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Wolfowitz: 'What Our Friends in the Middle East Want to Hear and Around the World Is Confidence and Strength'

Former Bush admin official criticizes Obama's remarks at UN

September 24, 2013

Former Bush administration official Paul Wolfowitz sharply criticized President Obama's remarks at the United Nations Tuesday on Fox News.

Wolfowitz said Obama's conciliatory tone on Iran's nuclear program undermines U.S. credibility with our allies in the Middle East and could complicate attempts to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear ambitions:

JENNA LEE: What is your reaction from the president today?

PAUL WOLFOWITZ: Too much about humility, not that I'm in favor of arrogance but what the Middle East -- what our friends in the Middle East want to hear and around the world is confidence and strength. What our enemies need to hear is confidence and strength, not saying that we can't impose democracy by force as if that was ever the policy of the predecessor. It's not what we need at the U.N.

The former deputy secretary of defense suggested that diplomacy will only work if dictators like Bashar al-Assad figure they cannot get away without compromising:

JENNA LEE: You've seen different styles of leadership from our presidents over the years. What works in the region?

PAUL WOLFOWITZ: A velvet glove and a nail fist. Diplomacy backed up by real strength, real leverage. Ultimately in most of these situations, a peaceful outcome is a desirable outcome but you merely get there if the killers and mass murders like Assad in Damascus figure they [cannot] get away with not compromising.