Nebraska Senate Candidate Says Sasse’s ‘Naive Aggression’ Could Lead to War

In remarks prepared for a worldwide radio audience later this week, U.S. Senate hopeful Dan Buhrdorf of Lincoln criticized Ben Sasse’s “naïve aggression” and warned that his Republican rival’s blustering policies of confrontation and brinkmanship would put the United States on a permanent and precarious war footing.

“Ben Sasse,” said the soft-spoken Buhrdorf, “is pushing a policy of incalculable folly.”

Buhrdorf, a longtime antiwar activist who is running for the U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate after narrowly failing to qualify for the ballot on the nascent Tax Wall Street Party ticket, issued the following statement earlier this afternoon:

As President Obama prepares a statement on foreign policy for this Wednesday, September 10, 2014, we in Nebraska are looking forward to another Senate debate this weekend. These two public moments should be seen as opportunities for all of us to look clearly at the dangers that face our state and our country.

War danger – especially the real threat of nuclear war – continues to be a threat to America as it has for decades. But there is in fact more danger now because of Ukraine, one of the few places in the world where two nuclear-armed forces can clash directly within a few hours. In addition, ISIS religious extremists – backed by Saudi, Qatar, and other gulf monarchies in the Middle East – plague the world. Both of these dangers demand a person of good judgment with a steady hand in the U.S. Senate.

I am especially critical of Ben Sasse and the naive aggression he has displayed toward Russia. His campaign website promises “overwhelming force to decimate our enemies.” Clearly in Mr. Sasse’s worldview this includes Russia. Mr. Sasse wants to deploy anti-ballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic, and has even suggested anti-Russian missiles in Ukraine. These ideas would undermine the important peace treaties negotiated by President Reagan and ex-Soviet President Gorbachev to eliminate the entire class of short-range nuclear weapons from the world. Americans must reject Mr. Sasse’s blusters as military provocations. Mr. Sasse has learned nothing from the continual failures of Republican and Democrat chicken-hawk neoconservatives. One wonders what Mr. Sasse’s goal is when the results would be dead American soldiers and even domestic casualties of nuclear war for the sake of hotheaded eastern European leaders – including those ruling in Kiev – who have an axe to grind with Russia.

The first Cold War ended a quarter century ago and many Americans have forgotten what it was like to live under the threat of nuclear terror. Russia remains a superpower, and Ben Sasse’s return to the policies of confrontation and brinksmanship would mean risking literally everything. Ben Sasse is pushing a policy of incalculable folly. There is nothing in all of Ukraine that is worth the loss of a single Nebraska town or farm. We have no treaty with Ukraine, nor should we. We have no interest there. This conflict should be settled by the regional powers.

Whether Mr. Sasse realizes it or not, Russia has very real nuclear weapons and has not been threatening to the American people. Mr. Sasse should know better than to advocate for a policy that could lead to thermonuclear war. In the world today, any nation-state is better than the alternative. We must generally work with established, existing governments rather than back armed fanatics as Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Ben Sasse seem to prefer.

Like we see in Libya, Syria, and Iraq, chaos, societal breakdown, cannibalism, and enormous terrorist armies are the results of global chess games taken up by shortsighted presidential administrations and their congressional cronies. Mr. Sasse’s bravado promises more of this kind of failed policy and wrong thinking.

Nebraskans want a rational foreign policy that candidates like Mr. Sasse can’t grasp. These kinds of candidates want us on a permanent war footing while they create killer budget cuts to the social safety net to pay for their wars.

Nebraskans don’t want to risk the worst when we can have the best. Nebraskans want good jobs and plenty of them, good homes, quality education, a world-class infrastructure, and the support needed to raise strong and healthy children. They don’t want the endless wars, budget cuts, bailouts, free trade, and economic misery that keep Wall Street in control of our economy. From Vietnam to today, futile foreign wars have always sounded the death knell for meaningful domestic reforms and greater economic fairness.

The pervasive influence of Wall Street financed candidates like Ben Sasse means that Nebraskans and Americans don’t get the support they need for educational funding, infrastructure projects, or strengthening the social safety net. The alternative is to shift the tax burden away from hardworking taxpayers and onto Wall Street. At the same time we must shift from the permanent war footing forced on the U.S. by that same Wall Street and into a realistic foreign policy that builds relationships with reasonable governments. We need to stop funding color revolutions and tackle the immense challenges here at home.

We have the chance to make that shift in this election cycle. My program deserves your attention and support as we historically challenge Washington to move away from Wall Street interest and back to the common interest. We need representatives that emulate the goals of the people. Please join our fight for a better Nebraska and America.