Bernie Sanders Would Really Prefer Not to Discuss the War on Terror Right after Paris Attack
Roughly 24 hours after several terrorist attacks in Paris left at least 129 people dead and 200 injured, the three remaining Democrat presidential candidates took the stage for a debate; its first segment focusing on the threat of ISIS and al-Qaeda. Bernie Sanders, whose candidacy focuses on income inequality and money in politics, did an admirable—but notable—job dodging the topic of global terrorism.
When CBS moderator John Dickinson asked Sanders the inevitable first question—why are you running for president?—the Vermont senator acknowledged the attack: “Well, John, let me concur with you and with all Americans who are shocked and disgusted by what we saw in Paris yesterday. Together, leading the world, this country will rid our planet of this barbarous organization called ISIS.”
Sanders was in a difficult political position: as a candidate who is decidedly not in favor of expanding U.S. military operations, he had to try to acknowledge that he understood the threat of attacks like those in Paris without appearing a hawkish war advocate. That’s why he followed his one-line acknowledgment of the Paris attacks with . . . this:
I'm running for president because as I go around this nation, I talk to a lot of people, and what I hear is people's concern that the economy we have is a rigged economy. People are working longer hours for lower wage, and almost all of the new income and wealth goes to the top 1 percent. And then on top of that, we’ve got a corrupt campaign finance system in which millionaires and billionaires are pouring huge sums of money into super PACs heavily influencing the political process. What my campaign is about is a political revolution. Millions of people standing up and saying, “Enough is enough. Our government belongs to all of us and not just the hand full of billionaires.”
Soon afterwards, Dickinson brought up Sanders’ belief that climate change was the biggest threat to America, which Sanders doubled down on: “In fact, climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism. And if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say, you're going to see countries all over the world—this is what the C.I.A. says—they’re going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops ask you're going to see all kinds of international conflict.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/11/bernie-sanders-democratic-debate-paris-terror
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