Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Peace – and True National Security

Ending Perpetual War

• I favor – and have repeatedly called for – the swift and safe withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
• As national co-chair of the Healthcare Not Warfare campaign (along with Congressman John Conyers and Donna Smith of the California Nurses Association), I support significant cuts in unnecessary military spending – with commensurate increases in funding for healthcare, education and other human needs.
• Our nation’s bloated military budget has little to do with genuine “defense” and much to do with the lobbying power of what President Dwight Eisenhower called “the military-industrial complex.” I am a strong opponent of policies that amount to perpetual war.

True National Security

• We need to redefine “national security.” Our nation is not secure when our schools are woefully underfunded and our roads and infrastructure are crumbling beneath us.
• True security of our country depends on a healthy economy, environmental protection, public education, quality healthcare and other indicators of a society that cares for all of its people.
• Real national security involves shifting much of our perpetual military spending to programs that create sustainable jobs, expand education and opportunity, and rebuild our economy and our communities.

Peace in the Middle East – and the World

• U.S. foreign policy should adhere to a single standard of human rights in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world – and not base those standards on shortsighted geopolitical strategy.
• I support a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, with genuine security for all.
• We should partner with genuine, homegrown human rights and anti-poverty movements in the Middle East that advance democracy and economic opportunity. I am opposed to any more pre-emptive invasions and attacks that cause enormous human suffering while further inflaming anti-U.S. sentiment.
• The United States should fully abide by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, moving toward a world free of nuclear weapons. (See statement included in Council for a Livable World endorsement.)

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