Senator Marshall: Americans Are Done with Forever Wars

Senator Marshall Joins The Source With Kaitlan Collins on CNN

Washington - U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined CNN's The Source With Kaitlan Collins to discuss President Trump's memorandum of understanding with Iran, how it makes Americans safer, and how the President is avoiding forever wars.

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On the memorandum of understanding signed with Iran:

"No, this is a great day for America. Look, Americans are done with forever wars. Americans deserve affordable gas and groceries, and this agreement accomplishes just that. Beyond that, and more importantly, Americans are safer today than they were before. This regime has never signed a document that said that they would not have any nuclear weapons in the past - that was our goal out of all this. This regime is responsible for the deaths of over 1,000 Americans, they cause the rest of the world to live in fear, so in so many ways, the world is safer, Americans are safer. The Strait is open again, and gas prices are plummeting - so we think it is a great day here in America."

On whether Iran can be trusted to keep their word:

"Well, of course, remember Iran never signed that document, right? So, they never signed that document. This is the first time they've signed a document; they're inviting the atomic energy folks to come in and participate in getting rid of their current nuclear program - the nuclear dust as well. I think this is a trust-but-verify program that we've offered them. And so, I think that we're not going to release all this money that's been sanctioned until they pass these certain events, and we've given them a timeline as well. Again, this is just a memorandum of understanding - there's more work to do, but if they don't get it done in 60 days, they may become glass. So, I think that's the alternative here. At the end of the day, the goal is American safety."

"Look, I would never speak for the president - I think you have to leave all options on the table, especially the timing of it. But I think it would be a two-week event, and we could really bomb them back to the dark ages just in two weeks. I think that we have to do one or the other: we have to rip the band-aid off and just bomb them until there's no tomorrow, or else get this agreement done. We want Americans to be safe for centuries to come, not just this week - we need a long-term solution. This agreement offers a long-term solution, and at the same time, it's bringing down the cost of gas and groceries back home. And again, I just got to keep coming back to this: as I listen to all your other guests it sounds like they want forever wars. And I don't know what other alternatives we had except to keep turning the other cheek, letting them kill more Americans in the future, or else turning this into another forever war. And President Trump doesn't want that, Americans don't want it, and I don't want it."

On Iran having missiles:

"You know, I'm hesitating - I'd prefer that they not. I certainly don't want them to have long-distance missiles; I don't want them to have nuclear-armed missiles. I would prefer they didn't, but I don't think that's the key issue here. I think they have to be able to defend themselves. I just kind of come back to the big picture here, which is that the Middle East countries like this agreement."

"I do. I think they have to be able to defend themselves, otherwise we turn this into a forever war. You're never going to get them - short of boots on the ground - surrendering everything in an unconditional agreement if you will. But again, what I'm getting at here is that this agreement has the support of most of the countries in the Middle East, and I think that's going to give it a more of a long-lasting relationship, a long-lasting success as well."

On achieving the objectives of the war:

"Well, listen, I think we went in there with a very clear purpose: we wanted to destroy their missile systems, their navy, their military, decrease their ability to fund other foreign terrorists, and, of course, be able to eliminate their ability to have nuclear weapons in the future. I want to argue that we're 85% there on the missile systems, we're 100% there on the navy, and certainly we just destroyed their economy. Look at their economy - no one is talking about that. We have destroyed their economy in so many ways, they have 70% inflation, the average GDP per capita income right now in Iran is the equivalent of somebody in Haiti, which is the poorest country in this hemisphere. So, we have destroyed them militarily, economically, we've negotiated this from a position of strength. And that's one more reason why it's such a solid document."

On whether American's will be safer under this agreement:

"I think under this agreement they will be. Look, you're comparing a different set of time, what was going on in 2021 compared to today. It's a completely different day; we are now negotiating from a point of power. Look, this is a two-way agreement - you can't have everything you want, and all the president is doing is letting them start to get back on their feet. I really think this probably only means about $30 billion. They're still already selling about $30 billion a year in oil, this will probably bring it up to $60 billion, their whole economy is maybe $400-500 billion. So, I think you have to let them help themselves a little bit here as well. But everything beyond this is a trust-but-verify situation. So, let's give them a chance. Even if it's just for 60 days, let's give them a chance to start bringing their economy back together, rather than Americans dumping money. Which is what Barack Obama - he sent them $1.7 billion of hard-earned American cash up front as well. So, this is just letting them earn their own money, their own way, that seems fair to me."

On lifting sanctions and unfreezing Iranian assets:

"Again, this is the trust-but-verify portion of this: as long as they meet all the other conditions of it, we can keep doing that, but then we can slap them back on. Again, I go back to what President Obama did: he lifted these oil sanctions under his agreement, and no one criticized him for doing that. And then Joe Biden basically just turned his head and ignored that they were even in existence. So, I think that we have to give them some slack, but this president has proved over and over again that he can snap these sanctions back. Here's a 60-day trial - a memorandum of understanding - with 60 days to get through this."

"You know, absolutely. I think, again, we had to get them to sign the document. So, we gave that up in response for them giving up their nukes. So, would I give them $30 billion of their own money back for them to agree to never build a nuclear weapon? Of course - I'll take that deal every time. And President Trump leveraged that perfectly, the timing was perfect, and we'll see what happens in 60 days. I understand there's a lot more to be written out, I don't know what the final document is going to look like, but at the end of the day, the shooting has stopped, gas prices and grocery prices are starting to come down as well. And again, this is a 110-day war - I wish it had only been two days - but it's certainly not a forever war and Americans are glad to see us go on to the next page here."

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