As 2016 presidential candidates draft their team of advisers who will prep them for debates and interviews, one is relying on his own expertise to decide how he would drive the country’s foreign policy if elected commander-in-chief.
Jim Webb, a former Virginia senator running to be the Democratic nominee for president, will pull from his years of experience for his campaign, developed while serving as a Navy secretary, assistant secretary of defense and holding a spot on the Senate Armed Services Committee for six years.
“Senator Webb is familiar with many foreign policy and military specialists, but he is his own national security adviser,” a staff member of Webb’s campaign told the Washington Examiner in an email.
Prior to running for office, Webb served as a Marine infantry officer and saw combat in Vietnam. He also worked as a war correspondent, covering conflicts in Beirut in 1983 and Afghanistan in 2004, the campaign staffer said.
Webb said he would act “vigorously” to defeat terrorist organizations that pose a threat to the United States, but would not occupy countries since terrorists do not claim a nation-state. Occupying countries only gives the enemy more targets to attack, he writes on his website.
A RealClearPolitics average of polls between Sept. 17 and Sept. 22 show Webb getting the support of less than 1 percent of voters.
