Middle East

Donald Trump

Trump's Middle East (section page):

On Waterboarding

"I would bring back waterboarding and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding."(RD-8)

Iraq

• "I was totally against the war in Iraq and I was from the beginning, 2003, 2004 because you're going to destabilize the Middle East and I was right and should be given credit. Because that of everybody running, I'm the one person that said don't do it." (DTI)

Iran

• "If Iran was a stock you should go out and buy it, cause you'll quadruple." (RD1)

• Renegotiate Iran Nuclear Deal - Increase Sanctions & Ask for Prisoners Back
  • "I've never seen something so incompetently negotiated -- and I mean never" - September 2015 Tea Party Rally (DTS)
  • "“I think the deal is horrible,” Mr. Trump told Fox Business Network. “I think the deal is absolutely horrible for us, but it’s really, really bad for Israel.”" (DTI)
  • "The billionaire businessman said American negotiators should have began the process by insisting on getting the prisoners back. He said Iran would have refused, but afterward, “you double and triple up your sanctions” and it would change Iran’s tune."(DTI)

• US Prisoners in Iran
  • Took credit for release of four US prisoners because he's been "hitting [Iran] hard." (DTI)
  • "In Iran deal we get 4 prisoners. They get $150 billion, 7 most wanted and many off watch list. This will create great incentive for others!" - (17 Jan 16) (DTT)

Syria

• "Let Syria and ISIS fight. Why do we care? Let ISIS and Syria fight. And let Russia, they're in Syria already, let them fight ISIS." (DTI)

Bernie Sanders

Bernie's Middle East (section page)

• "I'm the former chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, and in that capacity I learned a very powerful lesson about the cost of war, and I will do everything that I can to make sure that the United States does not get involved in another quagmire like we did in Iraq, the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country. We should be putting together a coalition of Arab countries who should be leading the effort. We should be supportive, but I do not support American ground troops in Syria." (DD1)

• "I support air strikes in Syria and what the president is trying to do." (DD1)

• "I believe that the United States has the moral responsibility with Europe, with Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia to make sure that when people leave countries like Afghanistan and Syria with nothing more than the clothing on their back that, of course, we reach out." (DD2)

• "I'm running for president because I want a new foreign policy; one that takes on Isis, one that destroys ISIS, but one that does not get us involved in perpetual warfare in the quagmire of the Middle East but rather works around a major coalition of wealthy and powerful nations supporting Muslim troops on the ground. That's the kind of coalition we need and that's the kind of coalition I will put together" (DD3)

• Bernie Sanders supports the Iran Nuclear Deal as a way to give peace a chance prevent war in the Middle East which would endanger American lives. (WPI)

• “Israel has a right to exist in security, and at the same time the Palestinians have a state of their own.” (FTBI)