The Wit and Wisdom of Ted Kennedy - Bill Adler [19]
Is half a Hiroshima O.K.? Is a quarter of a Hiroshima O.K.? Is a little mushroom cloud O.K.? That’s absurd.
—Pressing for the continuation of the ban
on low-yield nuclear weapons,
May 20, 2003
The American people do not accept a chessboard view of the world, based only on power politics. Our policy must have a surer foundation, grounded in our basic humanitarian values as a nation.
—Speech, May 27, 1976
We learned a generation ago that the two broad oceans offer no real military security. Now we are learning that our economy is also not isolated from the harsh winds of change that are sweeping the world. American jobs, American prices, and American incomes are vitally affected by what happens abroad.
—Speech, February 17, 1975
Like December 7, 1941, September 11, 2001 will be remembered as a day that will live in infamy. Just as the Pearl Harbor attack galvanized the American people in their resolve to prevail in the war against fascism and tyranny, I am confident that yesterday’s attack on the American people will galvanize our citizens and strengthen our spirit to prevail in the ongoing war against global terrorism. It is tragic that these criminals were able to succeed in carrying out the most brutal terrorist attack in history on American soil. I pledge to work with the President, the Congress, and the families of the victims to seek answers to the many questions that exist, and to do all we can to strengthen the security of our people and to prevent such atrocities in the future. The American flag flies high today, and so does our commitment to our ideals here at home and all around the world.
—Statement on the Terrorist Attacks in
New York and Washington, DC,
September 12, 2001
The life-and-death issue of war and peace is too important to be left to politics. And I disagree with those who suggest that this fateful issue cannot or should not be contested vigorously, publicly, and all across America. When it is the people’s sons and daughters who will risk and even lose their lives, then the people should hear and be heard, speak and be listened to.
—Remarks on September 27, 2002,
during the build-up before
the U.S. invasion of Iraq
The armed services continue to be a critical and worthwhile career for America’s young men and women. If anything, it is now even more important for people of high caliber, committed to the nation’s future, to serve in the armed forces.
—Speech, February 17, 1975
The coldly premeditated nature of preventive attacks and preventive wars makes them anathema to well-established international principles against aggression. Pearl Harbor has been rightfully recorded in history as an act of dishonorable treachery.
—Response to the Bush Doctrine
of Pre-emptive Attack,
October 7, 2002
The Administration’s doctrine is a call for 21st century American imperialism that no other nation can or should accept. It is the antithesis of all that America has worked so hard to achieve in international relations since the end of World War II. This is not just an academic debate. There are important real-world consequences. A shift in our policy toward preventive war would reinforce the perception of America as a “bully” in the Middle East, and would fuel anti-American sentiment throughout the Islamic world and beyond. It would also send a signal to governments the world over that the rules of aggression have changed for them too, which could increase the risk of conflict between countries such as Russia and Georgia, India and Pakistan, and China and Taiwan.
—Response to the Bush Doctrine
of Pre-emptive Attack,
October 7, 2002
Based