| 00:00:14 | No, it’s not time to divorce a nation on Earth that has 100 nuclear weapons and is on the way to double that at some point; a nation that has serious threats from terrorist groups within its nation -- as I indicated before, the Taliban, the Haqqani Network. It’s a nation that’s not like others and it does not have a civilian leadership that is calling the shots there. You’ve got the ISI, their intelligence organization, that’s probably the most powerful of three branches there. Then you have the military and then you have the civilian government. |
| 00:00:45 | This is a nation which, if it falls apart, if it becomes a failed state, there are nuclear weapons there, and you’ve got terrorists there who could grab their hands onto those nuclear weapons. This is an important part of the world for us. Pakistan is technically an ally, and they’re not acting very much like an ally right now, but we have some work to do. |
| 00:01:09 | And I don’t blame the administration for the fact that the relationship with Pakistan is strained. We had to go into Pakistan. We had to go in there to get Osama bin Laden. That was the right thing to do. And that upset them, but there was obviously a great deal of anger even before that. But we’re going to have to work with the people in Pakistan to try and help them move to a more responsible course than the one that they’re on. |
| 00:01:33 | It’s important for them. It’s important for the nuclear weapons. It’s important for the success of Afghanistan, because inside Pakistan you have a large -- Pashtuns that are Taliban. They’re going to come rushing back in to Afghanistan when we go, and that’s one of the reasons the Afghan security forces have so much work to do to be able to fight against that. |
| 00:01:54 | But it’s important for us to recognize that we can’t just walk away from Pakistan. But we do need to make sure that as we send support for them, that this is tied to them making progress on matters that would lead them to becoming a civil society. |
| 00:02:10 | Let me ask you, Governor -- because we know President Obama’s position on this -- what is your position on the use of drones? |
| 00:02:17 | Well, I believe that we should use any and all means necessary to take out people who pose a threat to us and our friends around the world. And it’s widely reported that drones are being used in drone strikes, and I support that entirely, and feel the President was right to up the usage of that technology, and believe that we should continue to use it to continue to go after the people who represent a threat to this nation and to our friends. |
| 00:02:42 | Let me also note that, as I said earlier, we’re going to have to do more than just going after leaders and killing bad guys, important as that is. We’re also going to have to have a far more effective and comprehensive strategy to help move the world away from terror and Islamic extremism. We haven’t done that yet. |
| 00:03:00 | We talk a lot about these things, but you look at the record -- you look at the record of the last four years and say, is Iran closer to a bomb? Yes. Is the Middle East in tumult? Yes. Is al Qaeda on the run, on its heels? No. Are Israel and the Palestinians closer to reaching a peace agreement? No, they haven’t had talks in two years. We have not seen the progress we need to have. And I’m convinced that with strong leadership and an effort to build a strategy based upon helping these nations reject extremism, we can see the kind of peace and prosperity the world demands. |
| 00:03:36 | Well, keep in mind, our strategy wasn’t just going after bin Laden. We’ve created partnerships throughout the region to deal with extremism -- in Somalia, in Yemen, in Pakistan. And what we’ve also done is engage these governments in the kind of reforms that are actually going to make a difference in people’s lives day to day -- to make sure that their governments aren’t corrupt; to make sure that they are treating women with the kind of respect and dignity that every nation that succeeds has shown; and to make sure that they’ve got a free market system that works. So across the board, we are engaging them in building capacity in these countries, and we’ve stood on the side of democracy. |
| 00:04:25 | One thing I think Americans should be proud of -- when Tunisians began to protest, this nation -- me, my administration -- stood with them earlier than just about any other country. In Egypt, we stood on the side of democracy. In Libya, we stood on the side of the people. And as a consequence, there’s no doubt that attitudes about Americans have changed. |
| 00:04:50 | But there are always going to be elements in these countries that potentially threaten the United States, and we want to shrink those groups and those networks, and we can do that. But we’re always also going to have to maintain vigilance when it comes to terrorist activities. The truth, though, is that al Qaeda is much weaker than it was when I came into office, and they don’t have the same capacities to attack the U.S. homeland and our allies as they did four years ago. |
| 00:05:17 | Let’s go to the next segment, because it’s a very important one. It is the rise of China and future challenges for America. I want to just begin this by asking both of you -- and, Mr. President, you go first this time -- what do you believe is the greatest future threat to the national security of this country? |
Would you distance yourself from Pakistan?
Clipped from: Presidential Candidates DebateOct 22, 2012
Questions from Presidential Debate at Lynn University