Questions for the Candidates
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Barring some unexpected glitch, President Bush and Senator Kerry will have a chance to get into particulars Thursday night at Coral Gables, Fla., in a debate devoted primarily to foreign policy and homeland security. The moderator, Jim Lehrer of the Public Broadcasting System, will ask questions to the candidates. Here are some questions that would help illuminate the choices facing the voters on Election Day.
For Mr. Kerry:
In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in December, you said, “The Bush administration stubbornly refuses to conduct a realistic, nonconfrontational policy with Iran even where that may be possible. As president, I will be prepared early on to explore areas of mutual interest with Iran, just as I was prepared to normalize relations with Vietnam a decade ago.” The State Department has repeatedly described Iran as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, and human rights groups describe the regime there as abusive. Why wouldn’t you want to confront it?
The normalization of relations with Vietnam that you describe has not brought Vietnam closer to freedom or democracy. Earlier this month, the State Department cited “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” in Vietnam. The report said that “police arbitrarily detained and sometimes beat religious believers” and that one Protestant leader in the Northwest Highlands reportedly was beaten to death for refusing to recant his faith. Another Protestant leader reportedly was beaten to death in 2002.Will you condemn those abuses? Why do you propose as an approach to Iran one that isn’t working in Vietnam?
When you came back from Vietnam, you accused American GIs fighting there of being war criminals and you said that you yourself committed war crimes. Why did you commit war crimes? Do you feel you should have been prosecuted for the war crimes you said you committed or were you just following orders?
Given that you opposed the Vietnam War, the 1991 Gulf War, and, though you voted for this most recent Iraq war, your recent comments on the campaign trail indicate you now think it was the “wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time,” are there any wars that you unreservedly support?
Would you ever send American troops to intervene to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe like genocide, even if America’s national security wasn’t facing an imminent threat?
Your plan for Iraq involves asking the world to help. What would you do if countries like France don’t want to help?
Mr. Bush has said Americans “have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom.” Do you agree that America has some sort of special mission to spread freedom around the world?
For the president:
As a candidate for president, you promised that if elected, you’d begin the process of moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Why haven’t you moved the embassy?
In your speech at the United Nations last week, you said Israel should “end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people.” What were you talking about? Do you really think the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people is Israel’s fault? If you meant security checkpoints, how are they different from the security barriers that Americans face when they enter a federal building or an airport gate or that Iraqis face when entering an American compound in Baghdad?
One of the charges your critics make against you is that you and your family have been too close to the Saudis. Women in Saudi Arabia lack the right to drive cars, and to vote, or even to appear in public without being covered from head to toe. Where is our relationship with the Saudis going? Do you favor, as some do, severing the Saudi regime from the Eastern Province that contains the kingdom’s oil? Have you done anything to press the Saudis on these points? Will you if you are re-elected?
You’ve described Pakistan’s leader, Pervez Musharraf, as a friend and ally of America. Last week he told Newsweek’s Lally Weymouth, “all terrorist and militant activity in the world today has been initiated because of the Palestinian problem.” He said, “If you examine how Al Qaeda came into existence, you’ll find the root is the Palestinian struggle.” Do you agree? If not, how can someone with such a different conception of the problem be our friend and ally?
What weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq and what damage could they inflict if they were used on America?
You have permitted a whispering campaign to go out from your administration and intelligence services in respect of Ahmad Chalabi, suggesting he has been disloyal to our side in this war. A judge in Iraq has just cleared him of much ballyhooed charges of wrong doing under Iraqi law. Is not Mr. Chalabi the Iraqi leader who most shares your view of economic liberty and constitutional government? What is your beef with Mr. Chalabi?
Your deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, has said that Iran is a democracy and that it is not American policy to change the regime there. Do you agree with him on these points? Why or why not?
If you were to send a message to the hundreds of thousands of political prisoners trapped in the North Korean gulag, what would you tell them?