Campaign Statements — Rick Perry

Monday January 16, 2012

“Go to zero with foreign aid for all of those countries.”

“Well, obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by, what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists, when you start seeing that type of activity against their own citizens, then yes. Not only is it time for us to have a conversation about whether or not they belong to be in NATO, but it’s time for the United States, when we look at their foreign aid, to go to zero with it.

And you go to zero with foreign aid for all of those countries. And it doesn’t make any difference who they are. You go to zero with that foreign aid and then you have the conversation about, do they have America’s best interest in mind? And when you have countries like Turkey that are moving far away from the country that I lived in back in the 1970′s as a pilot in the United States Air Force that was our ally, that worked with us, but today we don’t see that.

Our president, has a foreign policy that makes our allies very nervous and emboldens our enemies. And we have to have a president of the United States that clearly sends the message, whether it’s to Israel, our friend and there should be no space between the United States and Israel, period.”

CATEGORIES: Afghanistan | Iran | Iraq | Israel/Palestine | Rick Perry | War on Terror |

Sunday January 15, 2012

“What’s been really disturbing to me is…this administration and their disdain for the military.”

[In reference to a video showing US Marines urinating on the dead bodies of alleged members of the Taliban.]

PERRY: Well, obviously, 18, 19-year-old kids make stupid mistakes all too often, and that’s what’s occurred here. But, you know, when you’re—when you’re in war—and history, kind of, backs up there’s a picture of General Patton doing basically the same thing in the Rhine river. And although there’s not a picture, Churchill did the same thing on the Siegfried line.

So I’ll tell you what’s been really disturbing to me is just, kind of, the over-the-top rhetoric from this administration and their disdain for the military, it appears, whether it’s the secretary of state or whether it’s the secretary of defense. I mean, these kids made a mistake. There’s not any doubt about it. They shouldn’t have done it. It’s bad. But the—the—to call it a criminal act, I think, is over the top.

CROWLEY: Well, here’s the problem, I think. All the things that you mentioned as part of history was before YouTube; it was before the Taliban; it was before this feeling that the U.S. somehow does not respect, you know, religions.This is—this is something that’s not just a picture. It’s not just a message to Americans. It’s a message that could hurt us in the larger world. So I’m not sure the exact age of them, but no matter what age they are, is this the kind of behavior that you think you can tolerate in the day and age when that picture is everywhere?

PERRY: Well, here’s the issue. I will suggest to you that these are 18, 19, 20-year-old kids. They make mistakes. There is video out there of all types of things, I will suggest to you. But the idea that this administration would go after these young people for a criminal act is—again, I think it is over the top and—and did they make a mistake? Absolutely. Should they be reprimanded and appropriately punished? Yes. But going after them as a criminal act, I think—really bad message.

CATEGORIES: Afghanistan | Rick Perry | War on Terror |

Saturday January 07, 2012

“The biggest problem that America faces is a president that doesn’t understand the military.”

“You cannot cut $1 trillion from the Department of Defense budget and expect that America’s freedoms are not going to be jeopardized. That, to me, is the biggest problem that America faces, is a president that doesn’t understand the military and a president who is allowing the reduction of the DOD budget so that he can spend money in other places, and it will put America’s freedom in jeopardy.”

CATEGORIES: American Exceptionalism | Rick Perry | War on Terror |

Saturday January 07, 2012

“I would send troops back into Iraq.”

“Well, I think that you have to—I would send troops back into Iraq, because I will tell you… The idea that we allow the Iranians to come back into Iraq and take over that country, with all of the treasure, both in blood and money, that we have spent in Iraq, because this president wants to kowtow to his liberal, leftist base and move out those men and women. They’re going to move back in, and all of the work that we’ve done, every young man that has lost his life in that country will have been for nothing…”

CATEGORIES: Iran | Iraq | Rick Perry |

Thursday December 15, 2011

“Venezuela has the largest Iranian embassy in the world there. We know what is going on.”

“If we are going to be able to defend America, from Iran, from Hezbollah, from Hamas, that are using Mexico as a border, as a way to penetrate in the southern part of the United States. Venezuela has the largest Iranian embassy in the world there. We know what is going on. It is time for this country to have a real conversation about a Monroe Doctrine again like we did against the Cubans in the 60s.”

CATEGORIES: Iran | Rick Perry | War on Terror |

Thursday December 15, 2011

“This administration has absolutely bungled…the most muddled foreign policy.”

“Well, I have already called for a overfly zone—no fly zone over Syria already. They are Iran’s partner. They are attached at the hip. And we have to stand firm with our ally in that region, Israel. There needs to be no space between the United States and Israel. And this administration has absolutely bungled.

It is the most muddled foreign policy that I can ever remember in my lifetime whether it was in ‘09 when we had the opportunity either covertly, overtly or other ways of helping the Iranian citizens as they were trying to overthrow that repressive regime, whether it was working with Mubarak, and trying to have a moderate to come in and replace him, whether it was leading from behind, as we have seen in Libya, and now we have seen this president, as Mitt and Newt have both talked about, asking the Iranians to give us back that drone.”

CATEGORIES: The Arab Spring | Iran | Rick Perry | War on Terror |

Saturday December 10, 2011

“You will not see a catch and release program.”

“You will not see a catch and release program like this administration has today th—where people who are caught who are illegally in this country, and because they haven’t been caught in a violent situation, they’re released. Released into the general population. That’s the problem that we’ve got in this country.”

CATEGORIES: Immigration | Rick Perry |

Tuesday November 22, 2011

“If you are not going to be an ally of the United States, do not expect a dime.”

“And until Pakistan clearly shows that they have America’s best interests in mind, I would not send them one penny, period. I think it is important for us to send the message to those across the world that, if you are not going to be an ally of the United States, do not expect a dime of our citizens’ money to be coming into your country.”

CATEGORIES: Rick Perry | War on Terror |

Tuesday October 18, 2011

“It’s time for us to have a…discussion about defunding the United Nations.”

“I think it’s time for this country to have a very real debate about foreign aid. Clearly there are places. As a matter of fact, I think it’s time for us to have a very serious discussion about defunding the United Nations. When you think about—when you think about the Palestinian Authority circumventing those Oslo Accords and going to New York to try to create the conflict and to have themselves approved as a state without going through the proper channels is a travesty. And I think it’s time not only to have that entire debate about all of our foreign aid, but in particular the U.N. Why are we funding that organization?”

CATEGORIES: Israel/Palestine | Rick Perry |