Ron Paul to Obama: Mission Not Accomplished!

16 Responses

By RonPaul.com on September 1, 2010





Congressman Ron Paul today released the following statement on President Obama’s speech from the Oval Office last night:

The President’s announcement that all U.S. combat troops have left Iraq is no more believable than the ‘Mission Accomplished’ declaration was in 2003.

Once again, we are being told the mission has been accomplished and our brave men and women are coming back home. Though the people are hopeful they remain skeptical, and rightfully so.

The biggest problem is that success in Iraq is undefinable since the mission was never defined. The reasons given for the invasion were based on misinformation. Now, the war has cost us hundreds of billions of dollars and this has contributed significantly to our economic woes.

Forty-four hundred Americans are dead, thirty thousand severely wounded, and more than a hundred thousand are suffering from serious health problems related to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. This alone should tell us that it was not worth the investment and the needless sacrifice of our young people and the taxpayers.

It is deceitful to imply we will avoid hostilities with this new policy. We still have to contend with:

  • the 50,000 troops carrying weapons that remain in Iraq
  • the 100,000 contractors that remain with more expected to go to Iraq
  • the 9,000 special ops personnel trained in assassinations that remain in Iraq
  • a huge embassy, bigger than the Vatican, that will remain
  • Dozens of military bases that will stay
  • Al Qaeda organizations that did not exist before the war
  • Muqtada al Sadr, a strong nationalist who has gained much political power
  • The fact that Iran benefits tremendously with the Shiites now in power in Iraq and is a close ally of al Sadr

Osama bin Laden wins by ‘proving’ that America has an agenda of occupation in the Middle East. And, we continue to walk into his trap and hand him up his best recruitment tool in his efforts to incite hatred and terrorism against the United States.

What’s worse, President Obama made it clear last night that the troops and resources leaving Iraq will not come home to defend our country or ease our economic woes. They will instead be diverted to Afghanistan, perhaps also Pakistan and, I fear, even Iran.

From my viewpoint we are the losers in this fool’s errand of endless war. Tragically, this new policy is not one of peace but merely a charade that will severely undermine our national security and continue us down the path to bankruptcy – a threat that we best not long ignore.

»crosslinked«

Processing your request, Please wait....

Posted in , | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Responses

Ron Paul: Not Extending Bush Tax Cuts Will Be “Devastating”

4 Responses

By RonPaul.com on August 30, 2010





Ron Paul was interviewed by Kathleen Walter on Newsmax TV.

Newsmax Interview

Date: 08/30/2010

Transcript

Kathleen Walter: Welcome to Newsmax TV. I’m Kathleen Walter. Republican and Libertarian, Ron Paul, joins us now via the phone. Welcome back to Newsmax TV, Representative Paul.

Ron Paul: Thank you. Good to be with you.

Kathleen Walter: Newsmax TV has learned that you plan to introduce a bill next year calling for the audit of US gold reserves. Can you explain what the issue is here, and why an audit is needed?

Ron Paul: Well, it just is common sense that a country know what they own. And, we had an audit, of sorts — it still wasn’t a perfect audit — back in the 1970s. That’s forty-some years ago. And during this time, a lot of central banks have either sold their gold or loaned their gold out, in order to try to artificially fix the price lower than the market would fix it. Hopefully someday we will have a gold currency, or we will return the gold to the people, because the gold was taken from the American people in the 1930s at a very low rate. We should know what we own. There should be — the bigger question being, Why should anybody oppose us counting what’s in the bank? Just in case that we make use of it, what are our assets? Because too many questions are raised about what central banks have done in the last 10-15 years.

Kathleen Walter: Now do you believe that there’s any truth to the claims that have been made, that there is no gold in Fort Knox or the Federal Reserve?

Ron Paul: I think that’s pretty unlikely. I’m pretty cynical and think that governments just about do anything. But I think it’s there. The bigger question is, What have been the commitments? Possibly we have made commitments, or loaned the gold. That’s why I wanted that audit of the Federal Reserve, to check all the agreements that they had with foreign central banks and with foreign governments. That’s the one reason, that was one of the major reasons the Fed did not want an audit. They did not want us to know, as a people or as a Congress, exactly what kind of deals they make with other central banks. And they won that fight. They were able to prevent me from getting that passed. But that’s the main thing we need, some more transparency in this. The Fed is becoming better understood now. The Fed was responsible for all the financial bubbles, and that means they’re responsible for all the recessions and depressions, and they should be held accountable.

Continue reading “Ron Paul: Not Extending Bush Tax Cuts Will Be “Devastating””

Processing your request, Please wait....

Posted in , | Tagged , , | 4 Responses

Join Ron Paul in San Francisco this Saturday! (9/4/2010)

1 Response

By RonPaul.com on August 30, 2010




Join us for a pro-liberty, antiwar, free speech rally featuring: Congressman Ron Paul & Candidate for Congress John Dennis. The rally will be held at the San Francisco Civic Center and doors open at 1pm!

Date: Saturday, September 4, 2010
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm US/Pacific

Location: San Francisco Civic Center
Polk St & McAllister St
San Francisco, CA


View Larger Map

For more information on all the day’s events please visit: http://www.johndennis2010.com/pop/

Processing your request, Please wait....

Posted in | Tagged , , | 1 Response

Iraq: Mission Accomplished – Or Just Semantics and Broken Promises?

86 Responses

By RonPaul.com on August 29, 2010




Date: 08/30/2010

Iraq – An End or an Escalation?

by Ron Paul

Amid much fanfare last week, the last supposed “combat” troops left Iraq as the administration touted the beginning of the end of the Iraq War and a change in the role of the United States in that country. Considering the continued public frustration with the war effort, and with the growing laundry list of broken promises, this was merely another one of the administration’s operations in political maneuvering and semantics in order to convince an increasingly war-weary public that the Iraq War is at last ending. However, military officials confirm that we are committed to intervention in that country for years to come, and our operations have in fact, changed minimally, if really at all.

After eight long draining years, I have to wonder if our government even understands what it is to end a war anymore. The end of a war, to most people, means all the troops come home, out of harm’s way. It means we stop killing people and getting killed. It means we stop sending troops and armed personnel over and draining our treasury for military operations in that foreign land. But much like the infamous “mission accomplished” moment of the last administration, this “end” of the war also means none of those things.

50,000 US troops remain in Iraq, and they are still receiving combat pay. One soldier was killed in Basra just last Sunday, after the supposed end of combat operations, and the same day 5,000 men and women of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood were deployed to Iraq. Their mission will be anything but desk duty. Among other things they will accompany the Iraqi military on dangerous patrols, continue to be involved in the hunt for terrorists, and provide air support for the Iraqi military. They should be receiving combat pay, because they will be serving a combat role!

Of course the number of private contractors – who perform many of the same roles as troops, but for a lot more money – is expected to double. So this is a funny way of ending combat operations in Iraq. We are still meddling in their affairs and we are still putting our men and women in danger, and we are still spending money we don’t have. This looks more like an escalation than a draw-down to me!

The ongoing war in Iraq takes place against a backdrop of economic crisis at home, as fresh numbers indicate that our economic situation is as bad as ever, and getting worse! Our foreign policy is based on an illusion: that we are actually paying for it. What we are doing is borrowing and printing the money to maintain our presence overseas. Americans are seeing the cost of this irresponsible approach as our economic decline continues. Unemployed Americans have been questioning a policy that ships hundreds of billions of dollars overseas while their own communities crumble and their frustration is growing. An end to this type of foreign policy is way overdue.

A return to the traditional American foreign policy of active private engagement and non-interventionism is the only alternative that can restore our moral and fiscal health.

Processing your request, Please wait....

Posted in , , | Tagged , , , , , | 86 Responses

Ron Paul: NYC Mosque Demagogues Peddle Hate to Justify War

80 Responses

By RonPaul.com on August 29, 2010





Thom Hartmann interviews Congressman Ron Paul about the NYC mosque controversy and the intense politicization of our country’s values. Hartmann congratulates Dr. Paul for his tolerance and his attempt to bring reason to the heated debate. They also talk about campaign finance, corporate personhood, and the Citizens United verdict.

Show: The Thom Hartmann Program
Host: Thim Hartmann
Date: 08/27/2010

Transcript

Thom Hartmann: Arguably one of the most conservative guys in politics is Ron Paul, or at least libertarian. He ran for president on the Libertarian ticket once and [is] the Republican Congressman from Texas. He’s been on this program a number of times and in the past we’ve debated issues or argued issues but I wanted to bring him on and congratulate him and have a broader discussion about some of the areas where we agree on the fundamental core values of America that I think are neither left nor right, neither Democrat nor Republican, neither Libertarian nor Socialist. Congressman Ron Paul, RonPaul.org by the way, the website. Welcome back to our program, Sir.

Ron Paul: Thank you, Thom. God be with you.

Thom Hartmann: Thank you. You took a very noble and courageous step when you contradicted not only your party but your son as well in saying that this so called ‘Ground Zero Mosque’… it’s actually a Muslim community center two blocks away from Ground Zero, the same distance as Starbucks and a strip club. There’s another actual mosque four blocks away, that this was being basically demagogued by people who were peddling hate.

Continue reading “Ron Paul: NYC Mosque Demagogues Peddle Hate to Justify War”

Processing your request, Please wait....

Posted in , | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 80 Responses

Ron Paul on AntiWar Radio: Mosque Demagoguery Is Bipartisan

68 Responses

By RonPaul.com on August 29, 2010





Ron Paul discusses his article “Mosque Demagoguery Is Bipartisan” and the linkage between property rights and First Amendment rights, why the abandonment of the dollar will lead to an inflationary depression and why Dennis Kucinich’s anti-assassination bill is a redundancy (but deserving of support nonetheless).

Date: 08/27/2010
Show: AntiWar Radio
Host: Scott Horton

Transcript

Scott Horton: So, welcome back to the show. It’s Antiwar Radio. And our next guest is Antiwar.com’s man in the House of Representatives, Dr. Ron Paul. You can find all his foreign policy interviews at original.antiwar.com/paul. Welcome to the show Ron. How are you doing?

Ron Paul: Thank you, Scott. Good to be with you.

Scott Horton: I’m very happy to have you here and I was so happy to see your statement on the mosque issue. You know, before I ever learned, I think, even about George Washington and the cherry tree, or David Crockett, or anything, I learned from my Dad that the highest value in America, the most important thing about America as a place is freedom of religion. And that’s what we all value the most and is the most special thing about this land. And it’s just amazing to see the demagoguery. And it was just great to, of course you never do disappoint, but it was really great to see the stand that you took on this. And everybody can read your article “Mosque Demagoguery is Bipartisan” as the title goes at original.antiwar.com/paul. So thanks for that. And I guess, can we start, I guess, with what you think of that? Religious freedom as the highest American value?

Ron Paul: You know, in that statement I make the point that the conservatives who brag about being big property rights people are the ones who are demagoguing the most about why they shouldn’t build this. Newt Gingrich in particular. And, to me, it was an opportunity to defend property rights in the pure sense of the word because it is closely related to First Amendment rights. If we protected property rights, we would protect a lot of other amendments. You’d protect the Second Amendment, you’d protect the First Amendment because it would be your property that is being used. Whether you’re running a newspaper, whether you have a church, or whatever you’re doing. It’s the property that should be protected. And I think the conservatives wimped out on this, but the liberals are never good on this. So the liberals come along and they say “Oh, we got to protect freedom of religion and expression.” And they’re right about that. But they’re so weak on property rights. And they always want to regulate property. So this would have been a time that it should have been pointed out that the conservatives have sort of sold out and that the liberals, who don’t understand property rights very well, ought to learn a lesson. And I just thought I would give my two-cents’ worth and I find it interesting and fascinating and sometimes entertaining when I read a blog by some very, very liberal person and say “this is very great, but it really is confusing. What’s happened in the world, the world is turned upside down when I agree with Ron Paul. And he’s speaking more what I believe in than our own president”. But I think the most I can expect, or any of us can expect, coming from a libertarian viewpoint is that we stimulate people’s thinking. So those who give me some support say “Yes, I agree with Ron Paul on foreign policy or civil liberties, but…” – I keep thinking, the but always means, of course, the economic liberty, but maybe they’ll think about it and, of course, you know, Scott, that you’ve met people that will come to our side from the liberal side, as well as the conservative side, and say “Yes, it finally makes sense”. And I see it as a tremendous opportunity now to increase our ranks. Because the liberals, the Keynesians, the interventionists have failed so miserably with the economy. So, I just saw it as an opportunity. I hope I made a few points.

Continue reading “Ron Paul on AntiWar Radio: Mosque Demagoguery Is Bipartisan”

Processing your request, Please wait....

Posted in , | Tagged , | 68 Responses

Page 214 of 400« First...102030...212213214215216...220230240...Last »