Democratic Presidential candidate and former United States Sen. Mike Gravel announced today that he will make a major foreign policy address at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics of St. Anselm College on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
The Senator said, "In the last 40 odd years, national administrations of both American political parties have led the United States into two ill advised adventures; the first in Vietnam and the second in Iraq at a terrible cost in American, Vietnamese and Iraqi lives as well as in American treasure and prestige throughout the world. While one can argue indefinitely how similar or dissimilar the reasons were for the launching of the two wars by our nation, there is no denying that both enterprises shared two common characteristics; the galactic ignorance by our policy makers and foreign policy elites of the cultures, forces, aspirations, interests and needs of the targeted nations and the utter lack of a coherent and accurate view of the world situation."
The Senator continued, "On Nov. 1, I will unveil the beginnings of what I believe to be a realistic and pragmatic approach in guiding our nation in meeting the challenges of this dangerous and tumultuous world. My foreign policies will be based on over a half century of scholarship, travel, experience and the humble understanding that it can sometimes take a lifetime to understand a single region, let alone the entire community of nations."
Gravel concluded, "We seek to restore trust in America's leadership, restore bi-partisan support for our approach and use an aggressive and insightful diplomacy which will be infinitely more influential and successful than military coercion in managing the forces of instability."
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