Wesley Clark

The most important lesson of the terrible attacks of September 11, 2001 is that we cannot take our security at home for granted. We must pursue offensive and defensive strategies to protect our nation. As President, I will ensure that we succeed in Iraq, that we focus our intelligence, diplomatic, financial, law enforcement and military resources on defeating al Qaeda, that we restore respect and support for America, and that we re-orient our foreign policy to meet the challenges of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, international crime, and environment threats. Taken together, all of these steps will make America more secure.

2. Have federal courts gone too far in requiring the removal of religious symbols or language from schools and other public places?

Religion plays an important role in my life and has an important role to play in our culture. We are a very religious and very diverse nation. We have strong faith, and we rely on that faith to guide our decision making. That is the role that religion should play. I strongly believe, as our founding fathers understood, that in order for a diverse people with strongly held individual beliefs to form a strong democracy government must be separate from religion -- both to protect religious faith and diversity of faith. I don’t think that federal courts that have upheld this separation, a matter of settled constitutional law, have gone too far.