Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In my opinion, this ranks as one of the most sensible, chilling, and moving speeches EVER. I was giving this link to a friend, and this made me re-watch this.
It's my privilege to share this great speech. Enjoy!
"What if" is right. There is no reason to believe our "meddling" is responsible for hatred towards us.
"What happens if my concerns are completely unfounded? Nothing" - Really, Congressman? If what you're saying is unfounded, we better be ready for another 9/11.
"What if" is right. There is no reason to believe our "meddling" is responsible for hatred towards us.
And so that's when we apply a little common sense and put ourselves in someone else's shoes -
Quote:
"What happens if my concerns are completely unfounded? Nothing" - Really, Congressman? If what you're saying is unfounded, we better be ready for another 9/11.
More to the point, if what he's saying is FOUNDED (and official accounts paint a grim picture of sanctions and death that led up to 9/11, so at the very least it deserves consideration), then our continued intervention and occupation will inevitably lead to more and more incidents of terrorism.
The behavior portrayed by our government is behavior that we would revile in ourselves. Are we bullies? Do we use threats and violence to force our neighbors to do what we want, to give us good deals on products we want? Do we coddle and manipulate our children into a state of weakness and perpetual dependence upon us, throughout adulthood, and use that dependence to dictate their choices and paths through life? Why on earth would we excuse behavior by the entity that represents us that we would be horrified to see in the people we admire?
"What if" is right. There is no reason to believe our "meddling" is responsible for hatred towards us.
"What happens if my concerns are completely unfounded? Nothing" - Really, Congressman? If what you're saying is unfounded, we better be ready for another 9/11.
No reason? Read the reports from the Dept of Defense and the CIAs Bin Laden unit. They tell us the exact reason for 9/11 and why countries in the Middle East hate us. Ron Paul read them and is correct.
Have mistakes been made in foreign policy and wars? Yes, undoubtedly.
Torture is wrong and does not produce useable intelligence that could not be obtained without torture.
Yes, it is wrong to prop up bad regimes (Iraq back in the early 1980's) so they can fight other bad regimes (Iran).
Yes, it is wrong to start wars pre-emptively.
Yes, we have needlessly provoked some peoples and nations.
Yes, we do need to use diplomacy more.
However, changes have been made and others still need to be made. But, Ron Paul, isn't suggesting just fixing some of the mistakes we've made. He proposes a radical solution that would also foolishly expose us to much danger. He gets some things, but he thinks because he can accurately identify some problems that his solutions would be the right ones as well, but his solutions are not the right ones.
Diplomacy would have never worked with Hitler. Even if we never "meddled" with the affairs of any other peoples, that would not protect us from the aggression of a new Hitler.
Paul works under the false assumption that individuals, companies, foreign nations would not be bad or aggressive if we just granted them freedom to operate the way they want to. How naive! Dangerously naive! We have to have protections against power-hungry aggression. There are and there will always be people, and corporations, and nations that will gobble up the weak. We need strong laws and strong law enforcement to protect us from power hungry individuals; we need strong regulations and regulators to protect us from power hungry companies; and we need strong treaties and agreements and militaries to protect against power hungry nations and terrorist groups. And we better not ever be the aggressors, or we invite united action against us. And there needs to be balance; we can't let our government become so powerful that we can't stop them if they were to ever become aggressive/oppressive against us.
The way to stop aggression is with a balance of power, period. Ron Paul and Libertarians mistakenly believe the way to stop aggression is by leaving people/nations alone, or at least not provoking/oppressing people/nations.
It is true that we need to stop provoking/oppressing people/nations, and that would cut down on some of our troubles, but it would not eliminate them. Think about elementary school, you can try to mind your own business, you can try your best to not offend anybody, but does that prevent or protect you from being bullied by the child who just wants to dominate somebody? No. And should we just let a bully pick on some other kid, saying to ourselves it is none of our business? No. There are times to get involved. There are times to fight back.
We need to have a general strategy of being strong but kind/fair, but also ready to act and get involved when standing up for what is right. We obviously can't get involved everywhere, nor would it be prudent to get involved everywhere, but this is why we need to have allies with many other countries so we can act as a team and the burden isn't too great for any one partner. United we can provide a balance of power. Diplomacy and sanctions are the first options, but physical force also needs to be an option.
Basically, I see Ron Paul as an over-correction to the mistakes we have made. Instead of us going off the road in one direction, he'd send us off the road in the other direction.
Basically, I see Ron Paul as an over-correction to the mistakes we have made. Instead of us going off the road in one direction, he'd send us off the road in the other direction.
I can debunk your entire flawed conclusion in one sentence, two for further clarification.
Ron Paul is an anti-dictator. He still requires the endorsement to go to war or make anything remotely close to an "over-correction".
Have mistakes been made in foreign policy and wars? Yes, undoubtedly.
Torture is wrong and does not produce useable intelligence that could not be obtained without torture.
Yes, it is wrong to prop up bad regimes (Iraq back in the early 1980's) so they can fight other bad regimes (Iran).
Yes, it is wrong to start wars pre-emptively.
Yes, we have needlessly provoked some peoples and nations.
Yes, we do need to use diplomacy more.
However, changes have been made and others still need to be made. But, Ron Paul, isn't suggesting just fixing some of the mistakes we've made. He proposes a radical solution that would also foolishly expose us to much danger. He gets some things, but he thinks because he can accurately identify some problems that his solutions would be the right ones as well, but his solutions are not the right ones.
Diplomacy would have never worked with Hitler. Even if we never "meddled" with the affairs of any other peoples, that would not protect us from the aggression of a new Hitler.
Paul works under the false assumption that individuals, companies, foreign nations would not be bad or aggressive if we just granted them freedom to operate the way they want to. How naive! Dangerously naive! We have to have protections against power-hungry aggression. There are and there will always be people, and corporations, and nations that will gobble up the weak. We need strong laws and strong law enforcement to protect us from power hungry individuals; we need strong regulations and regulators to protect us from power hungry companies; and we need strong treaties and agreements and militaries to protect against power hungry nations and terrorist groups. And we better not ever be the aggressors, or we invite united action against us. And there needs to be balance; we can't let our government become so powerful that we can't stop them if they were to ever become aggressive/oppressive against us.
The way to stop aggression is with a balance of power, period. Ron Paul and Libertarians mistakenly believe the way to stop aggression is by leaving people/nations alone, or at least not provoking/oppressing people/nations.
It is true that we need to stop provoking/oppressing people/nations, and that would cut down on some of our troubles, but it would not eliminate them. Think about elementary school, you can try to mind your own business, you can try your best to not offend anybody, but does that prevent or protect you from being bullied by the child who just wants to dominate somebody? No. And should we just let a bully pick on some other kid, saying to ourselves it is none of our business? No. There are times to get involved. There are times to fight back.
We need to have a general strategy of being strong but kind/fair, but also ready to act and get involved when standing up for what is right. We obviously can't get involved everywhere, nor would it be prudent to get involved everywhere, but this is why we need to have allies with many other countries so we can act as a team and the burden isn't too great for any one partner. United we can provide a balance of power. Diplomacy and sanctions are the first options, but physical force also needs to be an option.
Basically, I see Ron Paul as an over-correction to the mistakes we have made. Instead of us going off the road in one direction, he'd send us off the road in the other direction.
What nonsense. The socialists are no better than the neocons. You want your handouts and you want your empire. Doesn't work both way man.
Who says about not fighting back? Attack when we are attacked, but don't go around starting preemptive wars. That's all he is saying. Where the hell did you get these ideas that Ron Paul is a pacifist?? He is not. Millions for national DEFENSE, not a penny for the EMPIRE.
P.S: Bet you didn't watch the video.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
