Some in my party threaten to send a message that they don't know a just war when they see it, and more broadly that they're not prepared to use our military strength to protect our security and the cause of freedom.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The tactic of leading people into... a war that doesn't make any sense by telling them they are under attack, and if they raise any objection they're unpatriotic, is a very old tactic. And it doesn't intimidate me.
If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.
We are fully aware that, in a world at war, each set of belligerents is over ready to regard those who are not with them as against them; but the course we have followed is a just course.
We shall listen, not lecture; learn, not threaten. We will enhance our safety by earning the respect of others and showing respect for them. In short, our foreign policy will rest on the traditional American values of restraint and empathy, not on military might.
I know I will be severely criticized by the interventionists in America when I say we should not enter a war unless we have a reasonable chance of winning.
In international affairs, you never threaten things you're not prepared to do.
Our modern states are preparing for war without even knowing the future enemy.
There are a lot of self-imposed restrictions by people who somehow believe they have to fall in with a certain military cant. There was always a sense that we had to put things into words that would touch our troops' hearts, not just their heads.
I tell people I won't vote to go to war unless I'm ready to go or send my kids.
All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.