I watched the recent CBS News / National Journal GOP Presidential Primary debate with a bit of anticipation. It was the first debate that focused on foreign policy, and I was excited to see what would the candidates would have to say about their views.
I had prepared and submitted my questions to CBS News before the debate, hoping (as this was supposed to be an interactive debate), that I might see my questions asked. Alas, apparently water-boarding and should we still be in Afghanistan were the only questions that the moderators felt important to ask.
I joke, to an extent, because there were some great foreign policy questions asked, but the debate questions felt a bit too broad and unspecific for my taste. I really wanted to get to the nitty-gritty, so to speak, about where Romney or Paul or Bachmann stood on real issues.
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My questions were as follows:
1. Evidence suggests that Russia is assisting Iran in its development of a non-civilian nuclear program. Would you, as Commander in Chief, implement any sort of economic sanctions against Russia in response to this practice?
I really wanted to know if our presidential hopefuls had the guts to call out a giant like Russia on a national venue. It's one thing to say that Lybia or Syria is doing wrong, but to call out a country like Russia for questionable conduct requires real cajones (or ovaries). Not only did I want to see if they would call out a powerhouse like Russia, but what route would they take to deal with the problem, e.g. sanctions, negotiations, embargoes, etc.
2. In his campaign, then candidate Barack Obama promised to close the detention centers at Guantanamo Bay. As president and Commander in Chief, what would your policy regarding Guantanamo Bay and the detainees held there be? The existence of GTMO seemed to be a silent issue.
Every time the topic comes up, water-boarding or sleep deprivation seem to take over the discussion. But people seem to have already taken sides on the "enhanced interrogation techniques" issue and the standard GOP response seems to be "I'm okay with it as long as the guy is bad and the situation is serious." Not the best response in my opinion, but getting a different one from a republican seems to be nearly impossible. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about water-boarding; I really want to know what our next president (if he/she comes from that pool) intends to do with GTMO itself. Will it be kept open or will it be closed? If it is to be closed, what will we do with the detainees there? Will they ever be tried? If so, will they be tried in civilian courts or military tribunals?
3. As seen in Oakland and in other areas of our country, the Occupy Wall Street movement has turned somewhat violent, has shut down business in some areas, and is now contemplating direct action against banks and other financial institutions. At what point do you see civil unrest as a domestic threat to our national security and what sort of action would you take to resolve such a threat?
Civil unrest and domestic threats must be dealt with. It threatens public safety, damages property, and demands the full attention of an already heavily burdened police force. When peaceful protests turn into riots, they must be stopped. I really want to know where our GOP contenders perceive the line between protest and riot to be and what they are prepared to do to handle such.
4.Admiral Mike Mullen has said that our national debt is the greatest threat to the United States' national security. If this is true, then to get our debt under control, serious spending cuts must be made. In an effort to reduce the security threat our deficit poses, would you, as Commander in Chief, implement cuts in the defense budget at all, and if so, where?
When the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff views the debt as our biggest security threat, then I honestly believe that it should be addressed, even if some cuts happen in his department. Additionally, I wanted to test our candidates to see if they viewed defense as a sacred cow. Would they cut defense anywhere? The current defense budget is just shy of a trillion dollar program. You can't tell me that there is no room for savings there.
5. United States' controversial involvement in Libya and long presence in Iraq and Afghanistan raise the issue of whether involvement in these theaters is necessary. As Commander in Chief, how will you balance decisive and aggressive protection of our national security interests with the responsible use of military force?
While I honestly feel that military action in Afghanistan was justified, and that there are good arguments for our entry in Iraq as well, I feel that America's forces are deployed too often and for too long. After serving in Afghanistan I got a first-hand taste of what a war with no clear objective is like.
I personally believe that if our commander in chief cannot clearly articulate what our mission is in a theater of operations and if he cannot clearly show how our current presence in a theater is supporting that mission, then our troops have no business being there. Such is the case with Afghanistan in my opinion. The clearest explanation of the mission there is to root out Al Qaeda. As Al Qaeda is now primarily in Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula, what are we doing in Afghanistan? If our mission is to build up the Afghan government, then why do we have so many combat troops there? If it's to train the Afghan forces, then why are our forces still so segregated?
It is both irresponsible to endanger the lives of so many good men and women without a clearly stated objective, and to keep them in danger a day after the objective has been achieved.
6. The Transportation Security Agency has an $8.1 billion budget, yet still seems to take a reactionary stance when it comes to terror. Someone puts a bomb in a shoe, so we take off shoes; someone tries to blow up their a bomb in their underwear, so we have either be patted down or undergo a full-body scan; etc. As Commander in Chief, how would you change the strategy of our airport and port security from reactionary to proactive and forward acting?
With a multi-billion dollar budget, you would think that the TSA would be able to find a way to keep our airports secure without feeling up 5 year olds kids and 95 year old grandmas.
7. Constructing a fence that covers our nations nearly 2,000 mile long southern border would likely take years and cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Is a fence the best use of our taxpayers' dollars when combating illegal immigration? If not, what is?
I don't think a complete ocean to ocean fence is the solution to America's illegal immigration problem. While there are many areas that should be fenced that currently are not, I feel that the root causes of illegal immigration need to be addressed more than a fence needs to be constructed. For example, we need stricter enforcement of current immigration law combined with an overhaul of our current immigration policy. Combining a policy that makes it easier to come here the right way and harder to stay here the if you came the wrong way while making crossing the southern border more difficult is the logical solution in my opinion.
8. In his farewell address, George Washington argued that the United States should avoid permanent alliance with foreign nations. Is the United States' alliance with Israel permanent? Hypothetically, do you ever see yourself as Commander in Chief withdrawing support for Israel, and under what circumstance?
That ought to get some people riled up. But I ask the people who bristle to this question: Wouldn't you want to know at what point a presidential hopeful would withdraw support for a key ally like Israel?
I believe that no alliance should be viewed as permanent; however, that doesn't mean that an alliance can't last forever. In other words, as long as supporting Israel serves America's security interests, then an alliance makes sense. But never should any country be led to believe that America's backing is something to be taken for granted.
9. Congressman Paul, do you ever see a situation that justifies military action against a foreign threat?
I really want to know at what point Ron Paul would ask for congressional approval to declare war or take military action against a foreign threat.
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There are probably a billion other questions worth asking, but these were mine. And, unfortunately, none where directly addressed in the last foreign policy debate. Maybe next time.
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