… NOT “AMERICA”
|| By RON PAUL || Is the current refugee crisis gripping the European Union “all America’s fault?” That is how my critique of US foreign policy was characterized in a recent interview on the Fox Business Channel. I do not blame the host for making this claim, but I think it is important to clarify the point.
It has become common to discount any criticism of US foreign policy as “blaming America first.” It is a convenient way of avoiding a real discussion. If aggressive US policy in the Middle East – for example in Iraq – results in the creation of terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda in Iraq, is pointing out the unintended consequences of bad policy blaming America? Is it “blaming America” to point out that blowback – like we saw on 9/11 – can be the result of unwise US foreign policy actions like stationing US troops in Saudi Arabia?
In the Fox interview I pointed out that the current refugee crisis is largely caused by bad US foreign policy actions. The US government decides on regime change for a particular country – in this case, Syria – destabilizes the government, causes social chaos, and destroys the economy, and we are supposed to be surprised that so many people are desperate to leave? Is pointing this out blaming America, or is it blaming that part of the US government that makes such foolish policies?
Accusing those who criticize US foreign policy of “blaming America” is pretty selective, however. Such accusations are never leveled at those who criticize a US pullback. For example, most neocons argue that the current crisis in Iraq is all Obama’s fault for pulling US troops out of the country. Are they “blaming America first” for the mess? No one ever says that. Just like they never explain why the troops were removed from Iraq: the US demanded complete immunity for troops and contractors and the Iraqi government refused.
Iraq was not a stable country when the US withdrew its troops anyway. As soon as the US stopped paying the Sunnis not to attack the Iraqi government, they started attacking the Iraqi government. Why? Because the US attack on Iraq led to a government that was closely allied to Iran and the Sunnis could not live with that! It was not the US withdrawal from Iraq that created the current instability but the invasion. The same is true with US regime change policy toward Syria. How many Syrians were streaming out of Syria before US support for Islamist rebels there made the country unlivable? Is pointing out this consequence of bad US policy also blaming America first?
Last year I was asked by another Fox program whether I was not “blaming America” when I criticized the increasingly confrontational US stand toward Russia. Here’s how I put it then:
I don’t blame America. I am America, you are America. I don’t blame you. I blame bad policy. I blame the interventionists. I blame the neoconservatives who preach this stuff, who believe in it like a religion — that they have to promote American goodness even if you have to bomb and kill people.
In short, I don’t blame America; I blame neocons.
Ron Paul is a former U.S. Congressman from Texas and the leader of the pro-liberty, pro-free market movement in the United States. His weekly column – reprinted with permission – can be found here.
24 comments
Republicans are scum.
Ba-ba-ba-bam!!!!!!! Ba-bam!!!!!!
President Obama in 2012 famously warned Syrian President Bashar Assad not to use chemical weapons in his fight against insurgent rebels — a so-called “red line” that Mr. Assad blatantly crossed.
Since then, the country has plunged deeper into chaos, with the radical Islamic terrorist group the Islamic State gaining a foothold across the country. The administration, meanwhile, has sought to ally itself with moderate rebels fighting both the Assad government and the Islamic State, but the situation on the ground has grown only more confused and violent over the past several years despite steady U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State forces.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/8/obamas-syria-policy-led-directly-to-refugee-crisis/?page=all
I have a different take.In my opinion Obama wants this chaos in the middle east as he wants ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood to occupy the entire area.Yemen,Libya and Iraq are proof of that.
Yep, should of stayed out of the middle east. What were ya thinking ?
I would vote for Bernie Sanders
Nothing of that sort would not come from Rand’s mouth.
and that’s why i cant support rand.
Funny that most of the refugees are Syrians where we’ve not invaded…
Funny that most of the refugees are Muslims and that none of the surrounding Muslim countries want them, nor do they want to go to their neighbors (kind of like Palestine)…
Funny that Assad crossed the infamous “line on the sand” with no consequence and some how this is the “Neocons” fault…
Funny that the status of forces agreement in Iraq that “Dr. Paul” refers to was only tossed out because the US would not make any concessions…
Funny that the word Obama appears only when making excuses for the failures of the “Neocons” in “Dr. Paul’s” assessment…
Funny that anybody still pays any attention to “Dr.Paul”…
Funny how the Cons tell us how they had won the war in Iraq, but apparently actually failed because we had to stay? Seems maybe the came up short – eh? A real complete job would have allowed us to leave.
No argument at all.
The Colonel and Rocky teaming up to bash our country and military. Get em boys.
You make a cute couple after your surrender on the confederate flag.
Dude, it’s gone get over it. Or is it? Go take a look at the Confederate Memorial Statue, there’s a confederate flag carved into two sides of it.
“A real complete job would have allowed us to leave.”
That would only have happened if George Bush rode a unicorn into battle to slay the terrorists with Excalibur in hand.
Only after boning the Lady of the Lake.
This war has been going on since 2011 – 3.2 million have been accepted into Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.
I’ve been in the camps in Jordan. Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have taken the lions share of refugees:
Turkey has taken by far the most, roughly 2.1 million
Jordan at 1.4 million
Lebanon at 1.2 million.
All three countries are doing everything they can to keep more refugees out (understandably, Jordan has entire cities that are now Syrian born)
As for the rest of the neighborhood?
Saudi Arabia? Zip, zero, nada
Iraq? 240,000 and they will not accept any more.
Egypt? 130,000 and they will not accept any more.
Where is the money coming from to support these refugees?
US – $4.2 Billion
All the rest
European Commission – $1.57 Billion
Pax Britannia – $1.4 Billion
Germany – $0.9 Billion
Kuwait – 0.9 billion
Private individuals ($0.75 billion) have donated more than Saudi Arabia ($0.6 billion)
http://qz.com/506168/two-charts-show-why-the-syrian-refugee-crisis-is-only-going-to-worsen/
But haven’t the Gulf states (Saudi etc) always held a policy of no citizenship for refugees? That they let them in on a guest worker basis only and the many Syrians are heading elsewhere for a permanent home? I happened to check out passports for Saudi Arabia a while back and I had doubts if I could get into the country for a visit.
Absolutely, I’ve lived in Kuwait twice for more than a year each time. The population of Kuwait is something like 3.8 million but only 1.4 million (33%) are Kuwaitis – all of the rest are “guest workers” and can be kicked out at any time for any reason (Or held there against their will)
Indians, Filipinos, Bangladeshis and Egyptians combined outnumber native Kuwaitis about 1.5 to 1.
I suppose Paul could make an argument blaming the Civil War on the founding fathers. The neo-cons haven’t been in power for six years, but that is no reason to hold Obama, ISIS, the Gulf States or Asad responsible for any of the current events in the Middle east. Not when blaming Bush still works.
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4800 Syrian Muslim refugees to be resettled in Columbia and Charleston by the end of 2016.
That is where I would put them if it were me. No political cost. What is the worst that could happen? Might cause the State to go Republican in 2016? Man that will show him.
Is that when the WH will nuke Charleston?
If we kept our nose out we wouldn’t have to smell shit, but Republicans are already chomping at the bit to get our nose back in over there.