{"id":65390,"date":"2018-12-10T17:05:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T15:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=65390"},"modified":"2018-12-05T10:45:27","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T08:45:27","slug":"28-05-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=65390","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Will Never Be Afraid to Criticize a Democratic or Republican President\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>\u2018I Will Never Be Afraid to Criticize a Democratic or Republican President\u2019: New York Jewish Military Vet Max Rose Heads to Congress
\n<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Ben Cohen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Newly-elected NY Congressman Max Rose following his 2018 midterms victory. Photo: Reuters.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

At a time when politics in the US is dominated by fierce partisanship and ideological dogma, there is a reassuring nuance about newly-elected New York Democratic Congressman Max Rose\u2019s views on how America should change from within, while\u00a0maintaining its pivotal\u00a0role in world affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI will never be afraid to criticize a Democratic\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0a Republican president,\u201d the 32-year-old military veteran told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0during an extensive conversation on Tuesday. \u201cBut when a president is successful in pursuing goals and policies that\u00a0benefit the American people, I will applaud that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose\u2019s career path to the US Congress began with university degrees from Wesleyan and the London School of Economics, followed by five years of active duty in the US Army\u2019s 1st Armored Division. A platoon commander in Afghanistan in 2012-13, Rose was wounded in Kandahar province after his vehicle struck an IED by the roadside. He went on to receive a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his Afghan service.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given his academic studies in history and philosophy, and his stint as an intern for New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker when Booker was mayor of Newark, it was perhaps inevitable that Rose would succumb to the temptation of\u00a0returning to politics. In the 2018 midterms, Rose was one of nearly 40 Democrats who took seats in the House of Representatives away from the GOP \u2014 in his case, winning a comfortable victory by a margin of six points over his rival, incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan, in New York\u2019s 11th congressional district, which encompasses Staten Island and most of southern Brooklyn.<\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0descendant of Russian Jewish immigrants who was raised in a traditional Jewish home in Brooklyn, Rose emphasized the need for a determined response to rising antisemitism, at a time when hostility toward Jews has become both a national and a global headline.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to come to terms with the fact that there has always been antisemitism, not just in America but throughout the world,\u201d Rose said. \u201cThere are times when it rears its roaring head with more frequency and more severity than in others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At present, he remarked, \u201cevery statistic out there for hate crimes, for hateful speech, for horrible incidents, shows that antisemitism is on the rise \u2014 that\u2019s not an opinion, that\u2019s a statement of fact.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Less than a month after the massacre of 11 Jews by a neo-Nazi gunman at Pittsburgh\u2019s Tree of Life Synagogue, Rose reflected that the sources of antisemitism in this country were \u201cmulti-varied,\u201d all of them amplified by social media platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I do know is that we need to take every measure possible to not only counter these hateful acts of antisemitism, but also do our best to prevent them,\u201d Rose said. \u201cWith strong language, strong policies, and also with educational programs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The slaughter in Pittsburgh had further\u00a0cemented his views on the need for gun law reform as well, Rose noted. \u201cAn AR-15\u201d \u2014 the assault rifle used by Pittsburgh shooter Robert Bowers \u2014 \u201cshould certainly never be sold in this country again,\u201d Rose said. More widely, gun reform advocates will be heartened that army veteran Rose also supports\u00a0\u201cuniversal background checks, so that no one in this country with a mental health issue or a criminal background can ever again buy a weapon \u2014 second-hand sales, gun fairs, internet sales, it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d He would, he continued, \u201cbe a real advocate for this issue in the halls of Congress.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On key foreign policy issues, Rose can also be expected to speak his mind. In general, world affairs is a subject he clearly warms to, and he ran\u00a0on a platform that emphasized, among other measures, stalwart support for Israel, the strengthening of human rights globally, and the explicit recognition of Russia as a hostile foreign power. Was there a \u201cMax Rose\u201d philosophy of foreign policy that he championed?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018Max Rose doctrine,\u2019 is that what you\u2019re looking for?\u201d Rose laughed. \u201cLook, as a freshman member of Congress, I have no delusions of grandeur, ok? But what I can tell you is that any statement on how one views America\u2019s role in the world has to begin almost with a negative; what is your philosophy\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0centered on?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose is manifestly\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0an isolationist. \u201cI believe that American engagement has, for the most part, been a good thing,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t believe that American engagement can accomplish anything it wants. We have to be realistic.\u201d The 2003 invasion of Iraq, he said, was \u201cthe greatest foreign policy blunder in modern American history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose continued: \u201cSo now we find ourselves in the middle ground, right? What is key here is to provide some substance to the position that says, \u2018I\u2019m for engagement.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In crafting that answer, Rose cited the maxim of Ben Rhodes, a senior aide to former President Barack Obama, that the US shouldn\u2019t do \u201cstupid sh_t\u201d in its foreign policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not what I\u2019m saying either,\u201d Rose clarified. \u201cMy point is that in order to confront 21st century threats, as well as ensure that the 21st century is an era of greater global stability, harmony and economic growth, we need to engage the world in an integrated, holistic way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Said Rose: \u201cAs the first post-9\/11 combat veteran to hold public office in New York, I can say that we grew up in the counter-insurgency era.\u201d The response to that challenge involved not just the armed forces of the US, but its intelligence services, its diplomats and its economic development agencies, he observed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no threat or challenge or opportunity in the global sphere that can\u2019t\u00a0be tackled with that same approach,\u201d Rose argued. \u201cGone are the days when we say, \u2018That\u2019s the State Department\u2019s problem,\u2019 or \u2018That\u2019s the military\u2019s problem,\u2019 or \u2018That\u2019s USAID\u2019s issue.\u2019 From global warming to ISIS, everything requires an interconnected effort, and we need to address that from our budgeting process all the way to execution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How would the model advocated by Rose work in the case of Iran? \u201cThe approach first of all has to be a long-term one,\u201d he responded. An opponent of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that was negotiated by the Obama administration, Rose explained that a large part of his objection lay in \u201cthe fact that it was a 10-year deal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to understand that there\u2019s a global Cold War going on, not only in the Middle East, and it has worldwide ramifications,\u201d Rose said. \u201cAnything with a 10-year horizon is not enough. To put it into perspective, 9\/11 was 17 years ago, and it still feels like yesterday in the minds of many Americans and New Yorkers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran had to be faced with the reality of \u201csecurity consequences if it develops a nuclear weapon, but also that there are significant economic incentives for it not doing so,\u201d Rose commented.\u00a0\u201cThe other thing we need to do is to stop putting Iran\u2019s nuclear weapons program in a silo. The issue with Iran is not just its development of nuclear weapons, but its support for terrorism and insurgencies throughout the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rose said that he had friends in the military who faced death in Iraq \u201cbecause of what Iran was doing there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot forget that,\u201d Rose said. \u201cWe cannot deal with Iran as just a potential nuclear adversary, we have got to look at the entire picture.\u201d The US should also remember that \u201cdeals can be broken.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut am I optimistic for the future? Of course I am,\u201d Rose continued. \u201cIran will not pursue a long-term nuclear weapon if we act correctly, and Iran will cease its destabilizing efforts, like funding Hezbollah in Lebanon.\u201d To be sure of that outcome, however,\u00a0required much more than fervent confidence\u00a0in the policy at hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrust and verify \u2014 that\u2019s how I will always proceed when it comes to America\u2019s national security,\u201d Rose said, as we concluded our discussion. \u201cNever blind faith.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018I Will Never Be Afraid to Criticize a Democratic or Republican President\u2019: New York Jewish Military Vet Max Rose Heads to Congress Ben Cohen Newly-elected NY Congressman Max Rose following his 2018 midterms victory. Photo: Reuters. At a time when politics in the US is dominated by fierce partisanship and ideological dogma, there is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65390"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65418,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65390\/revisions\/65418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}