that was my view then. i supported the war in afghanistan. i supported president clinton s effort to deal with ethnic cleansing a kosovo. i support air strikes in syria. i happen to believe from the bottom of my heart that war should be the last resort that we have got to exercise diplomacy. but, yes, i am prepared to take this country into war if that is necessary. 30 seconds for each of you. governor chafee, who or what is the greatest national security threat to the united states? i have to answer one thing about the iran deal. i m a strong proponent. he said that because of the iran deal, that enabled russia to come in. that s not true, senator webb. i respect your foreign policy chops. russia is aligned with iran and with assad and the shias in syria. that iran deal did not senator i got to give you 30
about osama bin laden where i was one of his few advisors or putting together that coalition to impose sanctions on iran, i think i have a lot of senator sanders, i want to bring you in here. my question for you, as a congressman, you voted against the iraq war, you voted against the gulf war. you re just talking about syria. under what circumstances would a president sanders actually use force. let me just respond to something the secretary said. first of all, she is talking about, as i understand it, a no-fly zone in syria which i think is a very dangerous situation, could lead to real problems. second of all, i heard the same evidence from president bush and dick cheney and don roms feld about why we should over throw saddam hussein. i would urge people to go to bernie sanders.com and hear what i said in 2002. much of what i thought would
opportunity here and i know that inside the administration this is being hotly debated to get that leverage to try to get the russians thank you. to have to deal with eastbound in the region to begin to move thank you, secretary. senator webb, you said you would never have used military force in libya and the attack in benghazi was inevitable. should secretary clinton have seen that attack coming? let s start with why russia is in syria right now. there are three strategic failings that have allowed this to occur. the first was the invasion of iraq which destabilized iraq and impowered iran. the second was the arab spring that allowed terrorists movements to move in there. the third was the recent deal allowing iran to move forward and eventually acquire a nuclear
questioning your judgment. well, i recall very well being on a debate stage i think about 25 times with then senator obama debating this very issue. after the election, he asked me to become secretary of state. he valued my judgment. and i spent a lot of time with him, you know, in the situation room going over some very difficult issues. you know, i agree completely. we don t want american troops on the ground in syria. i never said that. what i said was we had to put together coalition, something that i worked on before i left the state department to do. yes, it should include arabs, people in the region. because what i worry about is what will happen with isis gaining more territory, having more reach, and frankly posing a threat to our friends and neighbors in the region and far beyond. so i think what you re talking about, the tough decision that president obama had to make
i thought, has this world gone man. contrary to john quincy adams advice, searching the world for monsters to destroy, when we use political might to take at the expense of democratic principles don t you want does she want to use military force too rapidly? i believe as president i would not be so quick to pull for a military tool. i believe that a no-fly zone in syria at this time, actually, secretary, would be a mistake. you have to enforce no-fly zones. with the russian air force in the air, it could lead to an escalation that we would deeply regret. i think ultimately, you want to talk about blunders, i think assad s invasion of sear e syria will be seen as a blunder. well, first of all can i get in this discussion