2. Ron Paul speaks the truth

(Originally distributed via e-mail on May 22, 2007)

"It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry."
- Thomas Paine

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act."
- George Orwell

"Patriotism lies not in blind obedience to authority, but in the desire to search for the truth."
- Ramman Kenoun

Letter to the Editor of Antiwar.com by Michael Scheuer
Former chief of the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit, Mr. Scheuer is author of Imperial Hubris and Through Our Enemies' Eyes.

"Of the eighteen presidential candidates now in the field from both parties, only Mr. Paul has had the courage to square with the average American voter."

"These holy cows of U.S. politics have long been off limits to debate, but Mr. Paul has now accurately identified them as the source of motivation for our Islamist enemies ..."

"The war we are engaged in with the Islamists is a long way from over, but it need end in America’s defeat only if Mr. Paul’s frank statements are ignored."

Ron Paul Said It by Llewellyn Rockwell
Mr. Rockwell is the founder and president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama.

"Plenty of reasonable people can disagree about foreign policy. What's really strange is when one reasonable position is completely and forcibly excluded from the public debate. Such was the case after 9-11. Every close observer of the events of those days knows full well that these crimes were acts of revenge for US policy in the Muslim world. The CIA and the 911 Commission said as much, the terrorists themselves proclaimed it, and Osama underscored the point by naming three issues in particular: US troops in Saudi Arabia, US sanctions against Iraq, and US funding of Israeli expansionism.

So far as I know, Ron Paul is the only prominent public figure in the six years since who has given an honest telling of this truth."

Ron Paul Rocks! by Karen Kwiatkowski, Ph.D.

A retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Kwiatkowski is reknowned for her courage in exposing the corrupt military-intelligence campaign prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"Seeing Ron Paul educate Wolf Blitzer earlier this week, after his astoundingly fantastic performance in the second Republican debate, makes me sorry I had lost my faith in the power of truth, the power of courage. I’m sorry that I didn’t believe in the possibility that a serious person in the American political arena would commit that most radical act of speaking truth to power."

"Ron Paul is speaking truth to the whole world, with patience and patriotism flowing in equally generous portions."

"But far more than that, I am pleased to be humbled by each new day of the Ron Paul campaign – to witness the raw power of ideas and debate – after such a long hiatus of ideas and debate from the American political game."

For Those Interested in Facts: They Hate Our Foreign Policy by Scott Horton

Mr. Horton is the host of Antiwar Radio.

"This is Giuliani's shining 'Reagan debate moment'? When he is completely wrong and the statement he's denouncing and the man making it are 100% right?"

"So you see, foreign occupation – American foreign policy – is a 'major contributing factor' in creating terrorism today, just as it was in the years before September 11th."

Giuliani's Attack on Ron Paul Falls Flat by Jacob Hornberger, B.A., J.D.
Mr. Hornberger is the founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation.

"As Ron Paul emphasized in last night’s debate, imagine if some foreign power — such as China — had done these types of things to the United States. Wouldn’t Americans experience anger and rage?"

"What Ron Paul’s participation in the 2008 presidential race is accomplishing is this: It is making people such as Rudy Giuliani think about things they’ve never thought about before and causing them to view the U.S. government and its long-time paradigm of empire and interventionism in an entirely different way. It’s also why he is engendering considerable discomfort among people who have long believed that the federal government is a deity whose foreign policies are beyond reproach."

On the Lighter Side (cartoon clip from 'The Family Guy')

1. Support Ron Paul

(Originally distributed via e-mail on May 18, 2007)

"Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because
it comprises and develops the germ of every other."
– James Madison in 1795

" I have heard all the arguments on why we must immediately invade and occupy Iraq
and have observed that there are only a few hardy souls left in the Congress who
are trying to stop this needless, senseless, and dangerous war."
– Dr. Ron Paul in the House of Representatives, September 18 2002

Everyone,

In Tuesday night's Republican debate, Congressman Ron Paul was predictably alone in making the point that Washington's interventionist foreign policy has long induced widespread antipathy for the US abroad. He urged Americans to make an honest effort to understand the causal link between provocative US policies and the anger that prompts some terrorists to commit such horrific acts as the 9/11 attacks. By ignoring these connections and persisting with such policies, the US government needlessly imperils the American people in the future.

In a remarkable display of either willful ignorance or blatant demagoguery, Rudy Giuliani responded indignantly to Ron Paul's factual observation that US policies motivated the 9/11 hijackers, and he demanded that Dr. Paul retract his statements. To his everlasting credit, Dr. Paul did not.

Mr. Giuliani and other self-appointed thought police would do well to bear the following points in mind:

1. To state that Islamic terrorists are motivated by both ideology and US interventionism is not a faulty or illogical position. On the contrary, there's abundant evidence for both as motivating factors, and the influence of these factors varies between individual terrorists. Al Qaeda is no exception, and their pre-9/11 statements plainly outlined their grievances with American foreign policy. Since 9/11, countless books, documentaries, and analyses (including the government's own 9/11 Commission Report) have detailed this history. While some media outlets have shamelessly portrayed Ron Paul's comments as somehow scandalous, the real scandal is that the other candidates uniformly ignore the role of US policies.
   
   
2. There is no contradiction between an honest attempt to understand the motivating factors for terrorism and a condemnation of terrorist tactics. But in the lexicon of Giuliani and his fellow travelers, the former constitutes "blaming America" for 9/11. As Tom Woods recently wrote, "I guess detectives should bear that in mind the next time they seek the motive behind a murder. 'You’re looking for motive? Are you saying the dead man had it coming?'"
   

For the record, Dr. Paul has always supported focused efforts to pursue Al Qaeda operatives and bring them to justice, and he's one of the few members of Congress who have opposed US alliances with Islamic fundamentalists throughout his career.

The American people should know what the US government does abroad in our name, and Ron Paul is the only candidate who gives us the unvarnished truth. With respect to the motives of the 9/11 hijackers, Dr. Paul cited the US bombings of Iraq prior to 2001 in Tuesday's debate. However, Dr. Paul could also have mentioned other practices that he has steadfastly opposed throughout his career, including:

• The Bush-Clinton embargo of Iraq that resulted in the deaths of over one million Iraqis, including more than 300,000 children.
  
  
• US financial and military support of oppressive regimes in the Middle East -- a roster of recipients that includes Saudi Arabia, Musharraf's Pakistan, the Taliban, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
  
  
• The prolonged US military presence on the Arabian peninsula, which is viewed by Muslims as an unjust occupation of holy land.

In recent years, Ron Paul opposed the invasion of Iraq, the PATRIOT Act, and the government's assault on habeus corpus, while persistently pointing out the inherent dangers and false rationales of each. While this record alone sets him apart from the field, Dr. Paul is further distinguished by his long-standing call for a return to America's traditional foreign policy of non-interventionism and independence. Ron Paul is the only major party candidate who has consistently challenged the prevailing bi-partisan foreign policy of global interventionism that not only fosters widespread resentment of the US, but also impoverishes future generations of Americans while habitually involving US troops in perilous situations that have nothing to do with national defense.

As other presidential candidates mouth expected platitudes and compete for the title of "Best Monday Morning Quarterback" in Iraq, Ron Paul focuses on the ill-conceived policies that make such debacles possible in the first place -- for example:

• Congress' 60-year abnegation of its vital constitutional responsibility to vote on a declaration of war prior to military operations.
  
  
• The pervasive influence of special interests on American foreign policy -- interests that place primacy on their own financial and ideological agendas, rather than the defense and security of the American people.
  
  
• Chronic US meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, including such covert operations as the 1953 CIA-sponsored coup to install the Shah of Iran, US support of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, and the present-day proxy war in Somalia.
  
  
• The presence of US military personnel in over 140 countries (including the construction of 14 permanent bases in Iraq, a development that Dr. Paul raised in the debate)

As exemplified by Giuliani's high-handed behavior, establishment politicians and their media enablers adhere to a self-imposed speech code that forbids open discussion of our disastrous foreign policy. But so long as that policy persists, it's only a matter of time before the next Vietnam or Iraq.

Ron Paul is a decent and honorable man who has always spoken truth to power. He deserves our support.

For more information, go to www.ronpaul2008.com and www.house.gov/paul/.

In Peace, Liberty, and Good Will,

Scott ...


PS - Since the mainstream media ignores Ron Paul or treats his candidacy with a dismissive sniff, the Internet remains the primary resource for people who wish to learn more about his record. In coming months, I will e-mail Ron Paul news and views to this distribution list. If you're not interested, feel free to exercise your Constitutional right to hit your Delete button, or let me know and I'll gladly remove you from the list. :-)

Ron Paul Interviews

Interviews with Dr. Ron Paul:

• The Charles Goyette Show, June 14 2007
  
  
• Tucker Carlson on MSNBC, June 14 2007
  
  
• The Colbert Report, June 13, 2007

• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, June 4 2007
  
  
• Tucker Carlson on MSNBC, June 6 2007
  
  
• Real Time with Bill Maher, May 31 2007
  
  
• The Dennis Miller Show, May 30 2007
  
  
• Anti-War Radio with Scott Horton, April 4 2007
  
  
• The Charles Goyette Show, February 2 2007
  
  
• NOW with Bill Moyers, October 4 2002
  

Debate Appearances

Video of Ron Paul's comments in each presidential debate:

June 5, 2007 - Manchester, New Hampshire

May 15, 2007 - Columbia, South Carolina

May 3, 2007 - Simi, California

The candidates on foreign policy

Note: This page is a work in progress.

Dr. Ron Paul

"Interventionism is done with a pretense of wisdom believing we always know the good guys from the bad guys, and that we will ignore the corporate and political special interests always agitating for influence.
Nothing could be further from the truth."
– Dr. Ron Paul, US Foreign Policy and NATO's Involvement in Yugoslavia and Kosovo, April 21, 1999

"When weaker nations are intimidated by more powerful ones, striking back very often can be done only through terrorism, a problem that will continue to threaten all Americans as our leaders incite those who oppose our aggressive stands throughout the world. But when a foreign war comes to our shores in the form of terrorism, we can be sure that our government will explain the need for further sacrifice of personal liberties to win this war against terrorism as well."
– Dr. Ron Paul, US Foreign Policy and NATO's Involvement in Yugoslavia and Kosovo, April 21, 1999

"The basic moral principle underpinning a non-interventionist foreign policy is that of rejecting the initiation of force against others. It is based on non-violence and friendship unless attacked, self-determination, and self-defense while avoiding confrontation, even when we disagree with the way other countries run their affairs. It simply means that we should mind our own business and not be influenced by special interests that have an ax to grind or benefits to gain by controlling our foreign policy. Manipulating our country into conflicts that are none of our business and unrelated to national security provides no benefit to us, while exposing us to great risks financially and militarily."
– Dr. Ron Paul, A Foreign Policy for Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty, September 9, 2002

"I have heard all the arguments on why we must immediately invade and occupy Iraq and have observed that there are only a few hardy souls left in the Congress who are trying to stop this needless, senseless, and dangerous war."
– Dr. Ron Paul, War is a Political Mistake, September 18, 2002

"Already, the coordinating propaganda has galvanized the American people against Iran for the supposed threat it poses to us with weapons of mass destruction that are no more present than those Saddam Hussein was alleged to have had."
– Dr. Ron Paul, Iran: The Next Neo-Con Target, April 7, 2006

"(K)eeping our troops out of harm's way, especially when war is unnecessary, is never unpatriotic. There's no better way to support the troops ... It's disconcerting that those of us who never believed the justifications given for our
invasion, and who now want the war ended, are still accused of not supporting the troops!"
– Dr. Ron Paul, Support the Troops by Ending the War, February 1, 2007

"I have been one of the strongest opponents of military action against Iraq. I voted against the initial authorization in 2002, and I have voted against every supplemental appropriations bill to fund the war. I even voted against the initial 'Iraq regime change' legislation back in 1998. I believe our troops should be brought back to the United States without delay."
– Dr. Ron Paul, Bring Our Troops Home Now, July 12, 2007

See also Ron Paul on foreign policy during the Clinton years.


Barack Obama

"Never has it been more important for America to lead wisely, to shrewdly project power and wield influence ... In every region of the globe, our foreign policy should promote traditional American ideals."
– Barack Obama, speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, July 4, 2004
(see Barack Obama on Foreign Policy)

"There's not that much difference between my position and George Bush's position at this stage.
The difference, in my mind, is who's in a position to execute."
– Barack Obama, July 27, 2004 (see Meet Barack Obama by Eric Ruder)

"(T)he US should not rule out military strikes to destroy nuclear production sites in Iran."
– Barack Obama, September 25, 2004 (see Barack Obama and the Clash of Civilizations by David Peterson)

"After the December 15 elections and during the course of next year, we need to focus our attention on how to reduce the US military footprint in Iraq. Notice that I say 'reduce,' and not 'fully withdraw.'"
– Barack Obama, November 22, 2005 (see O-Bomb-A and the War Party by Justin Raimondo)

"When I am President, we will wage the war that has to be won, with a comprehensive strategy with five elements: getting out of Iraq and on to the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan ..."
– Barack Obama, August 1, 2007 (see Obama as the New Kennedy: And Not in a Good Way …, by Justin Raimondo)

"(Obama's foreign policy) delights neoconservative guru Robert Kagan, who summed up Obama's message succinctly: 'His critique is not that we've meddled too much but that we haven't meddled enough.… To Obama, everything and everyone everywhere is of strategic concern to the United States.'"
– Ira Chernus, Democratic Double-Speak on Iraq, July 22, 2007


Hillary Clinton

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and
security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well, affects American security."
– Hillary Clinton, Floor speech on S.J. Res 45, October 10, 2002

"We must widen the scope of our strength by leading strong alliances which can apply military force when required and promote our values."
– Hillary Clinton, January 22, 2007 (see Democratic Double-Speak on Iraq by Ira Chernus)

"As I have long said and will continue to say, U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons. And in dealing with this threat, as I've also said for a long time, no option can be taken off the table."
– Hillary Clinton, February 14, 2007 (see MoveOn Whitewashes Hillary’s Iran Belligerence by Norman Solomon)


John Edwards

"(Congress) should clearly endorse the use of all necessary means to eliminate the threat posed
by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction."
– John Edwards, Senator Edwards says Congress must be clear on Iraq, September 19, 2002

"Saddam needed to be confronted. John Kerry and I have consistently said that. That's why we voted for the resolution."
– John Edwards, Vice-Presidential Debate Transcript, October 5, 2004

"To ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to keep all options on the table.
Let me reiterate – ALL options must remain on the table."
– John Edwards, January 22, 2007 (see The Words None Dare Say: Nuclear War by George LaKoff)