As GOP presidential contender Herman Cain is contending with allegations of sexual harassment, some critics assert there are more pressing items for which Cain should answer, most notably, his foreign policy and his views on the engagement of war.
Appearing on Fox News’ most popular program, The O’Reilly Factor (left), Cain indicated that he sees no issue with entering into a military confrontation with Iran.
During the interview, O’Reilly pushed for Cain to provide specifics on his foreign policy. The exchange seemed to underscore Cain’s discomfort in addressing foreign policy, and his lack of knowledge when it comes to American foreign policy and how it relates to the Constitution.
O’Reilly: What is the most important foreign policy problem the United States has to deal with today?
Cain: Lack of clarity.
O’Reilly: No, specifically. What area of the world concerns you the most?
Cain: The Middle East, obviously … At the time I become president, I will have to evaluate the situation in Iraq, and Iran, and everyone of these countries.
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Cain told O’Reilly that he would have to “maximize the use of our Ballistic missile Defense capabilities.”
”I would double the use of ballistic missile capable ships,” Cain explained, adding “Iran understands only two things, economic pressure and military might.”
O’Reilly responded, “So you’re going to put warships in the Gulf, because they’ll attack them, you know?”
“That would be perfectly alright, because I believe that we have superior capability,” Cain asserted.
The interview continued:
O’Reilly: “But then we’d be in a shooting war with Iran. Do you really want that?”
Cain: “I don’t want that, Bill. But if they fire first we have to defend ourselves.”
O’Reilly: “But isn’t that a provocation if you put warships off their coast?”
Cain: “No. They’ve already announced that they are going to put their ships off our coast in international waters.”
Meanwhile, Cain is still attempting to backtrack after he embarrassingly revealed a lack of knowledge regarding China’s possession of nuclear weapons.
Appearing on PBS’ NewsHour, Cain was asked whether he believed China to be a military threat, to which he replied, “They’ve indicated that they’re trying to develop nuclear capability.”
Of course, China’s explosion of a nuclear bomb in 1964 is also a good indicator that China already possesses nuclear capability.
One journalist articulated fierce concerns at the notion of a Cain presidency based on Cain’s foreign policies alone:
It is clear that should Cain become President, by some tragic miracle, his complete lack of knowledge concerning simple geopolitics and straight forward international relations would leave the Executive once again at the mercy of the gaggle of already circling warmongering neocon advisors.
Cain isn’t worried about such an eventuality, however, given that he has no clue what the term “neoconservative” even means.
Watson’s remark is in reference to Cain’s interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, when he told host David Gregory:
“I’m not familiar with the neoconservative movement…. I don’t think the war in Iraq was a mistake, because there were a lot of other reasons we needed to go to Iraq and there have been a lot of benefits that have come out of Iraq. Now that being said, I don’t agree with the President’s approach to draw down 40,000 troops and basically leave that country open to attacks by Iran. Iran has already said that they want to wait until America leaves…. I would want to leave American troops there if that was what the commanders on the ground suggested, and I believe that that’s what they are saying.”
On that same interview, Cain admitted that his policies are influenced by such neoconservatives as Ambassador John Bolton, Henry Kissinger, and K.T. McFarland, all of whom have been members on the Council on Foreign Relations.*
* (See: “Neoconservatism,” “Paleoconservatism.”)
