John F. Kennedy Quotes
Now let me make it clear that I believe there can only be one defense policy for the United States and that is summed up in the word 'first.' I do not mean first, but. I do not mean first, when. I do not mean first, if. I mean first - period.
Kennedy, John F. "Address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention, Detroit, Michigan." 26 Aug. 1960. The Speeches of Senator John F. Kennedy, Presidential Campaign of 1960, United States Government Printing Office, 1961, p. 55.
This quotation has significance for two reasons. First, Lodge was one of the leaders of the conservative isolationist wing of the Republican Party which generally only wanted to provide the military with weapons to defend the mainland. However, the technology of the airplane caused much rethinking. Americans had seen what German bombing had done to Spanish cities and Italian air power in Ethiopia. This followed by Germany bombing city after city throughout Europe. There were huge calls for antiaircraft guns to be placed around all American cities so that Americans might be defended from air attack. However, Lodge supported another strategy that was a first for America: retaliation. From this point forward, America would rely primarily on retaliation rather than massive defense until President Ronald Reagan proposed his ill-fated Star Wars defense scheme. The second significant factor is that the senator suggested preemption—the attack on a military air base is that threatens us. This appears to be another first.
He was a strong believer in surprise attack and preemption.
This statement told the world that the United States might preemptively attack Iraq because the Iraqis were developing nuclear weapons. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq and there it turned out that was no nuclear program of any type in Iraq. There has been a debate ever since as to whether Bush and his key advisors lied knowingly to justify a war they wanted, wanted the war and pressured the intelligence agencies to warn of a clear nuclear development program, or were duped by incompetent intelligence agencies. While American troops were bogged down in Iraq, North Korea tested a nuclear weapon and Iran announced an enrichment program for weapons grade.
Russia is not the only nation who believed this. There were and are some politicians and military officers in almost every country who believe this. However, for the last few centuries, this has rarely been the view held by the majority of the politicians and military in most nations. And even fewer where the leadership accepted this posiitin. Russia, was one of those counties that did hold this few and kade it policy was in the 2nd decade of 2016,
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the U.S. Congress prior to becoming president.
