Ralph Nader on War & Peace

Wage peace and anticipate conflicts abroad

When to use American military power abroad? His would be a foreign policy that focused more energetically on preventing war, said Nader: “We’re not waging peace with rigorous energy, mediation, anticipating conflicts abroad.” Source: Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe, page D1 Oct 8, 2000

Forget “hot spots”; ask “How did we get into this?”

What’s really amazing is that any discussion of foreign policy is usually about current hot spots, instead of asking, how did we get into this situation in the first place? What could we have done to avoid it? For example, how many years did we prop up the dictatorship of the former Belgian Congo? Now look how it’s all falling apart over there, right? Well, we had no preventive diplomacy, no preventive defense. It’s always, who’s in charge, and, go out and support then as long as they’re anticommunist. Source: VoteNader.com: A Conversation with Robert Kuttner Jun 25, 2000

Iraq: Trade sanctions strengthen Saddam

On trade sanctions against Iraq: “The way a dictator gets power is by convincing the people there is an enemy [as US trade sanctions have helped him do]. If Saddam Hussein were in charge of American foreign policy towards Iraq, he would do exactly the same thing as we have.” Source: Campaign Speech, Hartford Public Library, Hartford CT May 16, 2000

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