Webb has also been skeptical about the TPP, as he usually (but not invariably) is about trade deals. He has not offered an O'Malley-style list of the elements a pact would require to get his support.
"We already have terrain to defend--the United States and our outposts overseas--and we cannot afford to expand this territory in a manner that would simply give the enemy more targets." He wraps up with this: "If a treaty does not obligate us, if American forces are not under attack or under threat of imminent attack, if no Americans are at risk, the President should come to the congress before he or she sends troops into Harm's Way."
"When social security was announced," said Webb, "there were people who said, 'Oh, this is a socialist program, you know, what are you doing here?' When Medicare was announced, 'Oh this is a socialist program, what are you doing?'"
"Well, what we were doing was putting a safety net under people," explained Webb, "who otherwise would not be able to live with dignity."
Webb went on to clarify his position, "I am a very strong believer of preserving social security as we know it and Medicare as we know it and if we have to pay for it, we have to pay for it. We have that obligation to our citizens."
A: Well, they are a very opaque regime, and as a result, you have to be prepared for unpredictable actions from them. We are the guarantor of stability in all of the Asian Rim. We have been since the end of World War II. in the long term, this is an opportunity for us to get a confidence-building with China. This is an area where China has some influence, and perhaps can help us resolve a situation. The questions I would have with respect to this administration's policy have been the actions of China in the Senkaku Islands and then all the way down along the Rim, in the Spratlys, where they are very clearly expanding their military presence. And I think we could do a lot more.
A: If you look at my record as a government official, when I was secretary of the Navy, I opened up more billets to women than any secretary of the Navy in history. And I am totally comfortable now with the military being able to make these decisions in a way that it goes to performance and I am very proud to see these two women who are West Point graduates. And the military should be able to decide how they will be used.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
JIM WEBB: I took some very tough stands in '06. People will look back at the Virginia campaign. There was an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot in Virginia. I've got a lot of family ties down in the far Southwest, and I oppose that. And I'm really comfortable with where the evolution has gone.
Q: So you're not ready, so legal in some places, but not legal in others?
WEBB: I think this has been a good thing for the country.
JIM WEBB: We are at a crossroads as a nation. When you see the arguments here about economic fairness, the truth is that it really depends on where you're sitting in this country. We've got a stock market that has almost tripled since March of 2009.
Q: You're feeling good?
WEBB: Yeah, exactly: if you've got capital, you're feeling pretty good. But average salaries have gone down, loans to small businesses have actually decreased. And we have a criminal justice system that's embarrassing. And all of the country should be focusing on that too.
JIM WEBB: Well, it doesn't. And actually, I think it's fair to say right now that we are at a crossroads as a nation in terms of how we view ourselves, how we say these things to ourselves. And the way that these issues are going to be resolved in the next couple of years will affect us for a very long time. We have not had a clear articulation of what American foreign policy is, basically since the end of the Cold War. So when you're looking at places like Iraq and Syria, you're seeing policies that can't be clearly articulated.
Q: You're basically saying President Obama doesn't have a foreign policy.
WEBB: I'm saying that in terms of a clear doctrine, we have been lacking that for a very long time. And it particularly impacts the Middle East.
WEBB: I think what you were seeing in Egypt was: make sure you've got a clear grasp on where you're going before you leave where you are. This was accentuated in Libya. I spoke very strongly against the notion that a president could unilaterally conduct military operations in an area where we had no treaties at work, we had no Americans under attack or at risk. And you take a look at the end result of Libya, are an enormous number of weapons that are unaccountable, which are probably in Syria, and can you get to the Tripoli airport today? And who's talking about that? Now if you take a look at Syria, and these other parts of Iraq, we now have a situation where we're asking these freedom fighters, or whatever you want to call them, who were going after Assad, to help us go after ISIS.
WEBB: If you look at what's going on right now, there are two data points I think that are critical. The first was the decision by the Bush administration to invade and occupy Iraq. Which empowered Iran and unleashed all the sectarian violence. And then it was what I thought was a strategic, the inadvisable strategy of the Arab Spring. And what has happened in Libya as well as Syria as a result.
WEBB: Now if you take a look at Syria, and these other parts of Iraq, we now have a situation where we're asking these freedom fighters, or whatever you want to call them, who were going after Assad, to help us go after ISIS. The elements that are fighting there are very fluid in terms of the people who declare their alliances. I would be willing to bet that we had people at the top of ISIS who actually have been trained by Americans at some point.
WEBB: Obviously everyone should be happy that our soldier is out of harm's way. But about the exercise of presidential authority: When the President, on his own initiative, without coming to the congress--
Q: You see questions about an overreach of administration that did not seek out congress?
WEBB: That's what I'm saying. We're going to have to see a much more vigorous discussion from the Congress on presidential authority. What we've seen in the past is that Republicans don't particularly want this discussion because they're more aggressive in terms of this use of force in that part of the world. The Democrats don't want it because they don't want to be disloyal to the presidency, but we have to have that discussion.
Looking at the interaction among the various agencies that tackle the drug problem is essential, the senator said. In 1980, he said, there were 40,000 people jailed on drug charges. Today, that number has grown to 500,000. "We have to find a better way to deal with the problem," Webb said. "It's a sickness and we've got to treat the sickness."
"The expansion of Appalachia HIDTA into these Virginia communities would extend the reach and efficiency of HIDTA, allowing it to effectively combat and eradicate, rather than merely geographically relocate, these systemic drug trafficking and production networks," Webb wrote to the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Webb said he had been working toward getting all southwestern Virginia counties included in the Appalachia HIDTA facilitates cooperation between drug control organizations and helps federal, state and local law enforcement organizations invest in infrastructure and joint initiatives to confront drug traffickers.
"There's got to be a balance of enforcement," Webb said, adding that Virginia has suffered from the spill-over of drug problems from Tennessee and Kentucky.
What about legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana? Webb paused. "I think they should do a very careful examination of all aspects of drug policy. I've done a couple of very extensive hearings on this, so we'll wait to see what they say about that," he said. So it's on the table? Webb flashed a wry grin, laughing mischievously. The last government study group to look at drug policy, the 1972 Shafer Commission, recommended that Pres. Nixon decriminalize marijuana. He didn't. This commission will have a broader mandate, said Webb.
Webb cited "the exponential growth of incarceration since 1980," saying that "a huge percentage of that growth has been nonviolent crimes associated with drugs."
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The above quotations are from Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2013-2015, interviewing presidential hopefuls for 2016.
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