Sunday, October 18, 2009
Ron Paul: What if the People Wake Up?
Madame Speaker,
I have a few questions for my colleagues.
What if we wake up one day and realize that the terrorist threat is a predictable consequence of our meddling in the affairs of others?
What if propping up repressive regimes in the Middle East endangers both the United States and Israel?
What if occupying countries like Iraq and Afghanistan - and bombing Pakistan - is directly related to the hatred directed toward us and has nothing to do with being free and prosperous?
What if someday it dawns on us that losing over 5,000 American military personnel in the Middle East since 9/11 is not a fair trade-off for the loss of nearly 3,000 American citizens, no matter how many Iraqi, Pakistani, and Afghan people are killed or displaced?
What if we finally decide that torture, even if called enhanced interrogation techniques, is self-destructive and produces no useful information - and that contracting it out to a third world nation is just as evil?
What if it is finally realized that war and military spending is always destructive to the economy?
What if all wartime spending is paid for through the deceitful and evil process of inflating and borrowing?
What if we finally see that wartime conditions always undermine personal liberty?
What if conservatives, who preach small government, wake up and realize that our interventionist foreign policy provides the greatest incentive to expand the government?
What if conservatives understood once again that their only logical position is to reject military intervention and managing an empire throughout the world?
What if the American people woke up and understood that the official reasons for going to war are almost always based on lies and promoted by war propaganda in order to serve special interests?
What if we as a nation came to realize that the quest for empire eventually destroys all great nations?
What if Obama has no intention of leaving Iraq?
What if a military draft is being planned for the wars that will spread if our foreign policy is not changed?
What if the American people learn the truth: that our foreign policy has nothing to do with national security and that it never changes from one administration to the next?
What if war and preparation for war is a racket serving the special interests?
What if President Obama is completely wrong about Afghanistan and it turns out worse than Iraq and Vietnam put together?
What if Christianity actually teaches peace and not preventive wars of aggression?
What if diplomacy is found to be superior to bombs and bribes in protecting America?
What happens if my concerns are completely unfounded - nothing!
What happens if my concerns are justified and ignored - nothing good!
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I love Ron Paul's domestic policies, but I could never vote for him as president. As a representative...I wish we had more just like him. I will be voting and campaigning for his son who is up for senate. I hope they can be a positive influence on our domestic policies.
ReplyDeleteI understand his foreign position. But we are not fighting a country, where we could just declare war. No "country" bombed us. To ignore the evil coalitions that did, would not help. They may may scream and yell that they are against us because of our actions, but the truth is, it IS a part of their extreme belief system. They hated us long before we took action in the middle east.
I would never dream of allowing UN troops on our land. If our congress and president signed a treaty to Global Government, and the UN came to put down resistance, we would fight back. We would likely retaliate also.
Yet, I have to ask myself, what if instead a dictator, (or extremist group,) came to power in the US, and was killing our citizens? What if we were helpless against him? What if some of our citizens went to the leaders of free countries and begged for help? What if they ignored our cries for intervention? Instead of helping us in a revolution against the dictator or group, they just gave verbal rebukes and wimpy threats of trade embargoes? What if the verbal support was enough to make our oppressors retaliate against the other countries, even though they did not actually help us? What if after that retaliation, they finally stepped in?
Would we be cheering in the street? Would we allow them to help us root out the old regime and stay until we become strong enough to stand on our own? Would that be a bad thing?
What if America had rolled over and done nothing when attacked on 9/11?
What if we just let the terrorist grow stronger in Afghanistan?
What if Hussein was still in power in Iraq? What if he was still killing his own citizens? What if the Iraqis who begged Bush to free their people, telling him that their country would be grateful,had been told, "Just go away, it will never happen"???
Would the Iranians had felt the courage to protest this year? Has the scene of freedom, so close to their own borders, given them hope and dreams of a true democracy in their own land? Have we made a difference?
Don't get me wrong. I hate that we have lost men. I am not sure we are doing any good in Afghanistan. But... Condi Rice and others have said if we pull out, America will lose our edge and the terrorist will be strong enough to attack us here at home. I trust her. I would rather fight them there, than here.
I wish we could bring all our men home safe. I wish didn't need to spend the money either. But I am not sure we would like the results to Ron Paul's alternatives.
When the Constitution was written, our enemies were weeks away by "sailing" ships. We need overseas bases and allies now. Our enemies are just a push of button away.
Robin Marie in KY
What if libertarians would prefer to win elections rather than winning petty arguments?? They are long on rhetoric and short on action and that is why few people take them seriously. If they would just stop trying to score debating points with each other they could become a political force to be reckoned with! However, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting fot that to happen!!!!
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