Joe Biden on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Apr 28, 2021)
Most lethal terrorist threat: white supremacist terrorism

Joe Biden on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 4, 2021)
Support UN-imposed ceasefire in Yemen

To underscore our commitment, we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales. At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We're going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people.

Pope Francis on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Dec 25, 2020)
Peace and reconciliation in Mideast, Africa, and Asia

He called for peace and reconciliation in Syria, Yemen, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Sudan, Nigeria and Cameroon and Iraq, which he is due to visit in early March.

He also asked to comfort those suffering from humanitarian crises or natural disasters in Burkina Fasso, Mali, Niger, the Philippines and Vietnam.

John Hickenlooper on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Oct 10, 2020)
Supports cutting off military support to Saudi Arabia

John Hickenlooper: Yes. Supports cutting off military support. "I don't think supporting the Saudi campaign in Yemen is a great idea."

Corey Gardner: No. Voted against blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia in June 2019.

Donald Trump on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Sep 8, 2020)
Unite moderate Arab countries to isolate & contain Iran

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jan 14, 2020)
Great disasters of our time--Vietnam & Iraq--based on lies

V.P. Joe BIDEN: I said 13 years ago it was a mistake to trust that they weren't going to go to war, to stop what we thought to be Iraq's attempt to get a nuclear weapon.

SANDERS: We have to face as a nation is that the two great foreign policy disasters of our lifetimes were the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. Both of those wars were based on lies. And right now, what I fear is we have a president who is lying again and could drag us into a war that is even worse than the war in Iraq.

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jan 14, 2020)
Passed bipartisan War Powers Act to stop Yemen war

V.P. Joe BIDEN: I said 13 years ago it was a mistake to give the president the authority to go to war if, in fact, he couldn't get inspectors into Iraq to stop what--thought to be the attempt to get a nuclear weapon. It was a mistake, and I acknowledged that. But the man who also argued against that war, Barack Obama, picked me to be his vice president. And once we were elected, he asked me to end that war.

Susan Rice on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Nov 14, 2019)
Fell short in Libya by failing to be engaged in aftermath

Vladimir Putin on Arab Spring: (Free Trade Oct 13, 2019)
Working on free trade area involving Israel and Egypt

He said such an agreement, which is intended to remove or reduce trade barriers between countries such as import duties, would be similar to Russia's arrangement with Iran.

Cory Booker on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Sep 4, 2019)
War & Peace

We need to start to understand that this incredible amount of resources we're pouring into our military. We need to begin to not just bleed our economy trillions of dollars spent in wars overseas. [Investments that] will actually fuel our economy by creating a multiplier effect benefit in terms of economic growth, and in terms of jobs.

Marianne Williamson on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Aug 16, 2019)
Stronger position on Saudi Arabia; end involvement in Yemen

Bill de Blasio on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Aug 12, 2019)
Opposes U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen

Andrew Yang on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Aug 9, 2019)
Let our values lead us: no aid to Saudi Arabia against Yemen

Pete Buttigieg on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jul 30, 2019)
We must reset our relationship with Saudi Arabia

Seth Moulton on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jul 30, 2019)
Need to push Saudis on human rights, not arm Yemen war

Beto O`Rourke on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jul 30, 2019)
End U.S. wars in Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Syria

Marianne Williamson on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jul 28, 2019)
We're spending $350B supporting genocidal war against Yemen

WILLIAMSON: Moral leadership. Our grandparents would be rolling over in their graves to see something like, for the sake of a $350 billion-dollar arms deal over the next ten years, we are giving aerial support to a genocidal war that Saudi Arabia is waging against Yemen. I'm not saying that America was ever perfect, but there was a time on this planet when other nations, and Americans ourselves, saw that we at least tried to stand for de

Joe Biden on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jul 11, 2019)
End "forever wars" in Afghanistan & Middle East

Beto O`Rourke on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jun 14, 2019)
Deal with conflicts diplomatically or fight wars for years

Tulsi Gabbard on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Apr 22, 2019)
Met with Syrian president; for "extreme vetting" of Syrians

• Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meeting: In what her office called a "fact-finding" mission, Gabbard made a secret trip to Syria in Jan.2017 and met with Assad. There are questions about the Arab American organization that funded the trip. She has also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
• "Extreme vetting" vote: She voted with congressional Republicans on an Obama-era bill that would place "extreme vetting" measures on Iraqi and Syrian refugees.

Donald Trump on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Apr 17, 2019)
Vetoed resolution withdrawing support for Yemen war

The Constitution gives war declaration powers to Congress, not the president.

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Apr 17, 2019)
Led bipartisan War Powers resolution against Yemen war

Passing the War Powers Resolution, an effort led by Bernie Sanders and Mike Lee in the Senate and Ro Khanna in the House, took immense political capital. It was the result of progressive antiwar activism and a rare coalition of lawmakers to claw back war-approving authority from the president. The final resolution passed in the Senate with the support of seven Republicans, and in the House with the support of 16 Republicans, including some of Trump's closest conservative allies.

Marianne Williamson on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Apr 14, 2019)
Return moral principles to our foreign policy

Tulsi Gabbard on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Mar 27, 2019)
No regime change in Iran; no war in Yemen

• She unequivocally states her opposition to U.S. "regime change" interventions, as well as the New Cold War and arms race with Russia, and supports rejoining the Iran nuclear deal. She was also an original cosponsor of Representative Khanna's Yemen War Powers bill.
• Gabbard voted at least twice (in 2015 and 2016) not to repeal the much-abused 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, and she voted three times not to limit the use of Pentagon slush funds.

Amy Klobuchar on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Mar 27, 2019)
Supported regime change in Libya; supports Israeli military

• Klobuchar supported the U.S.-NATO-led regime change war in Libya in 2011, and her public statements suggest that her main condition for the U.S. use of military force anywhere is that U.S. allies also take part, as in Libya.
• In January 2019, Klobuchar was the only presidential candidate who voted for S.1, a bill to reauthorize U.S. military aid to Israel that also included an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions provision to allow U.S. state and local governments to divest from companies that boycott Israel.
• She is the only Democratic presidential candidate in the Senate who did not cosponsor Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill in 2018, but she did cosponsor and vote for it in 2019.

Cory Booker on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Mar 27, 2019)
End intervention in Yemen & Iran, but not Israel

• Booker was one of the first five cosponsors of Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill, and he has an 86 percent Peace Action voting record.
• He cosponsored the Senate bill condemning the UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements in 2016.
• He was an original cosponsor of a bill to impose new sanctions on Iran in December 2013, before eventually voting for the nuclear agreement in 2015.

Kirsten Gillibrand on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Mar 27, 2019)
Withdraw from Yemen; Withdraw from Afghanistan

• Opposing runaway military spending, voting against 47 percent of military spending bills since 2013.
• Her Peace Action voting record is 80 percent, reduced mainly by the same hawkish votes on Iran as Sanders from 2011 to 2013.
• Gillibrand was an early cosponsor of Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill. She has also supported a full withdrawal from Afghanistan since at least 2011, when she worked on a withdrawal bill with then Sen. Barbara Boxer and wrote a letter to State Department Secretaries Robert Gates and Clinton, asking for a firm commitment that U.S. troops would be out "no later than 2014."
• Gillibrand cosponsored the Anti-Israel Boycott Act in 2017 but later withdrew her cosponsorship when pushed by grassroots opponents and the ACLU, and she voted against S.1, which included similar provisions, in January 2019.
• She has spoken favorably of Trump's diplomacy with North Korea.

Elizabeth Warren on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Mar 27, 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.

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 19, 2019)
End Syrian conflict; pull out U.S. troops

• Foreign Policy: Use diplomacy to end Syrian conflict. Pull out troops, but in different way from Trump. Cut U.S. support in the conflict in Yemen, hold the Saudi crown prince "accountable" for crimes.
• Sanders would pull U.S. troops from Syria, but said he would do it in a different, less "erratic" way than Trump recently announced. He believes diplomacy with Russia and Iran can turn things around in Syria.
• He also believes the president did not have the right to launch airstrikes against the Assad regime and that war powers must get more rigorous oversight and/or approval from Congress.
• A longtime anti-war activist, Sanders voted against the Iraq war resolution in 2002.
• He regularly called for the U.S. to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
• In both Afghanistan and Syria, Sanders has said that he believes the U.S. should remain involved, though with no ground troop presence.

Kamala Harris on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 11, 2019)
Opposes US support for Saudi military action in Yemen

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 5, 2019)
Our Saudi allies give US-made weapons to Al Qaeda in Yemen

How can the President say nothing about Yemen, where the worst humanitarian crisis in the world is currently taking place, brought on by a Saudi-led war that the United States is supporting? Just yesterday, a CNN report detailed how our Saudi and Emirati allies have been giving U.S.-made weapons to Al Qaeda-linked fighters in Yemen, and have also fallen into the hands of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. This war is a disaster, which is why the Senate passed my resolution last December calling on the president to end our support for it, and why colleagues in both the House and Senate re-introduced that legislation last week. Yet the president did not even mention it.

John Delaney on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 4, 2019)
Withdraw military aid from Saudi forces fighting in Yemen

• Foreign policy: Supports punishing Saudi crown prince for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Delaney strongly supports the Senate vote declaring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Delaney has also praised the Senate's decision to withdraw military aid from Saudi forces fighting in Yemen.
• He has not spoken publicly about Trump's decision to withdraw American forces from Syria.

Cory Booker on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Feb 1, 2019)
Re-examine relationship with Saudi Arabia

• A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Booker has grown increasingly critical of the Trump administration's policy in Saudi Arabia, especially after the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
• Booker believes it's time to "re-examine" the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia and previously voted against arms sales to the kingdom.
• Booker has also criticized U.S. policy and airstrikes in Syria, and believes the 2001 military authorization passed by Congress after the 9/11 terror attacks should not be used to justify continued action in Syria.
• Booker believes Trump's planned withdrawal of troops from Syria is "reckless and dangerous" but also voted against a Senate resolution that warned against a hasty withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan.

Kirsten Gillibrand on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jan 16, 2019)
End military aid to Saudi Arabia to attack Yemen

• Gillibrand co-sponsored legislation that would end U.S. support for the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen.
• She has written that Saudi Arabia is using American weapons to "terrorize Yemeni civilians."
• In regards to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Gillibrand wrote that the U.S. should hold "the Saudi government to account."
• It is not clear where she stands on whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman personally was responsible for the killing.

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Nov 25, 2018)
Withdraw US support for Saudi-led war in Yemen

SANDERS: I do. When we brought this up in March we ended up with 44 votes--only 5 Republicans. I think we now have a chance to get a majority of the Senate. I think people are looking at the horrific humanitarian disaster now taking place in Yemen. There was a recent report that over the last number of years some 75,000 children have died of starvation. This is a country dealing with cholera, with a terrible level of famine. This war was never authorized by the US Congress in violation of our constitution. And you got the Khashoggi incident which says that we have a Saudi government led by a despotic ruler who killed a political opponent in cold blood. Add that all together. I think the American people & Congress are now saying let us end our support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Rand Paul on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Oct 21, 2018)
Yemen War is part of 1000-year civil war

PAUL: I think the war in Yemen actually increases our national risk. It makes us less secure in the Middle East. We should not be supplying the Saudis with bombs. They've been indiscriminately killing civilians. Just last month, 50 schoolchildren were killed in the bombing of the school bus. They killed 150 people at a funeral possession. The Saudis have not been acting in a just fashion. Yemen's one of the poorest planets on the earth. Millions of people there face starvation, over a million people had cholera and the Saudis continue to block their ports. I don't think that there's a national security reason for us to be involved in the war in Yemen. This is a thousand-year-old war in the Middle East between Sunni and Shia, and Saudi Arabia is pitted up against Iran [Note: In Yemen, and the Saudis support the Sunni government, and the Iranians support the Shia Houthis].

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Sep 21, 2017)
1991: We give $7B to feudalistic dictatorships in Mideast

Tulsi Gabbard on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy May 27, 2017)
Supports Egyptian dictator in fight against terrorism

Donald Trump on Arab Spring: (Immigration Mar 6, 2017)
Protect America by banning refugees from terrorist countries

"The Trump administration has conceded that its original Muslim ban was indefensible. Unfortunately, it has replaced it with a scaled-back version that shares the same fatal flaws. The only way to actually fix the Muslim ban is not to have a Muslim ban. Instead, Pres. Trump has recommitted himself to religious discrimination. The changes the Trump administration has made completely undermine the bogus national security justifications the president has tried to hide behind.

Mike Pence on Arab Spring: (Immigration Feb 5, 2017)
Obama certified 7 Muslim countries compromised by terrorism

PENCE: Pres. Trump has made it clear he's going to put the safety and security of the American people first. And using a list of countries that the Obama administration and the Congress have certified were compromised by terrorist influence, seven different countries, is consistent with the President's commitment to do just that.

Q: But on this travel ban, no Egypt, no Saudi Arabia. No Pakistan, no Afghanistan. Why weren't those countries included? Because you wanted that Obama talking point.

PENCE: Well, no. It was done because both the Congress and the prior administration identified seven countries, one in Syria, torn asunder by civil war, and the other six--these are countries that do not have the internal systems in place so that we can be confident today that, when people present themselves for access to the United States, that they are who they say they are.

Bill Weld on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Oct 3, 2016)
Supports libertarian "restraint" on military action

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Sep 7, 2016)
Libya war, with full coalition, prevented massacre

CLINTON: With respect to Libya, there's no difference between my opponent and myself. He's on record extensively supporting intervention in Libya, when Gadhafi was threatening to massacre his population. I put together a coalition that included NATO, included the Arab League, and we were able to save lives. We did not lose a single American in that action. And I think taking that action was the right decision. Not taking it, and permitting there to be an ongoing civil war in Libya, would have been as dangerous and threatening as what we are now seeing in Syria.

TRUMP: She made a terrible mistake on Libya. And not only did she make the mistake, but then they complicated the mistake by having no management once they bombed the you-know-what out of Gadhafi.

John Kasich on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Mar 3, 2016)
We need more than Special Forces in Libya

Q [to Kasich]: Would you put ground troops in Libya?

KASICH: We absolutely have to be -- and not just with special forces. I mean, that's not going to work. We have to be there on the ground in significant numbers. We do have to include our Muslim Arab friends to work with us on that. And we have to be in the air. It should be a broad coalition, made up of the kinds of people that were involved when we defeated Saddam. Now, you've got to be on the ground and in the air both in Syria and Iraq. And at some point, we will have to deal with Libya. I am very concerned about ISIS getting their hands on the oilfields in Libya & being able to fund their operations. The fact is cool, calm, deliberate, effective, take care of the job, and then come home. That's what we need to do with our military foreign policy.

John Kasich on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 25, 2016)
Arm the Ukrainians and fight ISIS in Syria, Libya

Donald Trump on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 25, 2016)
We would be better off if Gadhafi were in charge right now

TRUMP: I was in favor of Libya? I never discussed that subject. We would be so much better off if Gadhafi were in charge right now. If these politicians went to the beach and didn't do a thing, and we had Saddam Hussein and if we had Gadhafi in charge, instead of having terrorism all over the place, at least they killed terrorists, all right? And I'm not saying they were good--because they were bad, they were really bad--but we don't know what we're getting. You look at Libya right now, ISIS, as we speak, is taking over their oil. As we speak, it's a total mess. We would have been better off if the politicians took a day off instead of going into war.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Feb 23, 2016)
Post-Gadhafi Libya replaced dictator with democracy

CLINTON: Libya is a little different [than Syria]. Libya actually held elections. They elected moderates. They have tried to piece together a government against a lot of really serious challenges internally coming from the outside with terrorist groups and other bad actors. Let's remember what was going on at the time. This was at the height of the Arab spring. The people in Libya were expressing themselves, were demanding their freedom, and Gadhafi responded brutally. Now, they had an election, and it was a fair election, it met international standards. That was an amazing accomplishment for a nation that had been so deprived for so long. This doesn't happen overnight. And, yes, it's been a couple of years. I think it's worth European support, Arab support, American support to try to help the Libyan people realize the dream that they had when they went after Gadhafi.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 23, 2016)
Continue anti-ISIS actions in Libya, with Europe & Arabs

CLINTON: [After the Arab Spring revolution in 2011], we formed the first coalition between NATO and Arab nations. Arab nations actually ran a lot of the air campaign and other support systems. It made sense for us to bring our special assets to the table to help the people of Libya. [Now in 2016] they're working to try to unify the different factions inside Libya so that they can take united action against the terrorists and try to get the east and the west of the country working together. I know the United States has taken some actions against terrorists inside Libya, particularly ISIS training camps, and I support that, because I want to give the people of Libya a chance to actually form a government and realize the promise of getting rid of Gadhafi, who had so oppressed the country for more than 40 years.

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Feb 11, 2016)
Need to look at consequences of removing dictators

SANDERS: Where Secretary Clinton and I disagree is the area of regime change. We can overthrow dictators all over the world. The point about foreign policy is not just to overthrow a dictator, it's to understand what happens the day after. In Libya, Secretary Clinton, as secretary of state, working with some other countries, did get rid of a terrible dictator named Gadhafi. But what happened is ISIS came in and now occupies significant territory in Libya. But this is nothing new. This has gone on 50 or 60 years where the United States has been involved in overthrowing governments.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 11, 2016)
My 2002 vote for Iraq war does not impact ISIS plan today

CLINTON: I do not believe a vote in 2002 [for the Iraq war] is a plan to defeat ISIS in 2016. It's important we focus on the threats we face today. When people vote, they are voting for the commander-in- chief. It's important that people look at who is best prepared for dealing with them. Senator Obama, when he ran against me, was against the war in Iraq. Yet he turned to me, trusting my judgment, my experience, to become secretary of state.

John Kasich on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jan 14, 2016)
We need coalition of Arab countries, like Bush-41 did

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Dec 19, 2015)
Libyans refused much of what US offered as help

John Kasich on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Nov 10, 2015)
Work with allies like Israel, Egypt, Jordan

Donald Trump on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Nov 10, 2015)
Assad is a bad guy, but his replacement could be worse

TRUMP: Assad is a bad guy, but we have no idea who the so-called rebels--nobody even knows who they are.

Carly FIORINA: Governor Bush is correct. We must have a no fly zone in Syria.

TRUMP: So, I don't like Assad. Who's going to like Assad? But, we have no idea who these people, and what they're going to be, and what they're going to represent. They may be far worse than Assad. Look at Libya. Look at Iraq. Look at the mess we have after spending $2 trillion dollars, thousands of lives, wounded warriors all over the place--we have nothing. And, I said, keep the oil. And we should have kept the oil, believe me. We should have kept the oil. And, you know what? We should have given big chunks of the oil to the people that lost their arms, their legs, and their families, and their sons, and daughters, because right now, you know who has a lot of that oil? Iran, and ISIS.

Ted Cruz on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Oct 18, 2015)
If Mideast strongmen still in power, better for US interests

CRUZ: Of course, it would.

Q: Gaddafi, Saddam, Assad, if they're strongmen, they keep stability?

CRUZ: It wasn't even close that Libya under Gaddafi was better for US interests than the chaos now that is allowed jihadists to gain strength.

Q: What about Iraq under Saddam?

CRUZ: It wasn't even close.

Q: Do you think Iraq would be more stable today under a strong man like Saddam?

CRUZ: Based on what we know now, should we have gone into Iraq? No, of course not. It was based on the belief that they had weapons of mass destruction that they would use against us.

Bernie Sanders on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Sep 5, 2015)
Begrudgingly supports NATO, but no eastward expansion

Bernie is against the expansion of NATO because it provokes unnecessary aggression from Russia. Moreover, he believes European nations should fund more of the costs of an alliance primarily intended to protect their continent.

Q: What is Bernie's opinion on NATO expansion?

A: He's against it, claiming it is a waste of taxpayer dollars and not geo-politically sound. In 1997, Bernie said: "After four decades of the cold war and trillions of taxpayer dollars allocated to compete in the arms race, it is not the time to continue wasting billions helping to defend Europe, let alone assuming any costs associated with expanding NATO eastward." Bernie opposes eastward expansion because he's not interested in revisiting the Cold War era when Russia and the US were constantly pitted against each other.

Ted Cruz on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Aug 6, 2015)
Label the enemy that Obama won't: radical Islamic terrorists

Ted Cruz on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Jun 30, 2015)
Benghazi: administration knew right away it was terrorism

The administration's feckless response to Benghazi was emblematic of President Obama's long-standing approach to radical Islamic terrorism--three words that almost never enter his vocabulary in the same sentence. In his worldview, the real root problem behind terrorism is disaffected youth who have been antagonized by American and Western imperialism. He and his administration dogmatically refuse to call terrorism "Islamic" or "Islamist," nor will they reference "jihad."

Rand Paul on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Apr 12, 2015)
U.S. intervention in Libya strengthened Islamic State

PAUL: Interestingly, many of the hawks in my party line right up with President Obama. The war that Hillary prominently promoted in Libya, many of the hawks in my party were right there with her. Their only difference was in degree. They wanted to go into Libya as well. Some of the hawks in my party, you can't find a place on the globe they don't want boots on the ground.

Q: And that's their point, that you're to the left of all them.

PAUL: No, my point is, is that they are actually agreeing with Hillary Clinton and agreeing with Pres. Obama that the war in Libya was a good idea. I'm not agreeing with either one of them. I'm saying that that war made us less safe, that it allowed radical Islam to rise up in Libya. There are now large segments of Libya that are pledging allegiance to ISIS, supplying arms to the Islamic rebels in the Syrian war.

Rand Paul on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 7, 2015)
Hillary's War: Ousting Gadhafi in Libya gave rise to ISIS

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."

Rand Paul on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 7, 2015)
Supporting rebels in Syrian Civil War gave rise to ISIS

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."

Rand Paul on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Jan 20, 2015)
We've over-militarized our foreign policy

Hillary's war in Libya is a prime example of acting without thinking. In Libya, jihadists swim in our embassy pool, and we are now more at risk from terrorist attacks than ever before.

Unfortunately, both parties too often seek military intervention without thinking through the possible unintended consequences. Many Republicans complain that we didn't send US ground troops or we didn't stay long enough.

The Middle East is in the midst of a 1,000-year war between Sunni and Shia--superimposed on a century-old war pitting a barbaric aberration of Islam against civilized Islam. We are foolish to believe we will solve this puzzle. We must defend vital American interests, but we must not be deluded into believing that we can remake the Middle East in an image of Western Democracy.

John Kasich on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jan 15, 2015)
Criticizes Saudis for extremism in Sunni-Shia split

As Saudi Arabia has courted international controversy--by launching a bloody war in Yemen last year and embarking on a steep increase in executions for minor or political crimes-- the country has also ramped up its efforts to influence the American policy debate. Still, one of the main goals of Saudi outreach is to promote the idea that the country serves as a strong ally to U.S. efforts in Syria, a point referenced by Kasich. The truth, however, is that Saudi shifted much of its military from striking ISIS targets in Syria to focus on the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jun 17, 2014)
2011: we abandoned Egypt's Mubarak too readily

"Like many other young people around the world, some of President Obama's aides in the White House were swept up in the drama and idealism of the moment as they watched the pictures from Tahrir Square on television. I shared the feeling. It was a thrilling moment. But along with Vice President Biden, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, I was concerned that we not be seen as pushing a longtime partner out the door, leaving Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the region to an uncertain, dangerous future. (Pages 339-340)

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jun 7, 2014)
Arab Spring: Egyptian uprising had destabilizing impact

"The President called me to express his unhappiness about the 'mixed messages' we were sending," she writes. "That's a diplomatic way of saying he took me to the woodshed."

There are some other instances throughout the book in which Clinton was in a different place than Obama, but this is the one of the only times in which she describes the president as genuinely unhappy with something that the State Department did.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security May 30, 2014)
Dozens of Benghazi attackers had dozens of motives

On the President's actions during the Benghazi attack: Obama "gave the order to do whatever was necessary to support our people in Libya. It was imperative that all possible resources be mobilized immediately. When Americans are under fire, that is not an order the Commander in Chief has to give twice. Our military does everything humanly possible to save American lives--and would do more if they could. That anyone has ever suggested otherwise is something I will never understand."

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jan 28, 2014)
Double access to electricity in Africa

We do these things because they help promote our long-term security. And we do them because we believe in the inherent dignity and equality of every human being, regardless of race or religion, creed or sexual orientation.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jan 28, 2014)
Support rebels in Syria who oppose terrorism

American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syria's chemical weapons are being eliminated, and we will continue to work with the international community to usher in the future the Syrian people deserve--a future free of dictatorship, terror and fear.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Sep 22, 2013)
Benghazi: Figure out what happened to prevent repeating

Benghazi will be the go-to bludgeon for Republicans if and when Clinton tries using her experience at State to run for president. Republicans are liable to use Benghazi as a wedge to pry back her stately exterior, goading her into an outburst, once again revealing the polarizing figure who saw vast right-wing conspiracies.

Rand Paul on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jun 13, 2013)
US aid enables a war on Christianity in the Middle East

Today, Christians in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria are on the run--persecuted or under fire--and yet, we continue to send aid to the folks chasing them. While they burn the American flag and the mobs chant "Death to America," more of your money is sent to these haters of Christianity.

Even if all the atrocities to Christians were not occurring in these countries, we simply don't have the money to engage in this foolishness. We must borrow the money from China to send it to Pakistan.

It is clear that American taxpayer dollars are being used to enable a war on Christianity in the Middle East and I believe that must end.

Rand Paul on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Mar 14, 2013)
End US aid to countries that burn our flag

"The president's He's trying to do his fair share," Paul said. "But within a few days, the president finds an extra $250 million dollars to send to Egypt." Paul was referring to money appropriated by Congress to help the new government in Egypt where protests against the US have included burning the America flag, and "where mobs attacked out embassy and chanted 'Death to America,' [but Obama] found an extra $250 million to reward them," Paul said.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Jan 29, 2013)
Work toward Arab Spring not being hijacked by extremists

A: I think that post the Arab revolutions that took place in Egypt and Libya and Tunisia, and elsewhere in the region, there was always going to be a period of adjustment. What we have to work for, along with the international community, is not to see these revolutions hijacked by extremists, not to see the return of dictatorial rule. It's hard going from decades under one party or one man rule, as somebody said, "waking up from a political coma and understanding democracy."

Q: Is President Morsi with us or not? He's said that the Holocaust didn't exist.

A: You have to look at the fact that the people now in power in these countries have never been in government, never had a chance to really learn how to run agencies or to make decisions. We don't condone what a lot of these leaders are doing, or failing to do. But we also know how important it is that we try to avoid even more extreme elements taking control of territory, even threatening a regime.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Jan 23, 2013)
We responded to Benghazi immediately, and for the long run

The very next morning, I told the American people that heavily armed militants assaulted our compound. I vowed to bring them to justice, and I stood with President Obama in the Rose Garden as he spoke of an act of terror.

It's also important to recall that in that same period, we were seeing violent attacks in our embassies, as well as large protests outside many other posts where our thousands of our diplomats serve. So, I immediately ordered a review of our security posture around the world with particularly scrutiny for high threat posts.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Jan 23, 2013)
Worked with Libya before Benghazi, but they had no capacity

CLINTON: I had no knowledge of specific security requests. With regard to the situation in Libya, there were a number of meetings about this transition to elections.

RUBIO: At the Oct. 2011 & March 2012 meetings, did this issue come up with regards to the inability of the Libyan government to protect our diplomatic institutions?

CLINTON: We talked a great deal about th deteriorating threat environment in Libya.

RUBIO: Was there a specific conversation with regards to the inability of Libya to meet their obligations to provide security?

CLINTON: Oh, absolutely--a constant conversation. And what I found with the Libyans was willingness, but not capacity.

RUBIO: Before the attack, what had we done to help them build their security capacity?

CLINTON: Well, there's a long list, filled with training, with equipment, with planning that they had not done before.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Oct 22, 2012)
Libyans marching FOR America means we've been successful

ROMNEY: With the Arab Spring came a great deal of hope that there would be a change towards more moderation. But instead we've seen in nation after nation a number of disturbing events.

OBAMA: With respect to Libya, [I said that] we would go after those who killed Americans, and we would bring them to justice. But I think it's important to step back and think about what happened in Libya. Now, keep in mind that I and Americans took leadership in organizing an international coalition that made sure that we were able to--without putting troops on the ground, at the cost of less than what we spent in two weeks in Iraq--liberate a country that had been under the yoke of dictatorship for 40 years, got rid of a despot who had killed Americans. And as a consequence, you had tens of thousands of Libyans after the events in Benghazi marching and saying, "America's our friend. We stand with them." Now that represents the opportunity we have to take advantage of.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Oct 22, 2012)
I stand by "time for Mubarak to go" in Egyptian Revolution

OBAMA: No, I don't because I think that America has to stand with democracy. But now that you have a democratically elected government in Egypt, they have to make sure that they take responsibility for protecting religious minorities--and we have put significant pressure on them to make sure they're doing that--to recognize the rights of women, which is critical throughout the region. These countries can't develop if young women are not given the kind of education that they need. They have to abide by their treaty with Israel. That is a red line for us.

Q: [to Romney]: Would you have stuck with Mubarak?

ROMNEY: No, I supported the president's action there. I wish we'd have had a better vision of the future.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Oct 22, 2012)
Supported "Iron Dome" defense shield for Israel

OBAMA: When I went to Israel as a candidate, I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there, to remind myself the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable. And then I went down to the border towns of Sderot, which had experienced missiles raining down from Hamas. And I saw families there who showed me where missiles had come down near their children's bedrooms, and I was reminded of what that would mean if those were my kids, which is why, as president, we funded an Iron Dome program to stop those missiles. So that's how I've used my travels when I travel to Israel and when I travel to the region.

Joe Biden on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Oct 11, 2012)
Syria not like Libya; intervention would ignite the region

BIDEN: It's a different country. It's a different country. It is five times as large geographically. It has 1/5 the population that is Libya. It's in a part of the world where you're not going to see whatever would come from that war. If it blows up and the wrong people gain control, it's going to have impact on the entire region, causing potentially regional wars. And all this loose talk of [Ryan and] Romney, about how we could do so much more there, what more would they do other than put American boots on the ground? The last thing America needs is to get into another ground war in the Middle East.

RYAN: Nobody is proposing to send American troops to Syria. But we would not be going through the UN.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Sep 19, 2012)
Partner with Arab Spring countries to work toward democracy

All these issues are ones that the region is going to wrestle with. The one thing we can't do is withdraw from the region, because the US continues to be the one indispensable nation. And even countries where the US is criticized, they still want our leadership. And so we're going to continue to work in these regions.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Sep 19, 2012)
Remain vigilant & focus forcefully on groups like al Qaeda

A: Well, we're still doing an investigation. The natural protests that arose were used as an excuse by extremists to harm US interests. We have to remain vigilant. Look, when I came into office I said I would end the war in Iraq--and I did. I said that we would begin transitioning in Afghanistan. But what I also said was we're going to have to focus narrowly and forcefully on groups like al Qaeda. Those forces have not gone away. We've decimated al Qaeda's top leadership in the border regions around Pakistan, but in Yemen, in Libya--increasingly in places like Syria-- what you see is these elements that don't have the same capacity that a bin Laden or core al Qaeda had, but can still cause a lot of damage, and we've got to make sure that we remain vigilant and are focused on preventing them from doing us any harm.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Sep 19, 2012)
Libyan people appreciate that America liberated them

A: We mourn the loss of the Americans who were killed in Benghazi. But that's not representative of the attitudes of the Libyan people towards America, because they understand because of the incredible work that our diplomats did as well as our men and women in uniform, we liberated that country from a dictator who had terrorized them for 40 years. We've seen this in the past, where there is an offensive video or cartoon directed at the prophet Muhammad. And this is used as an excuse to carry out inexcusable violent acts. We told the [Libyan & other] leaders, that although we had nothing to do with the video, we find it offensive, it's not representative of America's views, but we will not tolerate violence, and we will bring those who carried out these events to justice.

Rand Paul on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Sep 12, 2012)
Freeze aid to Egypt until they release detained Americans

Due to a near criminal degree of corruption, abuse, and waste on the part of many recipients--not to mention the fact that we can't afford it--I had long been in favor of eliminating foreign aid altogether. But since the aid existed, I thought it gave Congress the perfect tool to help the detained Americans.

I attempted to freeze aid to Egypt. We had sent Mubarak's regime over $60 billion and now a member of that same regime was responsible for arresting and holding American citizens against their will--19 US nationals. I proposed an amendment to end ALL foreign aid to Egypt--economic aid, military aid, all aid--in 30 days unless the American citizens were released. We give over $1.5 billion to Egypt annually.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Technology Jun 14, 2012)
Condemned China's use of Internet to monitor dissidents

She singled out Tunisia and Egypt, but the country to which Clinton devoted the most attention in her speech was China. Later, Google publicly threatened to pull out of China because of cyberattacks on its email system and the targeting of Chinese dissidents and human rights activists. Clinton's response was swift and pointed: She called on the Chinese government to investigate the attacks on Google. Countries that engage in such attacks "should face consequences and international condemnation," she said.

Joe Biden on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Dec 13, 2011)
We shared responsibility to bring democracy to Libya

I would give Libya as an example. It was clear that Moammar Gadhafi was really not a good guy at all. But what did the president do? We spent several billion dollars, but we didn`t lose one American life. We didn`t put one boot on the ground. And we had a shared responsibility with the rest of the world, including Arab nations as well as NATO to deal with that issue.

And now, there`s a shared responsibility to the world to help them establish a democracy. That`s very different than going it alone. I hope we`ve learned the lesson that, unless our immediate vital national interest is at stake, going it alone should be the last option.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Sep 21, 2011)
Support the new Libya who threw off a 42-year dictator

42 years of tyranny was ended in six months. From Tripoli to Benghazi--today, Libya is free. Yesterday, the leaders of a new Libya took their rightful place beside us [in the UN General Assembly], and this week, the US is reopening our embassy in Tripoli.

This is how the international community is supposed to work--nations standing together for the sake of peace and security, and individuals claiming their rights. Now, all of us have a responsibility to support the new Libyan government as they confront the challenge of turning this moment of promise into a just and lasting peace for all Libyans.

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Jun 8, 2011)
OpEd: Failed promise to close Guantanamo loses left votes

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Jun 8, 2011)
Intervene in Libya for humanitarian reasons

Michele Bachmann's position on Libya distinctly contrasts with Obama's position. Bachmann is against American involvement in the civil war in Libya. Her view is that no one really knows who the rebels in Libya are, nor how they intend to change Libya. She further explains that there are terrorist groups assisting the rebels. Obama's position is that the US must be involved in Libya for "humanitarian" reasons. As the Libya situation drags on, people will realize that if NATO and the U.S. had never intervened in Libya, the civil war would have been over in a few weeks. The rebels would have been driven out long ago, and thousands of deaths would have been prevented. Americans will demand that Obama answer "Why Libya?" just like they demanded that Bush answer "Why Iraq?"

Mike Gravel on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security May 2, 2008)
Foreign arms sales funnel money back to defense industry

Barack Obama on Arab Spring: (War & Peace Feb 11, 2008)
Humanitarian aid now for displaced Iraqis

A: If we are doing this right, if we have a phased redeployment where we’re as careful getting out as we were careless getting in, then there’ not reason why we shouldn’t be able to prevent the wholesale slaughter some people have suggested might occur. And part of that means we are engaging in the diplomatic efforts that are required within Iraq, among friends, like Egypt, and Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but also enemies like Iran and Syria. They have to have buy-in into that process. We have to have humanitarian aid now. We also have two-and-a-half million displaced people inside of Iraq and several million more outside of Iraq. We should be ramping up assistance to them right now. But I always reserve the right, in conjunction with a broader international effort, to prevent genocide or any wholesale slaughter than might happen inside of Iraq or anyplace else.

Hillary Clinton on Arab Spring: (Homeland Security Nov 1, 2003)
I despise terrorism and the nihilism it represents

I despise terrorism and the nihilism it represents, and I was incredulous when the NY Republican Party and Lazio campaign insinuated that I was somehow involved with the terrorists who blew up the Cole. They made this charge in a TV ad and an automatic telephone message directed to NY voters 12 days before the election. The story they concocted was that I had received a donation from somebody who belonged to a group that they said supported terrorists--“the same kind of terrorism that killed our sailors on the USS Cole.” The phone script told people to call me and tell me to “stop supporting terrorism.” This last-minute desperation tactic blew up, however, thanks to a vigorous response by my campaign and with help from former NYC mayor Ed Koch, who cut a TV commercial scolding Lazio.

Mike Bloomberg on Arab Spring: (Foreign Policy Aug 27, 2001)
Egypt shakes down Israeli tourists at border crossings