Date: 01/31/2011
Transcript
Ron Paul: I’ve been asked several times over the weekend what I think our policy ought to be towards Egypt, with the ongoing crisis. My first reaction is that we should be doing a lot less a lot sooner. It’s just too bad that we’ve been so engaged, especially in the Middle East and around the world, and get ourselves into too many messes. But even though things look like they may be calming down a little bit, we’re very, very much involved. We’ve been involved for a long time, we’ve been propping up Mubarak here for over 30 years to the tune of $60 billion. And I really don’t think we get our money’s worth, because ultimately this comes back and there are unintended consequences.
It reminds me of what happened in Iran when we ousted one leader, Mosaddegh, in 1953 and then it took a good many years before the Islamic revolution occurred in 1979, but we lost out on that. And there’s an ongoing rebellion in Egypt right now, and nobody knows exactly who’s on whose side. It has been rumored that we may well be orchestrating the revolt and the disturbance. But I know one thing, our officials are working very diligently to be on the side of the winner. So regardless, they may have their support in both camps, both from those who are complaining about the government, as well as continuing to prop up their puppet, Mubarak.
So this, to me, means that we have to evaluate this very carefully. Because we would be better off if we weren’t engaged there. But if this continues, what the American people have to figure out is, should we just leave and be out of this and quit spending the money and spend that money at home? Or if we’re engaged then the question is, what kind of a revolution is this? Is this more like an overthrow of the Shah by the radical Muslims in 1979? Or is it more like us orchestrating a coup and throwing out Mosaddegh back in 1953? And quite frankly, I’m not sure anybody knows that answer.
And the other problem with intervention and support like this is that nobody knows the outcome. Sometimes they backfire on us and this is why it is so attractive to talk about our foreign policy where we just mind our own business and let other people decide their fights. I just think that the $60 billion was money down a rat hole and the people are poorer. There’s a high rate of unemployment. It’s somewhat similar to what’s going on in this country today. We spend trillions of dollars bailing out Wall Street and big banks and the special interests. And at the same time unemployment rates stay high and the people lose their houses and lose their mortgages.
So this is the problem when governments want to run things – whether it’s the economy or foreign policy – the people suffer, the special interest benefits and the political power players seem to be in on all the gravy. So it’s time for us, especially the American people and our Congress, to wake up and say, “Enough is enough. We just don’t have to be involved in every squabble around the world. Besides, we don’t have the money.” The sooner we come that that realization, the better.
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