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Mike Huckabee on Homeland Security

Former Republican AR Governor; possible draft candidate

 


President is responsible for protecting us, not Islam

The first responsibility of the President of the United States is protect America, and protect Americans. We have a President who seems to be more interested in protecting the reputation and image of Islam than he is protecting us.
Source: Fox Business 2016 Republican Undercard debate , Jan 14, 2016

Americans are scared and don't trust government

Americans are scared when they go to a party and get shot at by somebody who had lunch with them an hour earlier. They're scared when they realize that our government can't even catch somebody after a third background check, who had posted things on social media clearly indicating she wanted to kill Americans. When Americans lose confidence in government, we're in a dangerous place. We're in danger because we have an enemy that is out to kill us, and we have a government that we don't trust.
Source: 2015 CNN/Salem Republican second-tier debate , Dec 15, 2015

FBI listening to sermons at mosques is constitutional

You can go to any church in America, it's a public place. If it's a public place, and people are invited to come, how does it violate anybody's First Amendment rights that somebody shows up because they might want to just listen in and see is there something that is a little nefarious? If there is, then you get a search warrant. That's all protected under the constitution.
Source: 2015 CNN/Salem Republican second-tier debate , Dec 15, 2015

25% defense cuts have left us most unprepared since WWII

I think what we say is, we're gonna do whatever it takes. We never tell our enemy what our limitations are. The biggest mistake we've made militarily is letting Barack Obama cut our defense forces by 25 percent and leaving us at the least prepared position we've been in since before World War II. We have to get our Military rebuilt from the ground up.
Source: 2015 CNN/Salem Republican second-tier debate , Dec 15, 2015

No paid transgender surgery for members of the military

The annual RedState Gathering saw nine Republican candidates expand on the hard-right positions they had taken at their first debate last week. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee used his speech to deride paid transgender surgery for members of the military--an applause line--and to say that the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution could be used to define full legal personhood as starting at the moment of conception.
Source: Australian Financial Review on 2015 GOP RedState Gathering , Aug 9, 2015

Military is not social experiment: no transgendered soldiers

Q: The culture of the American military is definitely changing. Women are moving into combat roles. Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been dropped. And now Defense Secretary Ashton Carter recently directed the military to prepare for a moment when it is welcoming transgender persons to serve openly. As commander in chief, how would you handle that?

HUCKABEE: The military is not a social experiment. The purpose of the military is kill people and break things. It's not to transform the culture by trying out some ideas that some people think would make us a different country and more diverse. The purpose is to protect America. I'm not sure how paying for transgender surgery for soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines makes our country safer.

Source: Fox News/Facebook Top Ten First Tier debate transcript , Aug 6, 2015

Our B-52s are from 1962; that's pretty scary

We've reduced the military by 25% under President Obama. We've forgotten why we have a military. The purpose of it is to make sure that we protect every American. We've not done that because we've decimated our military. We're flying B-52s. The most recent one that was put in service was November of 1962. A lot of the B-52s we're flying, we've only got 44 that are in service combat ready, and the fact is, most of them are older than me. And that's pretty scary.
Source: Fox News/Facebook Top Ten First Tier debate transcript , Aug 6, 2015

NSA bulk metadata isn't effective; human intelligence is

Q: What should we do about the NSA's bulk data collection?

A: The Constitution already provides what we should do. If you have probable cause, you go to a judge, you get a warrant, and then you listen in on his calls, now you've got the other branch of government that's constitutionally required to be a part of that process. You don't just give the executive branch unlimited power.

Q: Do you support NSA bulk collection of metadata?

Q: 225 different terrorist plots over the past years since 9/11 and so far, not one of them has been tied directly to the NSA's collection of metadata. So, if this is so effective, how come it hasn't resulted in the foiled terrorist plots? Those have been foiled by old fashion good police work, old-fashioned human intelligence. It seems like we're spending billions of dollars on whiz-bang technology and not enough money on human resources, which really is proven to be the most effective way of stopping terrorism.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls , May 24, 2015

Islamo-fascists hate us & want to destroy our way of life

Then there's the war on terror. A Democrat president won't fight the war on terror with the intensity and single-mindedness that it demands. As unbelievable as it sounds, Democrats still don't understand how viscerally, obsessively, and fanatically the Islamo-fascists hate us, and how determined they are to kill us and destroy our Judeo-Christian culture and civilization. We can put it very simply: the Islamo-fascists want to destroy our way of life and kill us. Period. The conflict in Iraq is just one battle in this generational, ideological war on terror, as Korea and Vietnam were battles during the Cold War. The Democrats are quick to criticize the war in Iraq, but they're criticizing tactics in this one battle without offering any overall strategy for winning the broader war.
Source: Do The Right Thing, by Mike Huckabee, p. 11-12 , Nov 18, 2008

Fight terror with CIA and small quick strikes

We should fight terror primarily with small quick strikes rather than large extended occupations. Our enemy trains and plots in small scattered groups. It's an enemy conducive to being tracked down and eliminated by using the CIA and the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Commands. These operations are impossible without first-rate intelligence. When the Cold War ended, we cut back on what is called our "human intelligence" or HumInt (the gathering of intelligence by real people, as opposed to "signal intelligence," or SigInt), just as we cut back out armed forces, and both have come back to haunt us.
Source: Do The Right Thing, by Mike Huckabee, p. 12 , Nov 18, 2008

No draft, but mandatory one-year civilian service by age 26

We have a voluntary military since 1973, and I would like to keep it that way. Every military expert with whom I have spoken has said that having people in the military who actually want to be there has resulted in a much better-prepared and capable military force. But I also believe that all young Americans could serve their country in some capacity, perhaps that they be expected to give a year of service before their 26th birthday. Since it will take some time to expand the number of service opportunities as the government works with the private sector to determine and fill needs, I would hope that the number of volunteers grow to fill those positions.

If a voluntary system does not work, we should seriously debate making civilian service mandatory. Service should be flexible, with young people able to work summers (such as camp counselors for disadvantaged or disabled children) and individual semesters, rather than doing their year all at once.

Source: Do The Right Thing, by Mike Huckabee, p.190-191 , Nov 18, 2008

Use everything at president’s disposal to keep US safe

Q: Congress would not pass a reauthorization of the controversial surveillance policy the administration says are necessary to protect the American people in the war on terrorism. Congress says it offered a temporary extension. The administration said no

A: I think it is important to have very thorough surveillance capabilities, but they also need to be monitored by Congress. With technology being what it is today, we have new tools that have never been available before, things that our founding fathers never envisioned when the Bill of Rights was crafted. And so it is uncharted territory. Two things we need to remember--one, the first job of the president is to keep this country safe. He should use everything at his disposal to do so. But it is also the job of Congress to make sure that the executive branch does not overstep its boundaries in terms of power. That is why we have the balance of power. And I think there is a healthy tension that was designed into our system.

Source: CNN Late Edition: 2008 presidential series with John King , Feb 24, 2008

Support moderate modern evil over Al-Qaeda’s medieval evil

The United States’ biggest challenge in the Arab and Muslim worlds is the lack of a viable moderate alternative to radicalism. On the one hand, there are radical Islamists willing to fight dictators with terrorist tactics that moderates are too humane to use. On the other, there are repressive regimes that stay in power by force and through the suppression of basic human rights--many of which we support by buying oil, such as the Saudi government, or with foreign aid, such as the Egyptian government.

Although we cannot export democracy as if it were Coca-Cola or KFC, we can nurture moderate forces in places where al Qaeda is seeking to replace modern evil with medieval evil. Such moderation may not look or function like our system--it may be a benevolent oligarchy or more tribal than individualistic--but both for us and for the peoples of those countries, it will be better than the dictatorships they have now or the theocracy they would have under radical Islamists.

Source: America’s Priorities in the War on Terror: Foreign Affairs , Jan 1, 2008

Fight terrorism by increasing spending on armed forces & CIA

Terrorist enemies plot and train in small, scattered cells, but can be tracked down and eliminated by the CIA, U.S. Special Forces, and the military forces of the coalition countries united to rid the world of this scourge. We can achieve a tremendous amount with swift and surgical air strikes and commando raids by our elite units. But these operations demand first-rate intelligence. When the Cold War ended, we cut back our human intelligence, just as we cut back our armed forces, and these reductions have come back to haunt us. I will strengthen both.

Right now, we spend about 3.9% of our GDP on defense, compared with about 6% in 1986, under President Ronald Reagan. We need to return to that 6% level. And we must stop using active-duty forces for nation building and return to our policy of using other government agencies to build schools, hospitals, roads, sewage treatment plants, water filtration systems, electrical facilities, and legal and banking systems.

Source: America’s Priorities in the War on Terror: Foreign Affairs , Jan 1, 2008

Torture is unproductive, and should not be US policy

I don’t believe that we ought to torture. I think it’s a policy that is beneath us. It is obviously unproductive. And every single military person with whom I’ve spoken, people who actually have been trained & who have been on either side of this issue, either being tortured or being asked to do it--I’ve got to tell you, I can’t find anybody who says that ought to be the policy of the United States.
Source: Fox News Sunday: 2007 “Choosing the President” interviews , Dec 9, 2007

Kick rear ends if documents destroyed to protect rear ends

Q: What do you make of the CIA destroying the tapes of those two interrogation interrogations?

A: When we start destroying documents, what are we destroying them for? Are we doing it for security purposes or to cover somebody’s rear end? If we’re covering somebody’s rear end, we need to expose their rear end and kick their rear end for doing something that’s against the best interest of the US and the responsibility and the respectability of this country.

Source: Fox News Sunday: 2007 “Choosing the President” interviews , Dec 9, 2007

Opposes waterboarding; close Guantanamo as a bad symbol

Q: You came out against waterboarding and you also came out for closing Guantanamo Bay because you said that it had become a “symbol,” that it represents to the rest of the world about something bad about America. As president, how important would foreign opinion be in your determining your policies?

A: Well, I wouldn’t let foreign opinion determine our policies, wouldn’t let it dictate it. But we do have to make sure that we live in such a way as Americans that we have friends, not enemies, across the world. And over the past several years, it seems as we’ve made even our friends our enemies. We’ve got to change that. There is an important role that the United States has as the most powerful nation on earth militarily and economically, to act in such a way that people respect us and that people also realize that we are a great nation, not one that wants to push ourselves on others.

Source: Fox News Sunday: 2007 “Choosing the President” interviews , Dec 9, 2007

Raise enlistment rates with Veterans’ Bill of Rights

Q: Regarding declining minority enlistment, what do you say to minorities who are overwhelmingly opposed to the continuation of this war?

A: One of the tragedies is that our military veterans have kept their promises to us; we have not kept all of our promises to them. Many of them have come back to be told to wait in line for their health care, to be told that mental health would be something that might be rationed out. That’s not acceptable. And, if I were president, I’d like to see us have a very plainly written, simple-to-understand veterans’ bill of rights that would make sure that every single thing that these veterans have been promised is delivered. And it’s delivered as the first fruits of the federal Treasury before anyone else gets their nose in the trough, the veterans get their benefits paid--not on the basis of a limited budget, but on the basis of making sure that we keep promises to the people who have kept us free. That, I believe, will help people want to be a part of the military

Source: 2007 GOP Presidential Forum at Morgan State University , Sep 27, 2007

No student visas to citizens of terrorist states

Q: US policy of extending student visas to foreign students has been much too lenient. Many of the 9/11 hijackers received student visas. Would you support continued issuing of student visas to nationals of countries that are state-sponsors of terrorist groups?BROWNBACK: We ought to limit a lot of these, but I don’t think you can go and just block them altogether.
Source: [Xref Brownback] 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate , Sep 17, 2007

Guantanamo prisoners are treated very well

Q: General Colin Powell was asked about the status of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, whether suspected terrorists should be housed there. He said:
FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL: If it was up to me, I would close Guantanamo. Not tomorrow, but this afternoon. Every morning I pick up a paper and some authoritarian figure, some person somewhere is using Guantanamo to hide their own misdeeds. And so essentially, we have shaken the belief that the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open.
Q: Do you agree with Secretary Powell?

A: I know it’s become a symbol of what’s wrong. It’s more symbolic than it is a substantive issue, because people perceive of mistreatment when, in fact, there are extraordinary means being taken to make sure these detainees are being given, really, every consideration.

Source: CNN Late Edition: 2007 presidential series with Wolf Blitzer , Jun 10, 2007

Better to make mistakes at Guantanamo to protect Americans

Q: Gen. Powell said, “If it was up to me, I would close Guantanamo. Not tomorrow, but this afternoon.” Do you agree?

A: I know it’s become a symbol of what’s wrong. It’s more symbolic than it is a substantive issue, because people perceive of mistreatment when, in fact, there are extraordinary means being taken to make sure these detainees are being given, really, every consideration. Most of our [Arkansas] prisoners would love to be in a facility more like Guantanamo and less like the state prisons that people are in.

Q: But the argument isn’t so much the physical condition as to the legal system that they face. These suspected terrorists, these detainees are being held, by and large, without charges, without any evidence. They’re just being kept there indefinitely.

A: I understand that. There’s not a perfect solution. The perfect solution is to get people to quit being terrorists. If we’re going to make a mistake right now, let’s make it on the side of protecting the American people

Source: CNN Late Edition: 2007 presidential series with Wolf Blitzer , Jun 10, 2007

Islamic jihadists celebrate death; we have culture of life

I believe life begins at conception, and I believe that we should do everything possible to protect that life because it is the centerpiece of what makes us unique as an American people. We value the life of one as if it’s the life of all, and that’s why we look for miners when the mine explodes, because we value life, and it’s what separates us from the Islamic jihadists who are out to kill us. They celebrate death. They have a culture of death. Ours is a culture of life.
Source: 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina , May 15, 2007

Guard & Reserve did their duty; it’s beginning to wear

We need to be very careful about the overuse of the Guard and the Reserve in our military. As a governor and commander in chief of our Guard, I’ve seen 80% of our Guard forces deployed to Iraq. Now we’re talking about sending them back yet again & again. These are citizen soldiers. They didn’t sign up to be gone all the time. They’re willing to do their duty, but the toll that it’s taking on their families, their employers and their communities is-it’s beginning to really wear.
Source: Meet the Press: 2007 “Meet the Candidates” series , Jan 28, 2007

Strength is more effective deterrent to war than weakness

A true leader shares his power rather than shows his power. True greatness is revealed by humility rather than hubris. Fear can be obtained by a gun, but true respect can only be earned by using one’s strength for unselfish service. Jesus reminded us that if we really want to be great, we must be willing to serve rather than to be served, and that the spirit of our actions is as important as the actions themselves.

I would never want to sacrifice one particle of America’s power. Ronald Reagan had it right when he led this country to unprecedented military strength. Our best defense is a military so well equipped and so well trained that no one wants to challenge it. Strength is a far more effective deterrent to war than is weakness, and the US should never be apologetic for the development of the strongest military forces on the face of the earth. But with the development of strength and unprecedented power there must also be unprecedented restraint.

Source: From Hope to Higher Ground, by Mike Huckabee, p.133 , Jan 4, 2007

Keeping Guantanamo prisoners more important than location

THOMPSON: [To Huckabee]: I disagree with my friend Mike [on whether Bush’s foreign policy] is arrogant. Closing down Guantanamo because people will think better of us, and bringing those people here to give them rights that they don’t have there.

HUCKABEE: I felt we should keep Guantanamo open until the court case had come down indicating that there was no real substantive difference in whether they were in Guantanamo or Leavenworth. The fact is, I don’t care what the rest of the world thinks. I care what America thinks. And it’s become a divisive issue. I visited Guantanamo, & I visited every prison in my state. The truth is, Guantanamo was too darn good. The conditions down there were amazingly hospitable. I thought a little bit too much for my taste, considering what these people had done. So it’s a matter of a policy that brings this country together and not tears it apart. I don’t think where we keep these people is as important as it is that we keep them and we don’t let them go.

Source: 2008 Fox News NH Republican primary debate , Jan 6, 2006

Islamic terror is about worldwide caliphate, not US attacks

PAUL: [to HUCKABEE]: They don’t attack us because we’re free & prosperous--but because we invade their countries, because we have bases in their country--and we haven’t done it just since 9/11, but we have done that a long time. It was the Air Force base in Saudi Arabia before 9/11 that was given as the excuse for 9/11.

THOMPSON: Who have we invaded before 9/11?

PAUL: We had an air base in Saudi Arabia. And how many governments have we propped up?

HUCKABEE: The fact is when there is a serious threa to this country, it is not a threat because we happen to be peace-loving people. It’s a threat because in the heart of the radical Islamic faith--not all Islam. This isn’t an Islamic problem. This is a jihadist problem. This is an Islamo-fascism problem. There is nothing about our attacking them that prompts this. They are prompted by the fact they believe that they must establish a worldwide caliphate that has nothing to do with us other than we live and breathe and their intention is to destroy us.

Source: 2008 Facebook/WMUR-NH Republican primary debate , Jan 5, 2006

Deal with terrorism as a joint federal-state responsibility.

Huckabee adopted the National Governors Association policy:

Source: NGA policy HR-10: Domestic Terrorism 01-NGA5 on Feb 15, 2001

Include states in anti-terrorism planning.

Huckabee adopted the National Governors Association position paper:

The Issue

The issue of terrorism will be of major focus for the 107th Congress. Governors have a critical interest in controlling domestic terrorism because they are responsible for ensuring that state and local authorities have the ability to deal with natural disasters and other types of major emergencies, including terrorist incidents.

NGA’s Position

NGA believes that any national strategy for dealing with terrorist incidents should include planning and training by state and local forces. The unique nature of terrorism coupled with national security implications requires the support and expertise of the federal government in working with state and local government in developing capabilities. A clear national strategy developed through a partnership among federal agencies and key state, local, and private sector stakeholders is essential to drive operational and programmatic planning, training, and service delivery in combating terrorism.
Source: National Governors Association "Issues / Positions" 01-NGA7 on Sep 14, 2001

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Page last updated: Jun 15, 2016