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Marianne Williamson on War & Peace
Author & Democratic Presidential Challenger
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Rejoin Iran nuclear deal and increase diplomacy
I would rejoin the JCPOA [Iran's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]. After the deal, Iranian moderates gained popularity and fundamentalists lost power. This deal was intended as a first step toward improving relationships. The Supreme Leader and
hardliners opposed the deal. US withdrawal increases their popularity and justifies their mistrust of the US. I would increase diplomacy, decrease tensions, and transform relations to create a context to address human rights and other issues.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
, Aug 16, 2019
North Korea: Partial sanction relief for some disarming
Sanctions are a form of economic warfare with a high rate of failure. We can achieve superior outcomes with clear-eyed respect and steps towards thawing the ice. This could help improve our relationship with Kim Jong Un and de-escalate threats from
North Korea. Action might include partial sanctions relief in exchange for some serious dismantling of their nuclear weapons program, as steps towards de-escalation and improved relations.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
, Aug 16, 2019
Protection of women must be part of any Afghanistan deal
My concern has to do with the rights of women, towards whom the Taliban have been known for a history of brutality. When elected,
I will talk with the appropriate voices for women in Afghanistan and factor their protection and rights into all plans for withdrawal. The protection of women and women's rights must be part of any agreement.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential primary
, Aug 16, 2019
We're spending $350B supporting genocidal war against Yemen
Q: What should be America's role in the world?WILLIAMSON: Moral leadership. Our grandparents would be rolling over in their graves to see something like, for the sake of a $350 billion-dollar arms deal over the next ten years, we are giving aerial
support to a genocidal war that Saudi Arabia is waging against Yemen. I'm not saying that America was ever perfect, but there was a time on this planet when other nations, and Americans ourselves, saw that we at least tried to stand for de
Source: CBS Face the Nation interviews in 2019
, Jul 28, 2019
Repurpose military infrastructure for sustainable society
Her 2020 presidential platform calls for repurposing the tremendous talents and infrastructure of our military-industrial complex in such a way as to leave us strong enough to deal with America's legitimate needs for military preparedness yet moving on
to the urgent task of building a sustainable society and sustainable world. It is time to release this powerful sector of American genius to the work of promoting life instead of death.
Source: National Review magazine, articles on 2020 candidates
, Jul 1, 2019
Speak to Afghan women to decide about withdrawing troops
Q: Would there be American troops in Afghanistan at the end of your first term?
A: "I would make no move in Afghanistan until first I spoke to Afghan women."
Source: 2019 "Meet the Candidates" (NY Times.com)
, Jun 18, 2019
Stop relying on brute force internationally
- Williamson believes, "Our country's way of dealing with security issues is obsolete. We cannot simply rely on brute force to rid ourselves of international enemies."
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She [says] that our military budget "simply increase(s) the coffers of the military-industrial complex."
- She writes, "The only way to make peace with your neighbors is to make peace with your neighbors."
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Williamson proposes a 10 or 20 year plan to transform our wartime economy into a "peace-time economy." "From massive investment in the development of clean energy, to the retrofitting of our buildings and bridges, to the building of new
schools and the creation of a green manufacturing base," she writes, "it is time to release this powerful sector of American genius to the work of promoting life instead of death."
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Mar 27, 2019
U.S. imperialistically devastated both Vietnam and Iraq
The very tyrannies from which we had fought to be free would reappear among us, and often we were the oppressors as well as the oppressed. With every generation, we've waged a fiery personal and political contest between our most noble
and our basest thoughts. Which would control the destiny of our country? Even now, the contest rages.
To look in our national mirror is to see both glory and shame. We endured the horrors of a Civil War, heroically fought two world wars, brilliantly helped defeat Hitler--and then imperialistically devastated both Vietnam and Iraq.
We are blessed with more money and more technological resources than any other nation in the world, yet we give only 1 percent of our budget away to nations less fortunate than us. America has always been a land of contradictions.
Source: Healing the Soul of America, by Marianne Williamson,p.xix-xx
, Jul 24, 2018
Vietnam was a huge black gash wounding America
Robert McNamara, who was President Johnson's Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War, wrote in his memoirs that the war was a "terrible mistake." McNamara also mentioned that he, and others who planned and directed that war, had no knowledge or
understanding of the religion, language philosophy, or character of the people of Vietnam--and no one to teach them, even if they wanted to learn.There is an inestimable human tragedy stuck to this nation as a result of that war, a significant aspect
of which is the ever-more-frayed bond of trust between the American people and our government.
The Vietnam War Memorial is a uniquely powerful place because it is emotionally true. It doesn't lie. It pictures the war as a huge black gash across our
landscape, which it is. It approximately memorializes the lives of those who died such purposeless, tragic deaths in Vietnam. And it helps us grieve not only for them but also for who we were as a nation before that war so wounded us.
Source: Healing the Soul of America, by Marianne Williamson, p.101
, Jul 24, 2018
Form Department of Peace to pro-actively plan
A community college in Michigan welcomes an author who wants to form a "Department of Peace" within the United States government. Williamson says, "Given the extreme level of violence on our planet, it is time to expand our
thinking to pro-actively plan and strategize peace." She also notes that a peace department "would be so helpful because it would give international heft to government strategizing for peace."
Source: Human Events magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
, May 3, 2006
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