Ron Paul, On Throwing Our Allies Under the Bus

Classic Liberal had a number of videos for an interview by Judge Andrew Napolitano with Sarah Palin and Congressman Ron Paul.



Let me preface this by saying that I admire Ron Paul for (most of) his views on the Constitution. He is a strong proponent of the Second Amendment, and his views on domestic policies are largely in alignment with mine. But on matters of foreign policy, the Congressman and I part ways. I heard this interview early this AM and have not been able to get it out of my mind. At around 4:35 into the video, Congressman Paul says the US is an empire. This is either hyperbolic on his part or he is badly mistaken. This may be due, in part, to what I call Paul's neo-isolationism. Our military projects the power of the US beyond our borders. Congressman Paul sees this influence as some kind of "empire", though not one classically defined*. I see it more as "deterrence" and "influence". We want to encourage other countries to embrace freedom. We want to discourage other countries that would take freedom away.
*The US has defeated a number of enemies and we have seized neither their lands nor their resources, which is what empires typically do. On this point, Congressman Paul is wrong.

Then, he goes on to speak about how we don't need to be the cops of the world and how we don't need nine hundred plus bases around the world, and both those things may be true! There are certainly areas around the world where we could reduce our presence while still projecting our power. However, when asked about coming to the defense of our allies, Paul said this at 5:08:

"No, I'd treat Israel like all the other countries."

Really? I have heard this from Mr. Paul's mouth before and I am still no less incredulous. The idea that we should treat all countries as equals strikes me as either naively idealistic or borderline insane. The idea that we would treat Great Britain and Israel the same as we would Iran or North Korea is preposterous.
I believe, in theory, we should treat all people equally as well. But, if I see two men coming at me on the street and one is carrying a Bible and the other is carrying a switchblade, I'm going to treat those two individuals differently. Refusing to aid our allies until the enemy is at our doorstep is a good way not to have any allies when the enemy is at our doorstep.

...we don't get involved in their internal or external squabbles and we just stay out of it

"Squabbles?" My dictionary defines "Squabble" as a petty quarrel. Does Congressman Paul believe that Israel fighting for its very survival is a "petty quarrel"? Is smuggling rockets to Hamas indicative of a petty quarrel? A petty quarrel might be the neighbor playing the stereo too loud or too late at night. The first RPG I lob through my neighbor's window escalates that up from a "squabble" to something more.
But, if it's just a squabble, then let's not send warships to the gulf, let's send guidance counselors! A couple of good shrinks with a PhD in psychology and we can solve all the problems in the Middle East. After all...they're just "squabbles", right?
One would think that after so many years of public service that Mr. Paul could be more precise in the words he uses to describe the US and our allies' plight in the world than "empire" and "squabbles"? Unless, that's what he really believes...


My fervent hope is that his son Rand has not adopted his father's views on foreign policy.

More videos linked at Classic Liberal
Cross posted at Say Anything