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Elizabeth Warren on War & Peace
Massachusetts Senator; former head of CFPB; Dem. Presidential Challenger
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We cannot do everything with combat troops: out of Mideast
WARREN: We need to get combat troops out of the Mideast. We have to stop this mindset that we can do everything with combat troops. Our military is the finest military on Earth and they will take any sacrifice we ask them to take. But we should stop
asking our military to solve problems that cannot be solved militarily. Our keeping combat troops there is not helping. We need to work with our allies. We need to use our economic tools. We need to use diplomatic tools.V.P. Joe BIDEN: There's a
difference between combat troops and leaving special forces in a position. I was part of the coalition to put together 68 countries to deal with stateless terror as well as failed states.
That's how we were able to end the caliphate for ISIS. They'll come back if we do not deal with them and we do not have someone who can bring together the rest of the world to go with us, with small numbers of special forces.
Source: 7th Democrat primary debate, on eve of Iowa caucus
, Jan 14, 2020
Exit from Mideast wars, but do it the right way
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: I'd like to ask Senator Warren if she would join me in calling for an end to this regime change war in Syria, finally?Senator Warren: I think that we ought to get out of the Middle East. I don't think we should have troops in the
Middle East. But we have to do it the right way, the smart way. What this President has done is that he has sucked up to dictators, he has made impulsive decisions that often his own team doesn't understand, he has cut and run on our allies, and he has
enriched himself at the expense of the United States of America. In Syria, he has created a bigger than ever humanitarian crisis, he has helped ISIS get another foothold, a new lease on life. I sit on the Armed Services Committee, I talk with our
military leaders about this. I was in Iraq and went through the neighborhoods that ISIS destroyed. We need to get out, but we need to do this through a negotiated solution. There is no military solution in this region.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
, Oct 15, 2019
No one can describe what winning looks like in Afghanistan
Q: How do we exit Afghanistan, which you suggest?WARREN: We're not going to bomb our way to a solution in Afghanistan. We need to treat the problem of terrorism as a worldwide problem, and that means we need to be working with all of our allies, our
European allies, our Canadian allies, our Asian allies, our allies in Africa and in South America. We need to work together to root out terrorism.
Q: U.S. military leaders on the ground in Afghanistan say you can't do it without a deal with the
Taliban. You said you would bring them home [without that].
WARREN: I was in Afghanistan with John McCain two years ago this past summer. We asked, "Show me what winning looks like." And what you hear is a lot of, "Uh," because no one can describe it.
And the reason no one can describe it is because the problems in Afghanistan are not problems that can be solved by a military. The military will do anything we ask them to do. But we cannot ask them to solve problems that they alone cannot solve.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
, Sep 12, 2019
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
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.
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Mar 27, 2019
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.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
, Jan 17, 2019
Strong sanctions against Iranian nukes, with other countries
The United States must take the necessary steps to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
I support strong sanctions against Iran and believe that the United States must also continue to take a leadership role in pushing other countries to implement strong sanctions as well. Iran must not have an escape hatch.
Source: Quotable Elizabeth Warren, by Frank Marshall, p.150
, Nov 18, 2014
Bring US troops home from Afghanistan before 2014
Asked about Afghanistan, Warren broke with Obama, saying U.S. troops should be brought home ahead of his 2014 withdrawal date. "We can't stay and rebuild Afghanistan forever," she said. "I think it is time to bring our troops home."
Brown, however, said he wouldn't want to second guess the president. "I would rely on the guidance from the president and his generals," he said.
Source: Fox News on 2012 Mass. Senate debate
, Oct 2, 2012
Take nothing off the table with Iran's nuclear weapon
Asked about the possibility that Iran could acquire a nuclear weapon, Brown criticized Warren for not adopting a tough enough response. "We cannot have a nuanced approach that Professor Warren wants," he said.
Warren said she also supports Israel and is opposed to allowing Iran to gain nuclear arms. She also praised Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama, saying he's "done a first-rate job. He's taking nothing off the table."
Source: North Adams Transcript on 2012 Mass. Senate debate
, Sep 21, 2012
Get out of Afghanistan as fast as possible
Elizabeth Warren wants to see American troops exit Afghanistan "as fast as possible," a spokesman said noting that the first-time candidate believes the Obama administration's three-year timetable could be accelerated. "Elizabeth thinks we need to get
out of Afghanistan as fast as possible, but we must do so in a way that maintains the safety of our troops and allows a handoff to the Afghans," said the campaign spokesman. "She believes that this can be done faster than the current timeline."
Source: Boston Herald, "Troop Withdrawal"
, Dec 4, 2011
Military action possible to stop Iranian nukes
U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren left the door open yesterday to military action against Iran in the face of that country's growing nuclear threat--bolstering her national security
credentials: "Our number one responsibility is to protect Americans from terrorism, that's our job, so being tough on terrorism is enormously important," said Warren yesterday at a campaign stop in Gloucester.
Source: Hillary Chabot in Boston Herald
, Oct 14, 2011
Iran must accept long-term intrusive nuke inspection.
Warren signed demanding that Iran accept intrusive nuclear inspection
Excerpts from Letter from 85 Senators to President Obama We all hope that nuclear negotiations succeed in preventing Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapons capability. For diplomacy to succeed, however, we must couple our willingness to negotiate with a united and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime. We urge you to insist on the realization of these core principles with Iran:
- Iran has no inherent right to enrichment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
- Any agreement must dismantle Iran's nuclear weapons program and prevent it from ever having a path to a nuclear bomb.
- Iran has no reason to have an enrichment facility like Fordow, and that the regime must give up its heavy water reactor at Arak.
- Iran must submit to a long-term and intrusive inspection and verification regime.
- Iran must not be allowed during these negotiations to circumvent sanctions.
Iran must clearly understand the consequences of failing to reach an acceptable final agreement. We must signal unequivocally to Iran that rejecting negotiations and continuing its nuclear weapon program will lead to much more dramatic sanctions, including further limitations on Iran's oil exports.Opposing argument: (Cato Institute, "Enforcing Iran Nuke Deal," Jan. 25, 2017): More than anything else, the Iran nuclear deal must be kept because the alternative is a return to ever-heightening tensions and clamoring by hawks in both countries. From 2003 to 2014, years of unrelenting U.S. sanctions and confrontation, Iran went from 164 centrifuges to 19,000. The hostile approach generates a more expansive, less transparent Iranian nuclear program and increases the chances for another disastrous U.S. war in the Middle East. Let's hope the Trump administration chooses not to go that route.
Source: Iran Nukes Letter 14LTR-NUKE on Mar 18, 2014
Page last updated: Feb 25, 2020