National Public Radio: on War & Peace


John Bolton: North Korea will never voluntarily give up nuclear weapons

Q: Is it possible to get a North Korea nuclear deal that is worth having at all?

Bolton: I don't think North Korea will ever voluntarily give up nuclear weapons. It's been the pattern as we've watched it for over three decades now. The North Koreans are very happy to declare that they're going to give up their nuclear weapons program, particularly when it's in exchange for tangible economic benefits, but they never get around to doing it. The inescapable conclusion is they're happy to sell that same bridge over and over again, but there's no serious chance they will ever give it up.

Source: National Public Radio interview Dec 19, 2019

John Bolton: Time is almost always on the side of the proliferator

Time is almost always on the side of the proliferator. The more time they have, the more they can overcome all the technological and scientific difficulties to perfecting a deliverable nuclear weapons capability. So the fact that they're not doing anything today, and they didn't do anything yesterday that we can see, is not a good sign. It probably just means we're not seeing it. But the longer time goes on, the greater their capability will become.
Source: National Public Radio interview Dec 19, 2019

Susan Rice: Benghazi investigations became "gotcha" game

What troubles me the most is that all of these political issues -- which certainly merit investigation and they were investigated eight times by eight committees -- overshadowed the loss of these four Americans. And the focus shifted to a political "gotcha" game, rather than the fact that we had dedicated public servants who gave their lives in a terrorist attack. And the issue is how do we prevent that in the future? And what do we, what did we learn from it?
Source: National Public Radio on 2020 Maine Senate race Oct 7, 2019

Tim Kaine: Wanted a War on ISIL vote in Congress and would support it

Kaine said, "Article 1 of the Constitution says, you shouldn't be at war unless Congress declares it. Now a president has power under Article 2 to defend the US. And when the bombing campaign first began in August 2014, the president was defending a US consulate in Erbil. But within a few weeks, the US was under no imminent threat. Once Obama said, 'it's time to go on offense against ISIL,' at that point, congressional authorization was required.

"But Congress doesn't want to touch it. Congress wants to criticize the president but neither authorize nor stop what the president is doing. And it's just a huge abdication of responsibility, and it sets a horrible precedent. We all think ISIL is bad, but what we're basically doing is setting a precedent where a president can start a war and take it, you know, for more than a year without Congress getting involved at all, and that's just not what should happen," concluded Kaine. [He did introduce this Senate bill on 9/17/2014].

Source: National Public Radio, "Kaine criticizes Syria strategy" Oct 31, 2015

Lincoln Chafee: Only Republican senator to vote against war in Iraq

Chafee was the only Republican senator to vote against authorizing the use of force to oust Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It was stunning to see him stand alone in 2002, except that he had been a lone dissenter on other issues of the 107th Congress--opposing tax cuts and voting against his own party's budget. Other Republicans referred to him at times as "the missing Linc."
Source: National Public Radio, "It's All Politics" Jun 3, 2015

Wesley Clark: Avoid Bush’s unilateralism and work with our allies

The Bush Administration has moved to a unilateralist strategy. This administration has made serious missteps in handling Iraq. The president is more than just the president of the US -- he’s the leader of the free world. What plays here at home doesn’t always play so well abroad. We need to work with our allies -- that’s the way to make sure all Americans are safer.
Source: The Connection with Dick Gordon, National Public Radio Sep 8, 2003

Wesley Clark: Exit strategy in Iraq won’t work if we invade its neighbors

Q: In Iraq, what would your exit strategy be?

A: First, we have to turn it over to the Iraqis. Get some police, and some Iraqi administration. Make it so it’s not a hotbed for al Qaeda. But that doesn’t work well with the overall Bush strategy in the region which includes going into Iran, Syria, and so on. You can’t have an exit strategy with that.

Source: The Connection with Dick Gordon, National Public Radio Sep 8, 2003

Ralph Nader: Should have anticipated Yugoslav breakup by “waging peace”

Q: Your views on the Balkans and the bombing of Serbia?

A: Our foreign policy is often too little too late, and then too brutal. Everyone could foresee Yugoslavia deteriorating after Tito. We need a policy of “waging peace” to anticipate problems. And we need a multilateral “peace force” ready to go.

Q: UN or NATO-US or what?

A: With heavy regional content depending on which continent.

Source: National Public Radio, “The Connection” Jul 11, 2000

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2020 Presidential contenders on War & Peace:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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