Sanders On Fed & Greece

[JDPriestly]

1. I'd like to see them ask these questions of any other potential candidate for president.

Last edited Tue Mar 10, 2015, 02:48 PM - Edit history (1)

Maybe Elizabeth Warren could answer them intelligently. But I don't think anyone else could.

I would like to see Hillary Clinton asked similar questions. It might give us a better measure of her intellect, her understanding of the world and how she would handle power.

Let's compare our potential candidates.

Bernie gave brilliant, knowledgeable responses. And he speaks well.

Great job, Bernie Sanders.

There is however, one other point I would like to add. If the troika, that is the Eurozone's leaders, do not compromise with Greece, Russia would probably offer some rather inadequate assistance, but become more popular in Greece. Then with the rise of Golden Dawn which is the far right-wing party in Greece that Sanders calls a NAZI party, we could have a real problem.

You know, there was a sort of war between the Communists and others in Greece following WWII. A lot of Americans don't realize or have forgotten how involved the Truman administration was in that war. But Greece is, because of its geographical location, a relatively poor and not one of the largest, countries in Europe, yet it is really, really important to the stability of the total of Europe.

Here is an article on the Truman Doctrine, and this is what Truman said about Greece and Turkey when they were facing civil war with Communists:

On the evening of March 12, 1947, Truman delivered his address. He began:

The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates my appearance before a joint session of the Congress. The foreign policy and the national security of this country are involved. One aspect of the present situation, which I present to you at this time for your consideration and decision, concerns Greece and Turkey. The United States has received from the Greek Government an urgent appeal for financial and economic assistance. Preliminary reports from the American Economic Mission now in Greece and reports from the American Ambassador in Greece corroborate the statement of the Greek Government that assistance is imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation.

The speech outlined the situation specifically in Greece and Turkey and noted that both were close to the Soviet Union. Although he admitted the government of Greece was not perfect and had made mistakes, Truman nevertheless endorsed the right of the people of Greece and their neighbors in Turkey to determine their own national destinies. Thus began a policy that the United States has carried out all over the world.

. . . .

“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid, which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.”

By asking for $4 million to support their resistance to communism, Truman noted that the amount represented was little more than a tenth of a percent of the amount that America had spent to win World War II. He described it as simply common sense to spend that amount as an investment in world peace and world freedom.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1780.html

Greece and Turkey are neighbors, but if you remember the war in Cyprus as well as the Greek claims to portions of Turkey (like Smyrna) immediately following WWI and the Turkish claims to parts of Greece and other confusing territorial claims in the area, an extremely right-wing government or an extremely left-wing government in Greece could cause serious problems in the Mediterranean area if not in all of Europe.

The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front (Turkish: Batı Cephesi) of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign (Greek: Μικρασιατική Εκστρατεία or the Asia Minor Catastrophe (Greek: Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή in Greece, was fought between Greece and the Turkish National Movement during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May 1919 and October 1922.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Turkish_War_%281919%E2%80%931922%29

The world cannot afford to let Greece suffer too much.

And remember, Turkey borders on the area in which ISIS is active.

So far, but so close.