Election ’08 : Foreign Policy
|
Posted by J. Mal (Follow Me)- J. Mal is a graduate of The Ohio State University. He is currently a 2nd year law student at The University of Baltimore. He grew up in Northern Virginia and currently lives in Vienna with his beautiful fiancee. - To see more posts by this author click here |
The Candidates stance on Foreign Policy issues are a very important window to how they will run our country.
Let’s look at some information from the candidates web sites first, and then look at some of their campaign words.
After that I’ll post some resources for different opinions. Including my own.
———————————————————
Obama’s Quote from his “Issues” page
€œWhen I am this party’s nominee, my opponent
will not be able to say that I voted for the war in Iraq; or that I
gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran; or that I supported
Bush-Cheney policies of not talking to leaders that we don’t like. And
he will not be able to say that I wavered on something as fundamental
as whether or not it is ok for America to torture €” because it is never
ok€¦ I will end the war in Iraq€¦ I will close Guantanamo. I will restore
habeas corpus. I will finish the fight against Al Qaeda. And I will
lead the world to combat the common threats of the 21st century:
nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and
disease. And I will send once more a message to those yearning faces
beyond our shores that says, “You matter to us. Your future is our
future. And our moment is now.€€” Barack Obama, Des Moines, Iowa, November 10, 2007
Some Topic Headings on his Policy:
Inadequate Security and Political Progress in Iraq
Strains on the Military
Resurgent Al Qaeda in Afghanistan
A New Strategy Needed
A Responsible, Phased Withdrawal
Encouraging Political Accommodation
And Mr. McCain
——( Just to note: On McCain’s web site there is no section for Foreign Policy. He has National Security and Iraq. )
ON IRAQ:
“John McCain believes it is strategically
and morally essential for the United States to support the Government
of Iraq to become capable of governing itself and safeguarding its
people. He strongly disagrees with those who advocate withdrawing
American troops before that has occurred.It
would be a grave mistake to leave before Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated
and before a competent, trained, and capable Iraqi security force is in
place and operating effectively. We must help the Government of Iraq
battle those who provoke sectarian tensions and promote a civil war
that could destabilize the Middle East. Iraq must not become a failed
state, a haven for terrorists, or a pawn of Iran. These likely
consequences of America’s failure in Iraq almost certainly would either
require us to return or draw us into a wider and far costlier war.The
best way to secure long-term peace and security is to establish a
stable, prosperous, and democratic state in Iraq that poses no threat
to its neighbors and contributes to the defeat of terrorists. When
Iraqi forces can safeguard their own country, American troops can
return home.”
National Security:
In a dangerous world, protecting
America’s national security requires a strong military. Today, America
has the most capable, best-trained and best-led military force in the
world. But much needs to be done to maintain our military leadership,
retain our technological advantage, and ensure that America has a
modern, agile military force able to meet the diverse security
challenges of the 21st century.John
McCain is committed to ensuring that the men and women of our military
remain the best, most capable fighting force on Earth – and that our
nation honors its promises to them for their service.The
global war on terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, threats from
rogue states like Iran and North Korea, and the rise of potential
strategic competitors like China and Russia mean that America requires
a larger and more capable military to protect our country’s vital
interests and deter challenges to our security. America confronts a
range of serious security challenges: Protecting our homeland in an age
of global terrorism and Islamist extremism; working with friends and
partners overseas, from Africa to Southeast Asia, to help them combat
terrorism and violent insurgencies in their own countries; defending
against missile and nuclear attack; maintaining the credibility of our
defense commitments to our allies; and waging difficult
counterinsurgency campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
McCain VideoSome Topic Headlines:
A Strong Military in a Dangerous World
Fighting Against Violent Islamic Extremists and Terrorist Tactics .
Effective Missile Defense
Increasing the Size of the American Military
Modernizing the Armed Services
Smarter Defense Spending
Taking Care of Our Military Personnel and their Families
By John McCain.” The only thing worse than bombing Iran, is allowing Iran to get the bomb.”
——————————————————–
Now some thoughts and Opinions
Ron Paul’s Take on the Issues
Here is a link to the Wiki page on some history of American Foreign Policy
Here is an Obama Op Ed in the NY Times about his Views on Policy
“But the same factors that led me to oppose the surge still hold true.
The strain on our military has grown, the situation in Afghanistan has
deteriorated and we’ve spent nearly $200 billion more in Iraq than we
had budgeted. Iraq’s leaders have failed to invest tens of billions of
dollars in oil revenues in rebuilding their own country, and they have
not reached the political accommodation that was the stated purpose of
the surge.”
The Case for Bombing Iran
I hope and pray that President Bush will do it.
“
Which brings us back to Ahmadinejad. Like Hitler, he is a revolutionary
whose objective is to overturn the going international system and to
replace it in the fullness of time with a new order dominated by Iran
and ruled by the religio-political culture of Islamofascism. Like
Hitler, too, he is entirely open about his intentions, although–again
like Hitler–he sometimes pretends that he wants nothing more than his
country’s just due. In the case of Hitler in 1938, this pretense took
the form of claiming that no further demands would be made if
sovereignty over the Sudetenland were transferred from Czechoslovakia
to Germany. In the case of Ahmadinejad, the pretense takes the form of
claiming that Iran is building nuclear facilities only for peaceful
purposes and not for the production of bombs.”
Joe Bidden Op Ed.
Biden OP-ED
“Sen. Obama is right that the U.S. should be willing to
engage Iran on its nuclear program without “preconditions” €“ i.e.
without insisting that Iran first freeze the program, which is the very
subject of any negotiations. He has been clear that he would not become
personally involved until the necessary preparations had been made and
unless he was convinced his engagement would advance our interests.President Nixon didn’t demand that China end military
support to the Vietnamese killing Americans before meeting with Mao.
President Reagan didn’t insist that the Soviets freeze their nuclear
arsenal before sitting down with Mikhail Gorbachev. Even George W. Bush
€“ whose initial disengagement allowed dangers to proliferate €“ didn’t
demand that Libya relinquish its nuclear program, that North Korea give
up its plutonium, or even that Iran stop aiding those attacking our
soldiers in Iraq before authorizing talks.The net effect of demanding preconditions that Iran rejects is this: We get no results and Iran gets closer to the bomb.”
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Here are my final thoughts on this issue. And I’ll start by saying that I’m still learning about where I stand and I love nothing more than to hear new points of view.
It’s my stand point that if you’re not willing to re-evaluate your own views, and take into consideration what other people have to say, then you will end up losing every time in the long run.
POLICY:
After reading many of these articles, it seems that there is so much history about conflicts and policy to study up on. I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of this knowledge but I’m very hungry for more.
I agree with both sides on this debate to some extent.The war in Iraq was a terrible decision, but we still need to finish the job and make sure we leave on the best terms possible. I think that will come by way of the Iraqi government telling us to leave ( which seems very likely in the next year or so). If we leave when they tell us to, regardless of the conditions in the country, we will be letting them take the reins and in turn be responsible for their own fate. We can say that it is not a wise decision, but it will be their decision. Hell, it might even give their government some credibility by asserting itself. But we should not leave until they tell us to. As long as they want our help we should give it to them, because we started the whole mess.
Now onto the other policies and threats that the president would have to deal with.
Obama is right that America has to rebuild our relationships around the world. Other countries may not understand or like what we’ve done, but we need them on our side in order to ensure peace around the world. The war on terror is causing America to go broke. If we try to go at this alone it could mean the crippling of our economy. We have accumulated so much debt that our dollar may not be able to rebound. I don’t think that is the case right now, but it is a possibility if we are not careful.
We need to understand where extremism starts and make sure we put an end to the problem before it starts. SEE SAUDI ARABIAN SCHOOLS article I wrote about. If you don’t learn how to stop future generations of extremism, you’ll never win this ideological battle.Iran is a very scary prospect. I think that we should talk with them directly, while imposing sanctions, and use every option towards diplomacy. Joe Biden’s article was well stated, and I think the most important line was when he said,
“Iran’s people need to know that their government, not the U.S., is
choosing confrontation over cooperation. Our allies and partners need
to know that the U.S. will go the extra diplomatic mile €“ if we do,
they are much more likely to stand with us if diplomacy fails and force
proves necessary.”I think that force should be an option. I also think that force should not consist of any forces in the country. We have enough technology to strike that country from ships and planes to the point where it would look more like the biblical times rather than a modern country. Our laser guided missles are capable of hitting a target the size of a tank. I think we can take out their major operations just fine from the air.
We need to regroup our troops. The sooner they get out of Iraq the better, I’m sure no one disagrees with that. And the push right now for the war in Afghanistan is only going to put a greater strain on our soldiers.
I think the last point I want to make is that foreign policy is directly related to many other aspects of our country. Being very knowledgeable about war can be a great quality and can help in many ways, however as president you are not only the commander in chief. You are the head of state as well. Decisions about our foreign policy relate to our economy, our national security, civil liberties, taxes, gas prices, and the list goes on. This topic could be the most important of the entire election, so I suggest for myself and anyone else to understand every aspect as much as possible. Both candidates are lacking in one area or another and I think they both need to listen to opposing views and try to find a common ground. These wars can ruin our economy, something John McCain has admitted that he is very uneducated about. I think John McCain is better suited at being a Secretary of Defense not the president. I don’t think he’d be a bad president, but I think his skill set is more military minded and he’d be better used to serve our country in that way. Obama seems like a great leader, but a little ideological. Sometimes not preparing for reality can put you in a real shitty situation. He might be oversimplifying out situation right now, and that could have dire consequences.
Who knows, what if Saddam actually did have WMD? Where would that leave us today if we didn’t take him out?
udothedishes………
Related posts:
- Election ’08: Economy
- Election ’08: Same-Sex Marriage
- Election 08′: Conventions and Nominations
- Election ’08: Homeland Security
- Energy Policy: Armed with the Facts
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.