Interviews during 2017-2019: on War & Peace

Jo Jorgensen: Opposed withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal

Jo Jorgensen: No on treaty withdrawal. "An agreement that helps create harmony is better than continued hostility." The U.S. should not attack Iran.

Howie Hawkins: No on treaty withdrawal. U.S. should rejoin nuclear treaty. Yes on congressional approval.

Jo Jorgensen: No military aid to Saudi Arabia for war in Yemen

Jo Jorgensen: Yes. The U.S. should not provide military aid to Saudi Arabia during its conflict with Yemen.

Howie Hawkins: Yes. The U.S. must "stop its war on Iran and get its military out of the whole Middle East," including "Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean."

Howie Hawkins: Supports 2015 Iran nuclear deal

Kanye West: I'm focused on protecting America with our great military

Jo Jorgensen: Bombings in Middle East aren't a boost to Western security

Don Blankenship: We are unalterably opposed to entangling alliances

We shall:
• steadfastly oppose American participation in any form of world government organization;
• call upon the President, and Congress, to terminate United States membership in the United Nations and terminate U.S. participation in all so-called U.N. peace keeping operations;
• bar the United Nations, and its subsidiaries, from further operation, including raising of funds, on United States territory.

Justin Amash: Make Congress authorize wars or else withdraw troops

Joe Biden: Afghanistan: against surging troops; not nation builders

Mike Pence: Taliban committed to oppose terrorists; now hard work begins

PENCE: The agreement represents a historic step forward on the path to peace. I wouldn't gainsay what the Taliban has literally put in writing. It is the first time ever that they have been willing to commit publicly to oppose the presence of al Qaeda in their region. They have made a commitment to oppose the presence of terrorist elements and organizations using Afghanistan to launch attacks. Now the hard work begins.

Mike Bloomberg: Iraq war was a mistake based on faulty intelligence

Pete Buttigieg: Would use force, but need to think of the consequences

Joe Walsh: Withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan

Donald Trump: Syria pullout: Let Turks & Kurds fight, then pull them apart

Trump said, "It was good to let Turkey attack the Kurds, longtime U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS, Trump said, because "sometimes you have to let them fight like two kids. Then you pull them apart."

Bill Weld: Unlimited military aid to Ukraine against Russian incursion

A: Ukraine, while not a NATO member, is an EU partner and a treaty-recognized buffer zone between Russia and NATO. Ukraine has a sizeable population and economic zone whose seizure would be a major first step toward reconstituting the old Soviet Union's borders and corresponding influence--for Putin, it is therefore a major opportunity if it could be seized intact. Conversely, Ukraine has shown itself willing to fight and take losses in blood and treasure. Allowing Ukraine to fall would effectively "Finlandize" Europe, to the extent it has not already been. Accordingly, I would provide military aid to Ukraine--as much as was necessary. I would make it clear that if the Ukrainians wanted to defend their territory, we would help, and further incursions would be costly. I would continue to hold exercises in Eastern Europe and look at ways to defend the Baltics.

Bill Weld: Supports Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution

A: The question suggests outsiders can "solve" the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I think it is up to the Israelis and Palestinians to come to an arrangement, and for us to support their efforts. If there is a deal to be made that's acceptable to both, we should get behind it, but the timing for further negotiations is going to have to be driven by events and by the parties themselves. Having said all that, I am personally very much in favor of a two-state solution, and I believe, as my friend Shimon Peres always maintained, that multi-state economic development projects and trade are the sinews of peace.

Bill Weld: Withdrawing from Iran nuke deal was a colossal blunder

A: I thought that Mr. Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 JCPOA was a colossal blunder. We had a ten-year period during which Iran would not advance its nuclear weapons program, and they were in compliance. I would rejoin the JCPOA without changes to the written agreement.

Bill Weld: Partial sanction relief for partial Korean denuclearization

A: "Partial" and "some" imply matters of degree, but yes, I think a partial dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons program is a development worth promoting, and of course such an agreement might prove to be the first step to a fuller resolution.

Joe Walsh: Congress must have a say in military force overseas

Lincoln Chafee: Disarmament, non-proliferation where we want to go

Joe Biden: FactCheck:No, didn't oppose Iraq War right after war started

But a review of Biden's public statements about Iraq in the lead up to the invasion shows he was never entirely opposed to military action against Saddam Hussein:

• "Nine months ago, I voted to use force and I would vote that way again today," Biden said in a July 2003 speech at the Brookings Institution.
• In early January 2003, ahead of Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the UN Security Council, Biden said war with Iraq appeared near inevitable.
• In a speech to the New Castle Chamber of Commerce in February 2003, Biden said. "I supported the resolution to go to war. I am not opposed to war to remove weapons of mass destruction from Iraq."

Pete Buttigieg: Be more judicious when committing troops

Mike Pence: North Korea must abandon its nuclear ambitions

Andrew Yang: Limited foreign intervention; restore Congress's role in war

And second, I would be very judicious and restrained about intervening in other country's affairs, where if we go in significantly, there are going to be vital national interests at stake that we can achieve in a defined timeframe.

Julian Castro: Don't entangle ourselves in wars, but rebuild alliances

Amy Klobuchar: Supported regime change in Libya; supports Israeli military

• Klobuchar supported the U.S.-NATO-led regime change war in Libya in 2011, and her public statements suggest that her main condition for the U.S. use of military force anywhere is that U.S. allies also take part, as in Libya.
• In January 2019, Klobuchar was the only presidential candidate who voted for S.1, a bill to reauthorize U.S. military aid to Israel that also included an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions provision to allow U.S. state and local governments to divest from companies that boycott Israel.
• She is the only Democratic presidential candidate in the Senate who did not cosponsor Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill in 2018, but she did cosponsor and vote for it in 2019.

Bernie Sanders: Cut military spending, except F-35 at Vermont air base

• Senator Sanders has only voted for three out of 19 military spending bills since 2013.
• Sanders voted as requested by Peace Action 84 percent of the time from 2011 to 2016, despite some hawkish votes on Iran from 2011-2013.
• One major contradiction: Not only did Sanders support the F-35, he pushed--despite local opposition--to get these fighter jets stationed at the Burlington airport for the Vermont National Guard.
• In terms of stopping the war in Yemen, he and Senators Chris Murphy and Mike Lee have led a sustained effort to shepherd his historic War Powers bill on Yemen through the Senate.
• Sanders supports U.S. withdrawals from Afghanistan and Syria and opposes U.S. threats of war against Venezuela.

Cory Booker: End intervention in Yemen & Iran, but not Israel

• Booker was one of the first five cosponsors of Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill, and he has an 86 percent Peace Action voting record.
• He cosponsored the Senate bill condemning the UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements in 2016.
• He was an original cosponsor of a bill to impose new sanctions on Iran in December 2013, before eventually voting for the nuclear agreement in 2015.

Elizabeth Warren: No intervention in Yemen; but intervention in Gaza OK

• Her Peace Action voting record is 84% and she was one of the first five Senators to cosponsor the Yemen War Powers bill in March 2018 [requiring Congressional authorization to arm the Saudis in Yemen].
• In 2014 she supported Israel's invasion of Gaza that left more than 2,000 dead, and blamed the civilian casualties on Hamas.
• She opposed a bill to criminalize boycotting Israel and condemned Israel's use of deadly force against peaceful Gaza protesters in 2018.

Jay Inslee: Opposed war in Iraq; opposed use of torture

Joe Biden: Supported wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, but not Iran

• Biden at first endorsed full-scale nation-building in Afghanistan but when he saw it wasn't working, he changed his mind, arguing that the U.S. military should destroy al-Qaeda and then leave. As vice president, he was a lonely voice in the Cabinet opposing Obama's escalation of the war in 2009.
• Regarding Iraq, however, he was a hawk. He repeated false intelligence claims that Saddam Hussein possessed chemical and biological weapons and was seeking nuclear weapons, and therefore was a threat that had to be "eliminated." He later called his vote for the 2003 invasion a "mistake."
• Biden is a self-described Zionist. He has stated that the Democrats' support for Israel "comes from our gut, moves through our heart, and ends up in our head. It's almost genetic."
• He would disagree with the present Israeli government on Iran. He wrote that "War with Iran is not just a bad option. It would be a disaster," and he supported Obama's entry into the Iran nuclear agreement.

Kamala Harris: Ok with Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory

• Senator Harris has been vocal about is her unconditional support for Israel. She told an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in 2017, "I will do everything in my power to ensure broad and bipartisan support for Israel's security and right to self-defense." When President Obama allowed the U.S. to join a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine as a "flagrant violation" of international law, Harris, Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Amy Klobuchar were among 30 Democratic (and 47 Republican) senators who cosponsored a bill to withhold U.S. dues to the UN over the resolution.
• Harris did join most of the other presidential candidates who chose not to speak at AIPAC's 2019 gathering.
• She also supports rejoining the Iran nuclear agreement.
• Harris has voted for six out of eight military spending bills, but she did cosponsor and vote for Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill.

Kirsten Gillibrand: Withdraw from Yemen; Withdraw from Afghanistan

• Opposing runaway military spending, voting against 47 percent of military spending bills since 2013.
• Her Peace Action voting record is 80 percent, reduced mainly by the same hawkish votes on Iran as Sanders from 2011 to 2013.
• Gillibrand was an early cosponsor of Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill. She has also supported a full withdrawal from Afghanistan since at least 2011, when she worked on a withdrawal bill with then Sen. Barbara Boxer and wrote a letter to State Department Secretaries Robert Gates and Clinton, asking for a firm commitment that U.S. troops would be out "no later than 2014."
• Gillibrand cosponsored the Anti-Israel Boycott Act in 2017 but later withdrew her cosponsorship when pushed by grassroots opponents and the ACLU, and she voted against S.1, which included similar provisions, in January 2019.
• She has spoken favorably of Trump's diplomacy with North Korea.

Marianne Williamson: 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."
• 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."
• 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."

Tulsi Gabbard: No regime change in Iran; no war in Yemen

• She unequivocally states her opposition to U.S. "regime change" interventions, as well as the New Cold War and arms race with Russia, and supports rejoining the Iran nuclear deal. She was also an original cosponsor of Representative Khanna's Yemen War Powers bill.
• Gabbard voted at least twice (in 2015 and 2016) not to repeal the much-abused 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, and she voted three times not to limit the use of Pentagon slush funds.

Andrew Yang: Repeal post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force

• Foreign policy and defense: Supports NATO, would create a secretary of cybersecurity.
• Yang believes in NATO and other international alliances, and would institute regular Pentagon audits.
• He would repeal the "Authorization for Use of Military Force" enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and hand the power to declare war back to Congress.
• As part of his focus on reducing military spending, Yang would redirect 10 percent of the annual military budget to a domestic infrastructure initiative called the "Legion of Builders and Destroyers."
• He would also create a secretary of cybersecurity position.

Beto O`Rourke: Discuss U.S. policy in Syria in a more meaningful way

O'Rourke has said he thinks U.S. policy in Syria should be debated and discussed in a more meaningful way. It is not clear if he supports troop withdrawal from the country. Likewise it is not clear if he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Pete Buttigieg: U.S. not the guarantor of peace in Afghanistan

Donald Trump: Countries hosting US troops should pay for them

Bernie Sanders: End Syrian conflict; pull out U.S. troops

• Foreign Policy: Use diplomacy to end Syrian conflict. Pull out troops, but in different way from Trump. Cut U.S. support in the conflict in Yemen, hold the Saudi crown prince "accountable" for crimes.
• Sanders would pull U.S. troops from Syria, but said he would do it in a different, less "erratic" way than Trump recently announced. He believes diplomacy with Russia and Iran can turn things around in Syria.
• He also believes the president did not have the right to launch airstrikes against the Assad regime and that war powers must get more rigorous oversight and/or approval from Congress.
• A longtime anti-war activist, Sanders voted against the Iraq war resolution in 2002.
• He regularly called for the U.S. to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
• In both Afghanistan and Syria, Sanders has said that he believes the U.S. should remain involved, though with no ground troop presence.

Bill Weld: Supports non-nuclear proliferation efforts

Bill Weld: Don't use military for regime change

Amy Klobuchar: Keep US military presence in Syria

John Delaney: Withdraw military aid from Saudi forces fighting in Yemen

• Foreign policy: Supports punishing Saudi crown prince for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Delaney strongly supports the Senate vote declaring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Delaney has also praised the Senate's decision to withdraw military aid from Saudi forces fighting in Yemen.
• He has not spoken publicly about Trump's decision to withdraw American forces from Syria.

Kamala Harris: Time for a political solution in Afghanistan

• Afghanistan: Wants a "political solution" to end the war, bring troops home.
• After a trip to Afghanistan last month, Harris said she supports a "political solution" to the war that would allow U.S. troops to return home.
• She has not taken a public position on Trump's planned U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Syria.

Elizabeth Warren: Withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria

• Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria: U.S. should withdraw troops from those countries.
• Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, supports reducing the U.S. military's presence in some global hotspots.
• Last November, she called for the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
• Warren also says the U.S. should withdraw service members from Iraq and Syria, though she has not gone into detail about what timetables she would support for those withdrawals.

Kirsten Gillibrand: Withdraw from Afghanistan & Syria

• Afghanistan and Syria: Withdraw from Afghanistan. Do not arm Syrian rebels.
• For years, Gillibrand has pushed for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• She has opposed efforts to arm Syrian rebels and she slammed the airstrikes ordered against Syria in the spring of 2018, saying that Trump did not have the authority to order them.
• Gillibrand also argued that President Barack Obama did not have authority to send U.S. troops to Syria.

Kirsten Gillibrand: End military aid to Saudi Arabia to attack Yemen

• Gillibrand co-sponsored legislation that would end U.S. support for the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen.
• She has written that Saudi Arabia is using American weapons to "terrorize Yemeni civilians."
• In regards to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Gillibrand wrote that the U.S. should hold "the Saudi government to account."
• It is not clear where she stands on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman personally was responsible for the killing.

Tulsi Gabbard: End US support for Saudi-led conflict in Yemen

• In general, Gabbard believes the U.S. should be less involved in foreign conflicts and have a smaller troop presence in many places around the world. She has specifically called on the U.S. military to pull out of Afghanistan.
• Gabbard also opposes US military presence and action in Syria.
• The congresswoman believes U.S. action around the world often benefits extremists. She also has argued that Democrats and others should not back away from the term "Islamic extremists."
• Gabbard has said the US is complicit in a humanitarian disaster by giving support to the Saudis, because they have cut off aid to large parts of the Yemeni population while battling rebels there.
• She also sent a controversial tweet that was highly critical of Trump following news that the U.S. was standing by Saudi leadership despite intelligence implicating the kingdom's crown prince in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Gabbard believes Saudi Arabia is a hub of anti-Western extremism.

Julian Castro: Withdraw US troops from Syria

• Syria: Withdraw U.S. presence over a planned period of time.
• In an appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press" last month, Castro said it was "time for us to pull out of Syria," but insisted it must be on a planned timeline.
• He criticized Trump's sudden announcement of a potential withdrawal as "not the way it should be done."

Donald Trump: We've beaten ISIS in Syria; bring US troops home

Trump continued with his slew of tweets defending the Syria announcement. "We were originally going to be there for three months, and that was seven years ago--we never left. When I became President, ISIS was going wild. Now ISIS is largely defeated and other local countries, including Turkey, should be able to easily take care of whatever remains. We're coming home!" Trump wrote.

Trump's declaration of triumph has alarmed key NATO allies, who said such a change of course on Syria risks damaging the fight against Islamic State.

Lindsey Graham: Hearings on Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reassured Israelis that their security has not been compromised. He pledged to increase Israeli activity against Iran in Syria. The absence of US troops will make it easier for Iran to strengthen its foothold in Syria and smuggle arms into the country.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called for immediate Senate hearings on Trump's decision to withdraw all American troops from Syria. Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters he wanted to hear directly from Mattis at any hearing. Trump has given no sign of changing his mind. He promised to remove forces from Syria during his 2016 election campaign.

John Kasich: Keep up pressure on North Korea to give up nukes

John Kasich: Balance cooperation and confrontation with China

Looking to fill the political void created by the current vacuum in US international leadership, Chinese leaders are making ridiculous assertions that their country will define the meaning of freedom and liberty.

The principal strategic challenge for the US is to integrate China into the international system in a manner that allows us to protect our interests in Asia and safeguard international institutions against China's assaults on democratic values. China's ultimate goal is to end what it considers to be American dominance and to replace it with a new order in which Beijing gets an equal voice in setting the rules. It wants to push the US out of the western Pacific, undermine our alliances in the region, and re-create a Sinocentric sphere of influence in Asia free from challenges to its authoritarian rule.

John Kasich: Forward-deploy US forces in the Pacific to challenge China

John Kasich: War on terror should focus on threats to US homeland

Regarding ISIS, in Syria and Iraq, the terrorists' strongholds have been all but eliminated. The only remaining core US interest at stake is preventing ISIS from using those countries to mount future attacks against us.

Going forward, we need to be much more careful and focused about how we fight terrorism. We have to develop better criteria for when to intervene abroad. In particular, we should restrict our major counterterrorism efforts to instances in which our homeland is directly at risk. When it is not, we should avoid getting embroiled in civil wars and instead use diplomacy to rally international partners to assume the lead.

Lindsey Graham: Damage from war with North Korea would be worth it

"All the damage that would come from a war would be worth it in terms of long-term stability and national security," the Republican senator told CNN. "I'm completely convinced that President Trump and his team reject the policy of containment. They've drawn a red line here and it is to never let North Korea build a nuclear-tipped missile to hit America."

Graham's comments come as the US is reportedly considering military action against North Korea, should Pyongyang build a nuclear missile capable of striking the US.

Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is a longtime hawk who has often advocated for US military action, including calling for the US to send 10,000 troops to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Iraq.

Tom Steyer: Trump foreign policy strategy is to react, not think

Oprah Winfrey: Gave post-9/11 platform to anti-war advocates

Tulsi Gabbard: Use military to fight terrorists, not for regime change

"In short, when it comes to the war against terrorists, I'm a hawk," she told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald last year. "When it comes to counterproductive wars of regime change, I'm a dove." Gabbard lambasted the Obama administration for avoiding the phrase. In one interview, she told the host that "the vast majority of terrorist attacks conducted around the world for over the last decade have been conducted by groups who are fueled by this radical Islamic ideology."

Gabbard complained that by "not using this term 'Islamic extremism' and clearly identifying our enemies," the administration couldn't "come up with a very effective strategy to defeat that enemy."

Tulsi Gabbard: Opposes fighting in Afghanistan & Syria; end arms to Saudis

Donald Trump: To eradicate ISIS, we need action, not talk

Trump fired back via Facebook: "If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened. ISIS would have been eradicated unlike what is happening now with our all talk, no action politicians."

Trump added, huffily, "No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man's religion or faith."

John Kasich: Eradicate leadership of North Korea but no military strike

Kasich said that other options that the Trump team seems to be pursuing, including a military strike against the nation, would result in a major loss of lives. "Moving big warships in and having a war, I don't think that's going to work," he said. "Too much loss of life. We are getting very serious that they cannot have an ICBM," Kasich said.

In order to avoid the devastating loss, he said the US could "remove a number of the top people and have a more benign leadership there that understands what's at risk."

When asked if the US should do this militarily, Kasich responded, "You have to have very good intelligence. I don't want to say any more than that, but that's what I believe we need to do, as opposed to a full military strike."

Bill Weld: Supports libertarian "restraint" on military action

Lincoln Chafee: Calls drone strikes "extrajudicial assassinations"

Lincoln Chafee: Neocon advocates for invasions are "delusional"

Lincoln Chafee: Iraq: There was "no evidence" of WMDs, it was a hoax

Lincoln Chafee: Iraq war was on hawks' wish list; feared another Vietnam

Donald Trump: Walk away from Iranian nuclear talks; increase sanctions

Mike Gravel: Dislodge ourselves from Iraq, by working with Iran & Syria

Marianne Williamson: Form Department of Peace to pro-actively plan

Lincoln Chafee: Iraq war wasn't about WMDs, but changing Middle East