The Wall Street Journal: on War & Peace
Hillary Clinton:
2012: We helped Syrian rebels, but we should have done more
Mrs. Clinton argues that President Obama made a mistake by not more aggressively arming the moderate Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's forces:"As more parts of
Syria slipped free from the regime's control, we would also help local opposition groups provide essential services, such as reopening schools and rebuilding homes. But all these steps were Band-Aids. The conflict would rage on. (Page 464)
Source: Wall Street Journal on Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton
Jun 17, 2014
Hillary Clinton:
Don't demand complete moratorium on Israeli settlement
Mrs. Clinton said it was a mistake in retrospect to demand in 2009 a complete freezing of Israeli settlement construction as a precursor to peace talks.
This allowed the Arab states and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to essentially stand back from negotiations until the U.S. could deliver on Obama's demand:
"That made it very hard for either one to climb down or compromise. The Arab states were happy to sit on the sidelines and use the dust-up as an excuse for their own inaction.
And Abbas, who had consistently called for a halt to settlement construction for years, now claimed it was all our idea and said he wouldn't come to the peace table without a moratorium on settlement construction." (Page 316)
Source: Wall Street Journal on Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton
Jun 17, 2014
Mitt Romney:
No daylight between the United States and Israel
The president began his term with the explicit policy of creating "daylight" between our two countries. He recently downgraded Israel from being our "closest ally" in the
Middle East to being only "one of our closest allies." It's a diplomatic message that will be received clearly by Israel and its adversaries alike.
He dismissed Israel's concerns about Iran as mere "noise" that he prefers to "block out." And at a time when Israel needs America to stand with it, he declined to meet with
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [We should have] no daylight between the United States and Israel.
Source: Romney's editorial in the Wall Street Journal
Sep 30, 2012
John Kasich:
Russian mediation with Milosevic instead of a ground war
Mr. Kasich argues against an escalation of the military effort in Kosovo. Instead, he wants to move to mediation with Yugoslavia, in which third parties, particularly Russia, would help work out a peaceful resolution. He wouldn't worry about getting rid
of Mr. Milosevic right now; it doesn't make much sense to get into mediation with somebody you're about to eliminate. "Reemphasizing our bad policy with a vigorous ratcheting up, including ground forces, is just a huge mistake," Mr. Kasich says.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, "Mediate Kosovo?", 4/21/99
Apr 21, 1999
John Kasich:
Should have used economic tools with rest of world
Kasich is a free-trader who supported Clinton's bombings of terrorist sites in Afghanistan & Iraq. "You can oppose what we've been doing [in Kosovo] and yet not want to disengage from the world," he says. [He argues that] Kosovo diminishes America's
ability to act in a significant number of other places where national interests are more clearly engaged. Rather than fight, he would have used "the severe economic tools" at the West's disposal to isolate Milosevic and build up his internal opponents.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, "Mediate Kosovo?", 4/21/99
Apr 21, 1999
Liz Cheney:
ISIS: Rarely has a president been so wrong
As the terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) threaten Baghdad, thousands of slaughtered Iraqis in their wake, it is worth recalling a few of President Obama's past statements about ISIS and al Qaeda. "If a J.V. team puts on
Lakers' uniforms that doesn't make them Kobe Bryant" (January 2014). "[C]ore al Qaeda is on its heels, has been decimated" (August 2013). "So, let there be no doubt: The tide of war is receding" (September 2011).
Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is "ending" the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan--as though wishing made it so. His rhetoric has
now come crashing into reality. Watching the black-clad ISIS jihadists take territory once secured by American blood is final proof, if any were needed, that America's enemies are not "decimated." They are emboldened and on the march.
Source: Wall Street Journal on 2014 Wyoming Senate race
Jun 17, 2014
Mitt Romney:
Not conquest, but promoting human rights & free markets
Addressing [Mideast] threats will require a new strategy. The first step is to understand how we got here. Since World War II, America has been the leader of the Free World. We're unique in having earned that role not through conquest but through
promoting human rights, free markets and the rule of law. We ally ourselves with like-minded countries, expand prosperity through trade and keep the peace by maintaining a military second to none.But in recent years, President
Obama has allowed our leadership to atrophy. Our economy is stuck in a "recovery" that barely deserves the name. Our national debt has risen to record levels. Our military, tested by a decade of war, is facing devastating
cuts thanks to the budgetary games played by the White House. Finally, our values have been misapplied--and misunderstood--by a president who thinks that weakness will win favor with our adversaries.
Source: Romney's editorial in the Wall Street Journal
Sep 30, 2012
Rand Paul:
Hillary's War: Ousting Gadhafi in Libya gave rise to ISIS
Calling it "Hillary's war," Sen. Rand Paul told voters that the US intervention in Libya has been an "utter disaster" that empowered radical Islamist groups such as Islamic State.Paul said Hillary Clinton was to blame for what he described as
foreign-policy failures: she was a proponent of interventions during popular uprisings against the ruling regimes in Libya and Syria. "Hillary's war in Libya has been an utter disaster," Paul said. "There are now jihadists roaming all across Libya.
It's a jihadist wonderland."
The US was part of an international coalition to oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi from power in 2011. "Gadhafi was a secular dictator," Paul said. "Not the kind of guy that we want to have representing us in country,
but he was secular. He didn't like radical Islam, and he kept them down because they were a threat to him. What happened when we toppled the secular dictator? Chaos. More radical Islam."
Source: 2015 Wall Street Journal on 2016 presidential hopefuls
Feb 7, 2015
Rand Paul:
Supporting rebels in Syrian Civil War gave rise to ISIS
Paul argued that US foreign policy in Libya, Syria & elsewhere had helped create threats such as Islamic State. Paul said Hillary Clinton was to blame for what he described as foreign-policy failures [because she] was a proponent of interventions during
popular uprisings against the ruling regimes in Libya and Syria. Paul called the former secretary of state the "biggest cheerleader" for intervention in Syria and Libya and said that those policies had empowered radical Islamic groups in both countries.
In Syria, Paul said that Islamic State--a militant group operating in Syria and Iraq that is also known as ISIS--was essentially created by the US aid program under the Obama administration. "I think we have to do something about ISIS," he said. "But,
you know why we're doing something and why we have to be there again? Because of a failed foreign policy that got us involved in a Syrian Civil War. By supporting the Islamic rebels, ISIS grew stronger and stronger. And now we have to go back."
Source: 2015 Wall Street Journal on 2016 presidential hopefuls
Feb 7, 2015
Page last updated: Aug 06, 2024