If you look at military and intelligence positions from the 1950s, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been against American national interests.
The predominant yardstick of your government is not human rights but national interests.
War implies a lack of comprehension of mutual national interests; it means the undermining and even the end of culture.
For a long time, it was believed that war was waged by armies which could not be identified with the nation itself. Professional soldiers took upon themselves the job of defending national interests, and it was understood that the war affected only them; the country itself went on living and working.
We must recognize that as the dominant power in the world we have a special responsibility. In addition to protecting our national interests, we must take the leadership in protecting the common interests of humanity.
As all presidents must, Trump swore an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, and to faithfully execute his office and the laws in accordance with the Constitution. That oath requires putting the national interests above his personal interests.
Trump's lawyers are right that if a president does what he honestly thinks is simultaneously in his personal electoral and the national interests, that's not impeachable, in the following sense: If a president cuts taxes because he thinks it will get him reelected and it will create jobs, that's fine. That's ordinary electoral politics.
We really believe our national interests are identical with European interests.
I think that the president of Iran has the authority wherever which - where - wherever the national interests of the country are involved and, when it is necessary and expedient and required to speak and talk with others in order to promote the rights of its nation, that the president can take that initiative.
How can a country that is impoverished, humiliated and beaten defend its national interests?
