Washington: Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders has said that if elected president he would ”absolutely” use the military if warranted, both to protect US interests and to support its allies.
He also said he would be willing to meet with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, as President Donald Trump has done.
Sanders has emerged with an early lead in the Democratic nominating process, and as a self-declared democratic socialist his foreign and security policies are starting to draw closer scrutiny. But he has denied being a pacifist.
In an interview airing Sunday on CBS’s ”60 Minutes,” the Vermont senator was asked in what circumstances he, as commander-in-chief, would deploy US military forces.
He listed these criteria: ”Threats against the American people, to be sure. Threats against our allies. I believe in NATO.”
”I believe that the United States, everything being equal, should be working with other countries in alliance, not doing it alone.” – ”We will not sit by” When the interviewer asked whether he would order military action if Taiwan came under attack from China, Sanders replied: ”Yeah. I mean, I think we have got to make it clear to countries around the world that we will not sit by and allow invasions to take place, absolutely.”
The senator, who scored a resounding victory Saturday in the Nevada presidential caucuses, was asked if he would follow Trump’s example and meet with the North Korean leader.
”Yeah, I mean I’ve criticised Trump for everything…” he said.
”But meeting with people who are antagonistic is, to me, not a bad thing.”
Sanders added that he believed Trump was ”unprepared” when he met with Kim — their meeting last year in Hanoi collapsed in disagreement.
”But I do not have a problem with sitting down with adversaries all over the world.”