James Webb in Fox News Sunday interviews during 2015

On Civil Rights: Doing away with Confederate iconography is secondary issue

WEBB: Unfortunately, I think you're seeing it from both sides. We're seeing an issue which should have been resolved and now is resolve, flying the Confederate battle flag in public places morphing into something much different. I asked [advisor and African American] Nelson Jones what was he hearing down in Houston on this issue? He said he was just at the barber shop and the brothers said, "Here we go again, when are we going to talk about jobs? When are we going to talk about education? When are we going to talk about harmony and bringing people together?" And that's what inclusive leadership needs to be.

On Foreign Policy: Prefers confidence building gestures to deal with Iran

WEBB: I would be hesitant with what I see right now, what we do not want to do at this point is to send a signal to the region that we are accepting the notion that eventually Iran would be acquiring nuclear weapons. There are other ways we can improve relations with Iran, confidence building gestures as we did with the Soviet Union over many years.

On Foreign Policy: China is the greatest long term threat to America

WEBB: I would probably say China is a long-term strategic threat, if you look at the expansion that they have conducted over the last 15 years. I've been talking about in the South China Sea and building blue water navy. I take General Dunford's point about the turbulence with respect to Russia, but I think our friends and allies in Europe have done a pretty good job of helping us address that.

Q: As president, would you send weapons to the Ukrainians for example?

WEBB: I would be open to looking at that.

On War & Peace: Supports cutting back the army's ground commitments

WEBB: Well, we go through these cycles whenever we have extended ground commitments. We've done it three or four times in my adult life. I have a great deal of confidence, particularly in Joe Dunford, who's now going to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I don't think that the military leadership would be backing anything that they don't believe can work.

Q: So do you support it?

WEBB: No, I agree with the notion that ground forces are reduced when our extended ground commitments go down. But I don't know the numbers. I'd have to take a look and see where they are.

On War & Peace: Solution to ISIS will have to come from Sunni leadership

WEBB: The long term solution to the ISIS problem is going to have to come from the Sunni leadership in the region. In the interim period, we need to define specifically what our national security interests are and how we can bring them about. I don't think you're going to get there with us training these opposition forces in that way. It didn't work very well a few years ago before IS showed up. But in terms of our national security interests, I think you're seeing some impact.