Foreign Policy
Page 7
- We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people.
- There are many youngsters who, only three days after they've been deported, are killed - shot by a firearm. They return just to die.
- I don't like to talk badly about the Islamic State too much. At the end of the day, they're my brothers in Islam. But they're making mistakes, and they're too harsh on people, and they don't listen to scholars. I'm 100 percent convinced that they're on the wrong path.
- I think there’s a sexual awakening going on among Iranian youth that transcends class, transcends religious barriers [and] religious differences at the moment. I’ve seen it really trickle down. So I think society is slowly changing, but the biggest fear for people is getting in trouble with the regime - getting in trouble with the law.
- Russia's partners... should understand it's best not to mess with us. Thank God, I think no one is thinking of unleashing a large-scale conflict with Russia. I want to remind you that Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers.
- What we do know is that we know how to stop Ebola. It’s not easy, but it can be done – and even in Africa. In fact, we have stopped every previous outbreak, and I’m confident we can stop this one. But it’s going to be hard, because it’s spread through so many countries, and there’s such a risk of further spread in Africa.
- A ceasefire is what we should prioritize now. A ceasefire protects civilians on both sides. It doesn't just say, "We're only concerned about people on one side." I've been to Sderot, I have stuck with those people, talking about those rockets and that indiscriminate rocket fire - and I've also been to Gaza three times since 2009. And I can tell you, those people are absolutely devastated….we need a ceasefire now.
- If [President Obama] does not go on the offensive against ISIS…they are coming here. This is just not about Baghdad, this is just not about Syria, this is about our homeland. And if we get attacked because he has no strategy to protect us, then he will have committed a blunder for the ages.
- [West Africa's] health system has completely collapsed. And by that I mean they don't have capacity to even see patients. Every day they are seeing patients - mothers present with dead babies in their womb because there's no one to do a C-section.
- You know, we did a good job in containing the Soviet Union, but we made a lot of mistakes. We supported really nasty guys, we did some things that we are not particularly proud of, from Latin America to Southeast Asia. But we did have a kind of overarching framework about what we were trying to do that did lead to the defeat of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Communism. That was our objective. We achieved it.
- Power tends to corrupt. But the power in Washington resides in Congress, if it wants to use it. It can do anything—it can stop the Vietnam War. It can make its will felt, if it can ever get its act together to do anything.
- But let's remember the reasons the Iranians say they're here now is that that economy is suffering desperately under the weight of sanctions. They want relief from the sanctions. My concern is they're going to want relief from the sanctions before they do anything to deserve it.