U.S. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain asked about Congo

Here is the transcript of the October 14,2008 Presidential debate question about the Congo. As you can see... they still don't want to answer the issue. First the number is 5.4 million since 1998 not 4.5... The numbers of people killed from 1996 to 19998, two years, were not even counted from the International Rescue Committee report. Children 2 years old to 93 years-old grandmothers raped and yet the world is silent! Do not call the conflict in the Congo a genocide. It is a holocaust. Here is the definition : a.the mass slaughter of European civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II —usually used with the b: a mass slaughter of people;

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Brokaw: Sen. Obama, let me ask you if -- let's see if we can establish tonight the Obama doctrine and the McCain doctrine for the use of United States combat forces in situations where there's a humanitarian crisis, but it does not affect our national security.

Take the Congo, where 4.5 million people have died since 1998, or take Rwanda in the earlier dreadful days, or Somalia.

What is the Obama doctrine for use of force that the United States would send when we don't have national security issues at stake?

Obama: Well, we may not always have national security issues at stake, but we have moral issues at stake.

If we could have intervened effectively in the Holocaust, who among us would say that we had a moral obligation not to go in?

If we could've stopped Rwanda, surely, if we had the ability, that would be something that we would have to strongly consider and act.

So when genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us.

And so I do believe that we have to consider it as part of our interests, our national interests, in intervening where possible.

But understand that there's a lot of cruelty around the world. We're not going to be able to be everywhere all the time. That's why it's so important for us to be able to work in concert with our allies.

Let's take the example of Darfur just for a moment. Right now there's a peacekeeping force that has been set up and we have African Union troops in Darfur to stop a genocide that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

We could be providing logistical support, setting up a no-fly zone at relatively little cost to us, but we can only do it if we can help mobilize the international community and lead. And that's what I intend to do when I'm president.

Brokaw: Sen. McCain, the McCain Doctrine, if you will.

McCain: Well, let me just follow up, my friends. If we had done what Sen. Obama wanted done in Iraq, and that was set a date for withdrawal, which Gen. [David] Petraeus, our chief -- chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff said would be a very dangerous course to take for America, then we would have had a wider war, we would have been back, Iranian influence would have increased, al Qaeda would have re- established a base.

There was a lot at stake there, my friends. And I can tell you right now that Sen. Obama would have brought our troops home in defeat. I'll bring them home with victory and with honor and that is a fundamental difference.

The United States of America, Tom, is the greatest force for good, as I said. And we must do whatever we can to prevent genocide, whatever we can to prevent these terrible calamities that we have said never again.

But it also has to be tempered with our ability to beneficially affect the situation. That requires a cool hand at the tiller. This requires a person who understands what our -- the limits of our capability are.

We went in to Somalia as a peacemaking organization, we ended up trying to be -- excuse me, as a peacekeeping organization, we ended up trying to be peacemakers and we ended up having to withdraw in humiliation.

In Lebanon, I stood up to President Reagan, my hero, and said, if we send Marines in there, how can we possibly beneficially affect this situation? And said we shouldn't. Unfortunately, almost 300 brave young Marines were killed.

So you have to temper your decisions with the ability to beneficially affect the situation and realize you're sending America's most precious asset, American blood, into harm's way. And, again, I know those situations.

I've been in them all my life. And I can tell you right now the security of your young men and women who are serving in the military are my first priority right after our nation's security.

And I may have to make those tough decisions. But I won't take them lightly. And I understand that we have to say never again to a Holocaust and never again to Rwanda. But we had also better be darn sure we don't leave and make the situation worse, thereby exacerbating our reputation and our ability to address crises in other parts of the world.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Obama
• McCain
• Congo
• Debate
• genocide

[SellTheFake]

The diabolical "religion of persecution" is dependent upon the many transparent historical "persecution narratives" to remain in existence. The narratives "Fall of Jerusalem", "Exodus" and "Holocaust" are each wrought with fraud.

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"The truth is that virtually every modern archeologist who has investigated the story of the Exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all." - rabbi David Wolpe in 2001

[REYES6261]

@Shonaripa lol

[AncutaMerkel]

Yeah cause America wasn't ready for the big bang. William F Garrison was an epitome for fucked up intelligence sharing and poor coordination with external Intel

[AncutaMerkel]

McCain wanted US troops to get the fuck out of Mogadishu. Now what the fuck is he want? He can't keep his own words

[burnticeblues]

wait.... america killed the democratically elected president of congo... its ther problem now go and srt it out

[elchasai]

mccain's answer really was right and more accurate in its scope "our decision has to be tempered with our ability to beneficially affect the situation" and that does take a cool hand.

[AABIKAR]

u forgot capitalism!!!!!!!!!

[Shonaripa]

McCain walks like the penguin.

[stitchmartin]

They could have stopped the Rwandan genocide, or at least lessend the blow, but they didnt because it wasnt profitable, not to mention that they got burnt in Somalia just a year earlier.

[stevemcgee99]

ha ha. I forgot, McCain is not a conservative, either.

McCain - you are suggesting that the US government should send resources ALL the time?

Same admonition for you as Obama. It's not just to force other people to fight, or to force them to take sides in an issue, within OR without the US jurisdiction.

When people care about something, let them take action.

When they don't, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT to force them to take action (including spend money).

Read the rules of your job.