Democratic candidates debate in Detroit Michigan, July 30-31, 2019: on War & Peace
Bill de Blasio:
Stop the march to war in Iran
We haven't talked about Iran [in this debate]. We didn't talk about Iran. We're on the march to war in Iran right now, and we blew by it [in this debate].
We have to stop this march to war in Iran. And the Democratic Party has to stand up for it.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (second night in Detroit)
Jul 31, 2019
Cory Booker:
No military action by Tweet; out of Afghanistan later
I will not do foreign policy by tweet. A guy that literally tweets that we're pulling our troops out before his generals even know is creating a dangerous situation in places like Afghanistan. I will bring our troops home as quickly as possible, but I
will not set an artificial deadline. I will make sure we do it safely, to not create a vacuum that's going to destabilize the Middle East and perhaps create the environment for terrorism and extremism to threaten our nation.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (second night in Detroit)
Jul 31, 2019
Jay Inslee:
We need a president to stand up against drums of war
We have to determine whether a potential president has adequate judgment. I was called to make a judgment about the Iraq war. I was a relatively new member of Congress, and I made the right judgment, because it was obvious to me that
George Bush was fanning the flames of war. Now we face similar situations. We need a president who can stand up against the drums of war and make rational decisions.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (second night in Detroit)
Jul 31, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
No arbitrary deadline, but out of Afghanistan in one year
I was deployed to Iraq in 2005 during the height of the war where I served in a field medical unit where every single day I saw the high cost of war. This is not about arbitrary deadlines. This is about leadership to do the right thing to bring our
troops home, within the first year in office, because they shouldn't have been there this long. We have to do the right thing, end these wasteful regime change wars, and bring our troops home.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (second night in Detroit)
Jul 31, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
More terrorists after spending trillions on War on Terror
We have spent $5 trillion on the war on terror. And there are probably more terrorists out there now than before it began. The Congress passed--and I will not vote for--a $715 billion military budget, more than the 10 next countries combined.
What we need is a foreign policy that focuses on diplomacy, ending conflicts by people sitting at a table, not by killing each other. I will go to the United Nations and not denigrate it, but bring countries together and solve those problems peacefully.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
Jul 30, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Withdraw from Afghanistan within four years
Q [to Mayor Pete Buttigieg]: There are currently about 14,000 U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan. You've said "One thing everybody can agree on is that we're getting out of Afghanistan." Will you withdraw all U.S. servicemembers by the end of your
first year in office?BUTTIGIEG: We will withdraw. We have to.
Q: In your first year?
BUTTIGIEG: Yes.
Q [to Rep. beto O'Rourke]: Would you withdraw all 14,000 U.S. servicemembers from Afghanistan during your first year in office as president?
O'ROURKE: I would in my first term in office. Agree that there is nothing about perpetuating this war, already in its 18th year, that will make it any better.
We've satisfied the reasons for our involvement in Afghanistan in the first place. And it's time to bring those servicemembers back home from Afghanistan, but also from Iraq, also from Yemen, and Somalia, and Libya, and Syria.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
Jul 30, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
End U.S. wars in Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Syria
It's time to bring those servicemembers back home from Afghanistan, but also from Iraq, also from Yemen, and Somalia, and Libya, and Syria. There is no reason for us to be at war all over the world tonight. As president, I will end those wars, and we
will not start new wars. We will not send more U.S. servicemembers overseas to sacrifice their lives and to take the lives of others in our name. We can resolve these challenges peacefully and diplomatically.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
Jul 30, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Negotiate for nuclear non-proliferation, including Iran
Gov. Steve BULLOCK [to Warren]: I wouldn't want to take [first use of nuclear weapons] off the table. Never, I hope, would we really even get close to pulling that trigger. But going from the position of strength, we should be negotiating down so there
aren't nuclear weapons. But drawing those lines in the sand, at this point I wouldn't do. WARREN: Look, we don't expand trust around the world by saying, "You know, we might be the first ones to use a nuclear weapon." That puts the entire world at
risk and puts us at risk, right in the middle of this. At a time when Donald Trump is pulling out of our nuclear negotiations, expanding the opportunities for nuclear proliferation around the world, has pulled us out of the deal in Iran, and Iran is
now working on its nuclear weapon, the world gets closer and closer to nuclear warfare. We have to have an announced policy that is one the entire world can live with. We need to make that clear. We will respond if someone else does, but not first.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
Jul 30, 2019
John Hickenlooper:
Don't turn our backs on Afghanistan by withdrawing US troops
Q [to Mayor Pete Buttigieg]: There are currently about 14,000 U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan. You've said "One thing everybody can agree on is that we're getting out of Afghanistan." Will you withdraw all U.S. servicemembers by the end of your first
year in office?BUTTIGIEG: We will withdraw. We have to.
Q: Gov. Hickenlooper, you disagree? You've said that you're open to keeping some servicemembers in Afghanistan beyond your first term.
HICKENLOOPER: I look at it as a humanitarian issue.
If we completely pull our troops out of there, you're going to see a humanitarian disaster. We have troops in over 400 different locations around the world. Most of them are small, they're peacekeeping, they're not greatly at risk. We're going to
have to be in Afghanistan. Look at the progress that has happened in that country. We're going to turn our backs and walk away from people that have risked their lives to help us and build a different future for Afghanistan and that part of the world?
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
Jul 30, 2019
Steve Bullock:
We need nuclear deterrence against North Korea and others
Sen. Elizabeth WARREN [to Bullock]: We don't expand trust around the world by saying [like Bullock], "You know, we might be the first ones to use a nuclear weapon." That puts the entire world at risk. At a time when Donald Trump is pulling out of our
nuclear negotiations, expanding the opportunities for nuclear proliferation around the world, the world gets closer and closer to nuclear warfare. BULLOCK: I agree [that] we need to get back to nuclear de-proliferation.
But at the same time, when you actually have Korea; when you have others, I don't want to turn around and say, "Well, Detroit has to be gone before we would ever use that." When so many crazy folks are getting closer to having a nuclear weapon,
I don't want them to think I could strike this country and I and we as the United States of America wouldn't do a thing. Part of the strength really is the ability to deter.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
Jul 30, 2019
Page last updated: Sep 08, 2019