, by U.S. weapons. In Nicaragua, the Marxist regime was forced to hold free elections - by Ronald
Reagan’s contra army. Have they forgotten? It was under our party that the Berlin Wall came down, and Europe was reunited. It was under our party that the Soviet Empire collapsed, and the captive nations broke free. Ronald Reagan won the Cold War.
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