Martin O'Malley presidential campaign, 2016/Foreign affairs
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 Martin O'Malley |
Governor of Maryland (2007-2015) Mayor of Baltimore (1999-2007) |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
Iran nuclear deal
- In a July 2015 interview on Iowa Public Radio, Martin O'Malley suggested the Iran nuclear deal might be a path for the United States to begin “waging peace.” O’Malley explained, “[T]he key now is to make sure that it is in fact enforceable, verifiable, tightly monitored, and that we're prepared to snap sanctions back into place in the event that the Iranians were to cheat on this. But I think it holds a lot of promise. And I think this is how an effective foreign policy works, not merely using our military powers, but also our diplomatic. We have to also be about waging peace. And perhaps this deal is that path forward.”[2]
- On March 29, 2015, O'Malley said, "The greatest danger that we face right now on a consistent basis in terms of manmade threats is -- is -- nuclear Iran and related to that, extremist violence. I don't think you can separate the two. I think they go together. ...In our state, we passed some of the earliest and strongest sanctions against Iranian nuclear development of any state in the union. The goal was to drive the Iranians to the negotiating table. And I think we should support the president in achieving that negotiated settlement. I mean, you see 47 members of the senate writing the letter, it's a sad day for our country. If you hate the president of the United States more than you distrust the ayatollah, then you probably shouldn't be in the United States senate."[3]
Military preparedness and budget
- Martin O'Malley unveiled a veterans reform plan that included pledges to end veterans unemployment by 2020, overhaul health care offerings and ending “wrongful” military discharges related to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Military Times. The reforms include expanding several of O’Malley’s veterans initiatives in Maryland to a national level, including the use of new data analysis tools and a greater emphasis on local facility control and response. He promised to lead a national call to action to prevent veteran suicide, to include personally touring multiple VA health facilities during his first month in office and increasing the number of mental health professionals within the department. O’Malley also promised better interoperability of VA and Pentagon health records and more accountability of senior VA executives. O'Malley also pledged to crack down on for-profit colleges that take advantage of veterans and close the 90/10 loophole that excludes GI Bill benefits from schools’ calculations of federal funds. For troops dismissed under the now-repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, O’Malley supports automatically upgrading their service records, removing any blemish on their military careers.[4] [5]
National security
- At the third Democratic primary debate on December 19, 2015, Martin O'Malley discussed regime change in Libya and the need to develop human intelligence in the region: “I believe that one of the big failings in that region is a lack of human intelligence. We have not made the investments that we need to make to understand and to have relationships with future leaders that are coming up. That's what Chris Stevens was trying to do. But without the tools, without the support that was needed to that. And now what we have is a whole stretch now, of the coast of Libya, 100 miles, 150 miles, that has now become potentially the next safe haven for ISIL. They go back and forth between Syria and this region. We have to stop contributing to the creation of vacuums that allow safe havens to develop.”[6]
- At the third Democratic primary debate on December 19, 2015, Martin O'Malley discussed his unease with aggressive U.S. military intervention: “During the Cold War -- during the Cold War, we got into a bad habit of always looking to see who was wearing the jersey of the communists, and who was wearing the U.S. jersey. We got into a bad habit of creating big bureaucracies, old methodologies, to undermine regimes that were not friendly to the United States. Look what we did in Iran with Mosaddegh. And look at the results that we're still dealing with because of that. I would suggest to you that we need to leave the Cold War behind us, and we need to put together new alliances and new approaches to dealing with this, and we need to restrain ourselves.”[7]
- On December 7, 2015, O'Malley told reporters that he supports President Obama’s plan to fight ISIS in the Middle East, but he added that more needs to be done to strengthen homeland security, including improving information sharing among federal agencies and local law enforcement and utilizing surveillance cameras and facial recognition software to identify potential terrorists. O’Malley said, "Hopefully, this is an opportunity for us to re-visit a lot of those things. To honestly assess whether every state has an intelligence fusion center that can piece together the sort of disparate bits of information, whether the joint terrorism task forces are actually functional in every state to follow up on the suspicious activity reports. We all hear the term, 'if you see something, say something.' Well what happens after we say something?"[8]
- In an October 11, 2015, interview, O'Malley said he opposed establishing a no-fly zone over Syria at this time. He cautioned that Hillary Clinton was “always quick for the military intervention.”[9]
- In a July 20, 2015, interview with Bloomberg Politics, O'Malley connected the rise of ISIS with climate change. O'Malley said, “One of the things that preceded the failure of the nation state of Syria and the rise of ISIS, was the effect of climate change and the mega-drought that affected that nation, wiped out farmers, drove people to cities, created a humanitarian crisis that created the symptoms — or rather, the conditions — of extreme poverty that has now led to the rise of ISIS and this extreme violence.”[10]
- On February 11, 2015, O'Malley posted the following comments on his Facebook page: "The new AUMF should address ISIS specifically, and mitigate any unintended consequences by including clear language on the use of ground troops and the length and terms of engagement."[11]
- In October 2014, O'Malley "echoed Mrs. Clinton’s critique of the president in suggesting that Mr. Obama had allowed the problem of the Islamic State to fester," according to The New York Times. O'Malley said, "It is at great risk to our national interest and national security to ever become disengaged from the broader world. Very often messes get worse the longer they go unattended."[12]
- On December 16, 2011, O'Malley, who opposed the Iraq War, sent a letter to President Barack Obama thanking him for pulling troops out of Iraq.[13]
- O'Malley wrote: "Thank you for doing what you said you would do in bringing our troops home from Iraq. Thank you for valuing the lives of our brave young men and women over the politically expedient course. Thank you for standing your ground against those who criticized and mocked you. Thank you for doing what only a few presidents have had the courage to do – end war."[13]
International relations
- At an October 31, 2015 campaign stop in Iowa, Martin O'Malley advocated for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. “And however elusive it may seem to us, however many smart people say the time has passed for that sort of reconciliation or that long-term solution, I continue to believe that it is our best hope," O'Malley said.[14]
- At the first Democratic primary debate, October 13, 2015, O'Malley said there were lessons to be learned from the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. O'Malley said, "And those lessons are that we need to do a much better job as a nation of having human intelligence on the ground so that we know who the emerging next generation leaders are that are coming up to replace a dictator when his time on this planet ends. And I believe that's what Chris Stevens was trying to do. But he did not have the tools. We have failed as a country to invest in the human intelligence that would allow us to make not only better decisions in Libya, but better decisions in Syria today. And it's a huge national security failing.”[15]
- On September 4, 2015, O'Malley called for the United States to take in at least 65,000 Syrian refugees. “Americans are a generous and compassionate people. But today our policies are falling short of those values. … If Germany – a country with one-fourth our population – can accept 800,000 refugees this year, certainly we – the nation of immigrants and refugees – can do more,” O’Malley said in a statement. O'Malley also wrote a letter to President Obama on September 15, 2015, reiterating his concern. “Our country is large enough and compassionate enough to welcome 65,000 Syrian refugees by 2017, and I encourage you to do everything in your power to respond appropriately to this moral imperative,” wrote O’Malley.[16][17]
- On August 17, 2015, O'Malley wrote an op-ed for CNN about the cholera epidemic in Haiti, stating the United Nations “should acknowledge its role in the tragedy” and “endeavor to broaden its campaign to combat the ongoing epidemic.” He also noted the importance of the United States assuming a “greater leadership role in our own hemisphere.” O’Malley concluded, “As president, I would embrace a new national security approach focused on proactive, long-term threat reduction and reinvigorated regional alliances.”[18]
- During a September 2014 interview, O'Malley said, "Israel, I believe, has a right to defend itself. The number of rockets that have been fired at Israel, the tunnels used to attack Israel, all of these things, the basics of border security, need to be addressed here and I hope our country can be a broker for peace and help bring about a resolution."[19]
ISIS and terrorism
- When asked about the Obama administration's response to ISIS and who should lead the fight against them during CBS' Democratic debate, O'Malley responded, "I would disagree with Secretary Clinton respectfully on this score.This actually is America's fight. It cannot solely be America's fight. America is best when we work in collaboration with our allies. America is best when we are actually standing up to evil in this world. And ISIS, make no mistake about it, is an evil in this world. ISIS has brought down a Russian airliner. ISIS has now attacked a western democracy in—in France. And we do have a role in this. Not solely ours, but we must work collaboratively with other nations. The great failing of these last 10 or 15 years, John, has been our failing of human intelligence on the ground. Our role in the world is not to roam the globe looking for new dictators to topple. Our role in the world is to make ourselves a beacon of hope. Make ourselves stronger at home, but also our role in the world, yes, is also to confront evil when it rises. We took out the safe haven in Afghanistan, but now there is, undoubtedly, a larger safe haven and we must rise to this occasion in collaboration and with alliances to confront it, and invest in the future much better human intelligence so we know what the next steps are."[20]
- During the debate, O'Malley also discussed the terminology that should be used to describe members of ISIS and how Muslim Americans can help fight them. He said, "I believe calling it what it is, is to say radical jihadis. That's calling it what it is. But John, let's not fall into the trap of thinking that all of our Muslim American neighbors in this country are somehow our enemies here. They are our first line of defense. And we are going to be able to defeat ISIS on the ground there, as well as in this world, because of the Muslim Americans in our country and throughout the world who understand that this brutal and barbaric group is perverting the name of a great world religion. And now, like never before, we need our Muslim American neighbors to stand up and to—and to be a part of this."[20]
Syrian refugees
- At the third Democratic primary debate on December 19, 2015, Martin O'Malley discussed his accepting on Syrian refugees: “I met recently with some members of the Chaldean Christian communities and the wait times are a year, 18 months, 24 months. There is a pretty excruciating process that refugees go through. We need to invest more in terms of the other sort of visas and the other sort of waivers. What these Chaldean families told me was that their families in Syria, when ISIS moves into their town, they actually paint a red cross across the door and mark their homes for demolition, and that tells the family you'd better get out now. The sort of genocide and brutality that the victims are suffering, these are not the perpetrators. We need to be the nation whose enduring symbol is the Statue of Liberty, and we need to act like the great country we are, according to our values.”[21]
- O'Malley wrote an op-ed in the New York Daily News on November 19, 2015, arguing that the U.S. has a “moral obligation” to resettle Syrian refugees. “The concern about terrorists trying to take advantage of our refugee resettlement program is not new. That is the reason we have in place what is probably the most thorough and comprehensive refugee screening process of any country in the world. It involves more than a dozen steps and can take up to two years,” O’Malley wrote. He concluded, “Keeping America safe and providing refuge to those fleeing death and destruction is not a zero-sum choice. France is showing the world that it is strong enough to overcome fear and remain true to its values. We need to do the same.”[22]
Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "Martin O'Malley Suspends Presidential Campaign," February 1, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Public Radio, "Martin O'Malley on Minimum Wage, Iran, and ISIS," July 30, 2015
- ↑ ABC News, "'This Week' Transcript: Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley," accessed April 10, 2015
- ↑ Military Times, "O'Malley offers VA reform plans on eve of Veterans Day," November 9, 2015
- ↑ O'Malley For President, "GOVERNOR O’MALLEY’S PLAN FOR VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES," accessed November 9. 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "3rd Democratic debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant," December 19, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "3rd Democratic debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant," December 19, 2015
- ↑ The Des Moines Register, "O'Malley: America needs more focus on homeland security efforts," December 7, 2015
- ↑ CNN "Gov. Martin O'Malley against a no-fly in Syria: "Secretary Clinton is always quick for the military intervention," October 11, 2015
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Martin O'Malley: Climate Change Created ISIS," July 21, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Martin O'Malley," accessed March 11, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "Martin O’Malley, a Hillary Clinton Loyalist, Is Now a Potential 2016 Alternative," accessed March 11, 2015
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Washington Post, “O’Malley thanks Obama for ending Iraq war," December 16, 2011
- ↑ The Des Moines Register, "O'Malley talks foreign policy in West Des Moines," October 31, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The CNN Democratic debate transcript, annotated," October 13, 2015
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "Martin O'Malley: U.S. Should Take In 65,000 Syrian Refugees," September 4, 2015
- ↑ Breitbart, "MARTIN O’MALLEY TO OBAMA: 10,000 SYRIAN REFUGEES NOT ENOUGH," September 16, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "U.N. should take responsibility for Haiti's deadly cholera epidemic," August 17, 2015
- ↑ Youtube, "Gov. O'Malley: 'Israel, I believe, has a right to defend itself'," September 5, 2014
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 The Washington Post, "The CBS Democratic debate transcript, annotated," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "3rd Democratic debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant," December 19, 2015
- ↑ New York Daily News, "America's moral obligation to Syrian refugees: We can simultaneously protect the nation and live up to its highest values," November 19, 2015
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