Brzezinski (Carter's National Security Advisor) endorses Obama Over Clinton for President

[calteacherguy]

MR. HUNT With us here to discuss this is Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s former national security advisor and a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dr. Brzezinski, thanks for joining us. The president –

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: Good to be with you.

MR. HUNT: Let’s go to the current race for president. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as you know, have had several recent dustups over issues like whether the U.S. should act unilaterally if there were proven intelligence of al Qaeda in Pakistan, whether nuclear weapons should be taken off the table, and that thing. What’s your take on these arguments over foreign policy between these two leading candidates?

MR. BRZEZINSKI: I think Obama is clearly more effective and has the upper hand. He has a sense of what is historically relevant and what is needed from the United States in relationship to the world. He recognizes that the challenges, a new face, a new sense of direction, a new definition of America’s role in the world.

The senator from New York talks in very conventional terms and I don’t think the country needs to go back to what we had eight years ago. I think there is a need for a fundamental rethinking of how we conduct world affairs and Obama seems to me to have both the guts and the intelligence to address that issue and to change the nature of America’s relationship with the world.

MR. HUNT: And how about the other argument that whether you – the issue of talking to bad guys, the Iranians, North Koreans, and Hugo Chavez, do you believe that direct talks with unsavory characters rewards bad behavior or is just simply realpolitik?

MR. BRZEZINKSI: I can’t understand people who claim that that is the case because what it in effect means that you only talk to people who agree with you. We negotiated with the Soviets throughout the years of the Cold War when there was always the possibility of a nuclear war with them. We negotiated with the Chinese. More recently, we have negotiated with the North Koreans. So what’s the hang-up about negotiating with the Syrians or with the Iranians and so forth?

What Condi Rice says on this subject, mainly that we can’t negotiate with them because they don’t agree with us, is sheer nonsense. It’s really the reputation, the abandonment of intelligent diplomacy.

MR. HUNT: Dr. Brzezinksi, let me ask you a final question. You’ve made quite clear that you prefer Barack Obama in 2008. Are you talking to him about foreign policy right now, does he consult with you?

MR. BRZEZINSKI: Oh, I don’t think I would call myself a person that he consults with. I have known him, I’ve talked to him, but he talks to a lot of people and I’m sure that a lot of people are closer to him than I am. But I do feel fundamentally very deeply that we have gotten ourselves into a jam and that if America is to prosper and if our leadership is to be respected and trusted again, we really need a dramatic new departure. And I sort of sense that Senator Obama has that grasp, that fundamental understanding.

MR. HUNT: And therefore is ready, despite a lack of experience, to be president of the United States?

MR. BRZEZINSKI: Well, what kind of experience that was really relevant did Governor Clinton had before he became president? Being a former First Lady doesn’t prepare you to be president. President Truman didn’t have much experience before he came to office. Neither did John Kennedy. It’s basically a fundamental grasp of what is the nature of our era that is essential here, that is at stake.

MR. HUNT: Zbigniew Brzezinski, thank you very much for an interesting conversation. When we return, the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer have been no vacation for Ben Bernanke. Reports from Washington and London after the break.

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/brzezinski%20trans.htm

[dkf]

1. Obama gives me hope...

I like hearing what he has to say. I'm tired of the same old same old.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

13. You are tired of the same old same old. Look at the headline in the OP

Brezinksi is as establishment as you get on foreign policy. He has been a leading part of the foreign policy establishment for decades.

[UrbScotty]

15. Even Brzesinski knows the need for change ion our foreign policy

Watch the video: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x49580

[MessiahRp]

2. This explains why Wyldwolf has been attacking Brez all day long.

He's a Clintonite and they need to soften this blow by making Brez incompetent. Sad really.

Rp

[zulchzulu]

4. Don't use a DUer's name in a thread...

I see your point EXACTLY, but rules are rules. Jus' sayin'.

[rjones2818]

3. Brzezinski's support

is something that would make me think about who he's supporting.

[zulchzulu]

5. Well! Figgers! He wuz with that loozer Carter!!! What a goofy last name!!!

Thank you. That was my impression of a Teenaged Hillbot.

Actually, a great interview. K&R.

[Syrinx]

6. Why Should I Listen To Brzezinski?

I'm not sure how the support of Brzezinski is a badge of honor.

Wasn't it his idea to arm the Mujahedeen against the Soviets?

This idea of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" is at the root of so much evil that has gone on in the world, that has been backed by the United States.

The policy of arming the Mujahedeen (Osama bin Laden's army) can rightfully be blamed for the rise of the Taliban and of Al Qaeda.

What makes the endorsement by the "mastermind" of such a policy worth more than the dust mites on my floor?

I like and respect Barack Obama, and would have no problem voting for him. How does the endorsement of Brzezinski increase his value in any way? Why should Brzezinski's endorsement, and its implied acceptance, affect my vote?

As of now, I still plan to support John Edwards for president.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Z-Big's analysis is still on target! We new a new direction, not more of the same!

new definition of America’s role in the world

Replacing neocon imperialism with neolib imperialism, the Hillary solution, is the wrong path to take.

As to the Soviet-Afghan war, we backed the wrong side, and it was a bipartisan mistake that culminated on 9-11.

We should have been cheering the Soviets as they eliminated the Islamic fundamentalists!

[PaulaFarrell]

12. We didn't 'back the wrong side'

We armed the Mujahadeen via Pakistan even before the Soviet union invaded - they might well not have if Brezinski hadn't come up with this wondeful plan, and Afghanistan might not be the hellhole it is today. I think that he is personallt responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths and infinitely more misery. He must be completely immoral (or is that amoral?) to not give a rat's ass about the destruction he is responsible for:

"Q: When the Soviets justified their intervention by asserting that they intended to fight against a secret involvement of the United States in Afghanistan, people didn't believe them. However, there was a basis of truth. You don't regret anything today?

B: Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter. We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war. Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war unsupportable by the government, a conflict that brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.

Q: And neither do you regret having supported the Islamic fundamentalism, having given arms and advice to future terrorists?

B: What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war? "

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BRZ110A.html

The guy is an asshole, and progressives sould shun him. That's my opinon.

[ChiciB1]

8. I'm Not Sure He Stated He Supported Obama... To Me He's Just Comparing

Obama to Clinton. Perhaps it sounds like an endorsement, but to me it sounds more like He's not very fond of Hillary Clinton OR the Clintons in general.

Of course, it may be that he does intend to vote for Obama, but I think he's really taking a pot shot at Clinton. Just my opinion... and I can't say I disagree because I don't feel Hillary Clinton will be all that good or different than what we already have. But I also think Obama is a bit DLC as I see it.

[Nimrod2005]

9. FYI...I am going to see OBAMA in person today!!!

[jmp]

10. Didn't Brzezinski sign away Taiwan's sovereignty?

Yeah he's a real champion of human rights.

[IndianaGreen]

14. Taiwan, or Formosa to be precise, belongs to China

The native Formosans do make a legitimate claim that they should be Chinese free, both Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese. It is only a claim, one that perhaps carries more weight than Kurdish claims to a mythical Kurdistan.

I think that in the end Taiwan will return to China in a Hong Kong style of agreement.

Nixon is the one that dumped Taiwan!

[Karmadillo]

11. I wonder if Obama supports Brzezinski?

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/Intro_RogueState...

Introduction
excerpted from the book
Rogue State
by William Blum
Common Courage Press, 2000

<edit>

Consider Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to Jimmy Carter. In a 1998 interview he admitted that the official story that the US gave military aid to the Afghanistan opposition only after the Soviet invasion in 1979 was a lie. The truth was, he said, that the US began aiding the Islamic fundamentalist Moujahedeen six months before the Russians made their move, even though he believed-and told this to Carter-that "this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention".

Brzezinski was asked whether he regretted this decision.

Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it' The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter: We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam War. Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war unsupportable by the government, a conflict that brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.7

Besides the fact that there is no demonstrable connection between the Afghanistan war and the breakup of the Soviet empire, we are faced with the consequences of that war: the defeat of a govemment committed to bringing the extraordinarily backward nation into the 20th century; the breathtaking camage; Moujahedeen torture that even US govemment officials called "indescribable horror"; half the population either dead, disabled or refugeesi the spawning of thousands of Islamic fundamentalist terrorists who have unleashed atrocities in numerous countries; and the unbelievable repression of women in Afghanistan, instituted by America's wartime allies.

And for playing a key role in causing all this, Zbigniew Brzezinski has no regrets. Regrets? The man is downright proud of it! The kindest thing one can say about such a person-as about a sociopath-is that he's arnoral. At least in his public incamation, which is all we're concemed with here. In medieval times he would have been called Zbigniew the Terrible.

more...

[Capn Sunshine]

16. "a fundamental grasp of what is the nature of our era that is essential here"

BINGO
That's why I'm supporting Obama.

Let the wonkity wonks here on DU microparse his statements and record. It's the macro that gets you elected.