Fresh from a good showing in Saturday’s Democratic Candidate debate, the former Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley, was quite willing to discuss the Syrian refugee debate; how to deal with ISI/ISIL; and Hillary Clinton’s involvement with Wall Street. Governor O’Malley agrees with President Obama’s policy toward the Syrian refugee situation. He “respectfully” disagrees with Governor Hassan and the other governors who have asked to opt out of accepting refugees from Syria. Governor O’Malley stated that we can not give way to fear. Also, he believes that America must be the moral leader in the world not just relying on the technical success of our drone strikes. He does call for thorough screening and background checks for prospective Syrian refugees.
Governor O’Malley believes that the best way to deal with ISIS/ISIL is a coalition of NATO allies, Russia, and perhaps Iran. In addition, he favors doing a better job on gathering human on the ground intelligence and improved analysis of the emerging political leaders in countries like Syria. He would like for the United States to lead the way in forming an international force of peace keepers to stabilize troubled regions before terrorist groups can get established. O’Malley would also use foreign aid money to defuse situations.
The last part of the interview dealt with his differences with the Democratic Party frontrunner, Hillary Clinton. O’Malley said that the rise of ISIS/ISIL is the result of failed national security policies. He also took issue with Secretary Clinton’s receiving so much money from Wall Street donors. He criticized her for referencing the 9/11 attacks as part of her explanation during the last debate. O’Malley said that it was disgraceful how she pumped out a smokescreen to distract from the real issue of her alignment with the big banks on Wall Street by wrapping herself in the sentiments of the tragedy of 9/11. He went on to say that Hillary Clinton must believe in an economy of the few, by the few, and for the few.
