Regime Change Isn’t a Dirty Word, a Meeting with Machado & the Soldiers Who Changed a Hemisphere Week In Review

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Verdict with Ted Cruz 29 min 2 speakers 8 chapters transcribed
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Ted Cruz 0:00
This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.
Ben Ferguson 0:05
Welcome to this Verdict with Ted Cruz weekend review. Ben Ferguson with you. And here are the big stories that we talked about this week that you may have missed. First up, regime change. There's a real possibility of it in multiple countries around the world. So what role should America play? We explain that in a moment. Also, Senator Cruz had an incredible meeting with the opposition leader of Venezuela, Machado. She talked about what the future looks like for that country, and Senator Cruz brings you into the room. And finally, an incredible day in San Antonio, as Senator Cruz met with the heroes of the Maduro arrest mission.

What is the moral justification for regime change?

Ben Ferguson 0:41
What do they have to say, and how are they doing? It's the Week in Review, and it starts right now.
Ted Cruz 0:47
And so you're either a neocon warmonger or you're an isolationist like Tucker and his followers. And I actually think most Americans don't fall into either category. Most Americans, I think, agree with President Donald Trump and agreed with President Ronald Reagan. Neither one of them agree. were, to use the insult of the day, neocon warmongers. You know, in eight years, the biggest country Reagan ever invaded? Grenada. Yeah, he was not interested in invading foreign countries and sending our soldiers to die abroad. But he understood peace through strength. He rebuilt our military. He developed SDI strategic defense initiative. It was called Star Wars laser missile defense from space. And he bankrupted the Soviet Union and won the Cold War without firing a shot.
Ted Cruz 1:39
Donald Trump, likewise, has had incredible foreign policy victories, but he's not sending our soldiers to be boots on the ground and to die for years on end. And I want to take a related term that on social media gets thrown around as an epithet. which is regime change. And you'll have people, I'm not for regime change. Well, let me be clear. Should you be for regime change when the Soviet Union fell and the Berlin Wall fell to the ground? I will submit the answer is unambiguously yes. The world is better off when a cruel, tyrannical communist regime falls. should you be for regime change today in communist China? I think unambiguously, yes. The world would be better off if China were no longer a communist country.
Ted Cruz 2:26
Should you be for regime change in Iran? I would suggest unambiguously, yes. The world would be a better place if Iran was not governed by a theocratic, murderous, religious zealot who has killed hundreds, if not thousands of Americans. Now, What is the consequence of saying you're for regime change? If it is that you're going to send hundreds of thousands of American troops to invade the country and be on the ground for years on end and die in IEDs and be killed, then I don't support that. That is wrong. And part of the reason regime change has become an insult. is people hear it and they immediately think the Iraq war. Remember, I've opposed the Iraq war for decades. By the way, when Tucker Carlson was an interventionist cheerleader with pom-poms cheering on the Iraq war, which he did for years with his bow tie,
Ted Cruz 3:23
I've said for years the Iraq war was clearly a mistake. Why? Because it did not advance U.S. national security interests. Saddam Hussein was a cruel and oppressive dictator. He was killing terrorists who hated America. We came in. We toppled Saddam Hussein. And the terrorists who hated America took over and began killing Americans. By the way, we did the same thing in Libya with Qaddafi. Qaddafi was cruel and oppressive, but he was killing terrorists who hate Americans.

How did Reagan's approach influence modern foreign policy?

Ted Cruz 3:49
We toppled Qaddafi and the terrorists who hate Americans took over. I believe we should be America first, which means we should put America's national security interests first. But just because... You don't want to commit boots on the ground and have hundreds or thousands of Americans die in protracted ground combat does not mean that you should support every tyrannical enemy of America. We should want regime change in Iran. And are there ways to promote regime change other than boots on the ground?

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