I was in Iraq in the worst period, 2006, but from 2006 to 2008, and especially through 2011, the American military and the government of Iraq made huge strides in making that country a source of stability with a relatively representative government that was seeking pluralistic engagement from all the factions within the government.
It's important to remember that whatever the presidential candidates of either party say, they will have to interact with the United States Congress, particularly the Senate, when it comes to crafting policy... we play an important role. And I'm going to continue to play that role, whoever is president.
I can assure you that I'm not very close to Hillary Clinton. I think she's disqualified herself from Commander-in-Chief by her cavalier attitude towards our nation's secrecy laws.
I have always had confidence in our front line F.B.I. personnel as well as the F.B.I. leadership.
It's humiliating for Barack Obama and, therefore, the United States to have American sailors held hostage during his final State of the Union.
The Congress plays a central role in our constitutional structure.
Bill Clinton worked with a Republican Congress. They certainly had their differences on many issues, but look at what they also accomplished. Welfare reform - that was maybe the most significant social policy achievement in two generations.
Trying to balance the budget through defense cuts is both counterproductive and impossible.
In our globalized world, our domestic prosperity depends heavily on the world economy, which, of course, requires stability and order. Who provides that stability and order? The U.S. military.
The claim that too many criminals are being jailed, that there is over-incarceration, ignores an unfortunate fact: For the vast majority of crimes, a perpetrator is never identified or arrested, let alone prosecuted, convicted and jailed.
America does not torture. We never have, and we never will.
Our national-security strategy must drive our military budget, rather than the budget setting our strategy.
The military budget must reflect the threats we face, rather than the budget defining those threats.
Our warriors and their families don't ask for much. But there are a few things we'd like. A commander-in-chief who speaks of winning wars and not merely ending wars, calls the enemy by its name, and draws red lines carefully but enforces them ruthlessly.
