Pat Buchanan Quotes
Putin could no more survive returning Crimea to Ukraine than Bibi Netanyahu could survive giving East Jerusalem back to Jordan.
Buchanan, Patrick J. "Will the Russophobes Ruin the Trump Presidency?" Creators Syndicate, 17 Feb. 2017.
A major issue amongst Israeli’s is to how they should relate to those hostile Islamic nations in their area who claim they are at war with Israel or the Jewish People. This position in effect says that the oratory of those Islamic groups that claim that they are in a war—a holy war even—should be taken at their word and treated as a wartime enemy and Israel should actively attempt to kill and destroy them.
The Japanese have always been very race conscious seeing themselves as the racial pinnacle of Asian peoples and others as inferior. The peoples of Okinawa were not the racially pure Japanese and MacArthur turned out to be right that protection of Okinawan rights, prerogatives, and dignity was much less important than for ethnic Japanese. It would not be until the last decade of the 20th century that Japanese public opinion was seriously concerned about the Okinawans. Even then, Japan’s independence and dignity as a sovereign nation appeared more important than the rights and dignity of the native Okinawans.
Unlike most other Russian leaders, Lebed, was not opposed to independence for Chechnya and its revolution:
This is a very important historical and political quotation. First, notice that the Secretary of State was criticizing the policies of his President, a refreshingly honest statement, but one which would never be made after the 1950s. The criticism was not even mild but very heavy. A political opponent could not be more negative. Next consider that while the Secretary of State and almost all the experienced diplomats thought the President foolishly wrong and naive about the practicality of self-determination, by the end of the 20th century, virtually every country in the world, capitalist, communist, secular or religious, wealthy or impoverished, all see self-determination is a basic right of all nations. The President was on the right side of history and all the professional diplomats on most nations were on the wrong side. However, Secretary of Lansing was right about one thing. The quest for self-determination has caused a fearful toll of human lives—not thousands as Lansing predicted but millions. He was also right about another aspect—namely that the unit of self-determination can be confusing and contentious. For example, the French Canadians of Quebec want a great deal of self determination and autonomy, but they do not want to give the same right of self-determination to the Mohawk Indians in Quebec who want to govern themselves. There is a continuous dispute in Turkey where the Kurds claim the right of self-determination within Turkey. Turkey has literally dozens of minority groups. Does self-determination mean that each can have its own nation within what is Turkey. And what about the Native Americans in the United States? Nonetheless, Wilson’s general principle is approved by all while the details are often contentious.
Patrick Joseph Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1992 and 1996. He ran on the Reform Party ticket in the 2000 presidential election.
