Don Dokken and Geoff Tate Join the Foreign Policy Debate
Have you been wondering what Don Dokken and Geoff Tate have to say about global terrorism and the Syrian refugee crisis? Good news: They're more than willing to share their thoughts.
Dokken offered his positions during a recent appearance on The Classic Metal Show, suggesting that the waves of refugees fleeing the oppression of fundamentalist religious extremism in the Middle East are actually members of terrorist cells in disguise. "Do I believe that an entire country is trying to run away from terrorism? No," argued Dokken. "What I believe, and I thought this a month ago, is it's a great vehicle for ISIS to come across the borders and their insane, sick mentality."
As he went on to explain, Dokken is particularly disturbed by the situation in Germany, where he claimed citizens were being displaced from their homes in order to make room for refugees. "I was in Germany, and I was shocked to see thousands and thousands of Syrians at the train stations, and I was, like, 'Holy s---, man! They could just come on this train and throw a hand grenade and I'm outta here,'" he claimed. "So, yes, I was concerned. And I'm not a racist, but if I had my way and I ran a country, I'd shut the borders down."
While Dokken voiced a point of view roughly in line with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's recent policy proposal, Tate offered a solution that has more in common with '80s Chuck Norris movies: namely, using military might to somehow eradicate an entire ideology.
Tate weighed in on the subject during an interview with Pavilion 666, suggesting that terrorists "should be eliminated from our human race" and worrying about the way acts of violence like the recent Paris attacks affect people's ability to go out and get together to have a good time.
"That's one of the highlights of being a human being — to gather in public places and have fun and witness an event, witness a musical show or a presentation or a sporting event, and have the freedom to feel comfortable there," said Tate. "And groups like ISIS are trying to take that away from the rest of us. And it's a horrible thing. And it shouldn't be put up with. The West, I think, should put an end to that kind of thinking."
Stopping short of offering any concrete ideas as to exactly how the West might go about doing this, Tate continued, "I'm fine with people having their own belief system, as long as they don't hurt other people in inflicting their belief system on other people. So, if that's what they do, then I think they should be eliminated. They're not adding to the human experience at all. They're not doing anything constructive. They'e just causing fear, you know."
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