‘Peace Through Strength’: Kevin McCarthy on Foreign Policy

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy officially announced his campaign to replace John Boehner (R-OH) as Speaker on Monday and laid out his foreign policy vision for the United States: a stronger, tougher America.

“When it comes to tyrants, dictators and terrorists, strength and the threat of force is the only language they understand,” California’s McCarthy, who currently serves as House Majority Leader, reportedly said speaking to a group of Republican foreign policy heavyweight known collectively as the John Hay Initiative. “Peace comes through strength, not through retreat,” he added, according to the Washington Post.

McCarthy criticized President Barack Obama for his “failed” efforts to roll back Russian President Vladimir Putin’s campaigns in Ukraine, and called for more aid to be sent to Ukrainians to fight off Russian-backed separatists.

“Sadly, all too often, America makes bold claims followed by weak response or no response at all. As a result our enemies get stronger and America gets weaker,” he reportedly said.

Speaking on the topic of Iran, he referred to the now-historic deal as “unconscionable,” pointing out that the Iranian regime will use the money it receives from unfrozen assets and renewed business relations with the world to continue funding its terrorist proxies. Those proxies include them Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Iran deal “does nothing to restrain Iranian-backed terror. To the contrary, it enhances it,” McCarthy said.

Drawing attention to the American captives detained in Iran, as well as to Russia’s secret operations abroad, McCarthy reportedly said history is repeating itself. “If I look at the history of where we are, it seems a lot like 1979.”

The Post noted that McCarthy also called for boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria to help defeat the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) adding that “we can’t be afraid to call the enemy what it is: Radical, Islamic terrorism… Politically correct speech will not defeat the enemy.”

In the 1980s, McCarthy said, America’s hostages were freed and the Berlin Wall came crashing down as a result of “America’s leadership and American resolve.” He emphasized the critical importance of being both “feared” as well as “respected” on the world stage in the future.

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