Friday, October 28, 2011
Ron Paul vs. foreign policy partisanship
This may sound harsh, but current U.S. foreign policy is a disaster. Most Americans will admit as much if they examine our most significant foreign interventions individually.
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Many conservatives say, “I like Ron Paul, except on foreign policy.” Perhaps thinking they’re going for the jugular, Paul’s critics like to first cite his contention that our foreign interventions breed more Islamic terrorism than they quell, often saying the congressman somehow “blames America” for our troubles. Yet, according to the Pew poll, a majority of our soldiers — who you might think know a thing or two about what causes Islamic terrorism — actually agree with Paul on this point. More significantly, Paul’s overall foreign policy of avoiding going to war where there is no clear national interest is where the congressman is most in line with public sentiment. The only exception is Libya, where ironically most Republicans side with Paul and against public opinion.
Perhaps Sarah Palin said it best last week on Sean Hannity’s Fox program: “You’ve got to give it to Ron Paul … [who] I think hit the nail on the head, when he came out and said Obama had better be careful when he interjects himself and our country in other nations’ business.”
Palin was, of course, talking about Libya. Hannity agreed with her.
So what does saying, “I like Ron Paul, except on foreign policy” really mean?
A crass but not untrue answer would be that Republicans don’t mind Republican wars, despite the reasons, results or costs, and Democrats don’t mind Democrat wars, despite the reasons, results or costs. And the American people in general don’t mind wars as long as the results are good and the costs are low.
Paul believes that any war under any president will come with a significant cost, which is why our reasons for going to war should be ultra-strong and the desired results, ultra-clear. What threat does a country actually pose? If we go in, what is victory? What is our exit strategy?
Palin summed up Paul’s defense philosophy well when she pointed out that being extremely “careful” about “interjecting our country in other nations’ business” is precisely Paul’s foreign policy. For someone to say, “I like Ron Paul, except on foreign policy” is really to say that Paul’s consistent reluctance to go to war can be quite annoying when it clashes with partisan attachment or popular opinion.
Full article: http://dailycaller.c … artisanship/?print=1