As I was trying to follow Jim Geraghty’s tracking of the GOP debate, this post included a comment that stopped me cold (emphasis added):
(Moderator Charlie) Gibson is left making the “Time out” moment as everybody goes after (Ron) Paul when he asks why Islamists don’t attack Canada.
Perhaps Dr. Paul missed the memo, but the enemy is going after Canada (CNN and CTV, and the National Post, which I quote below):
The suspected “homegrown” Canadian extremists arrested by the RCMP in Toronto on June 2 were allegedly motivated partly by their anger over Afghanistan. Authorities claim they intended to take hostages on Parliament Hill and kill the Prime Minister unless he withdrew troops from Afghanistan and released all Muslims from Canadian prisons.
I want to like Dr. Paul; I really do, but each time he talks about foreign policy, he reveals a shocking and dangerous ignorance about the world around him.
CANADIAN READERS: Feel free to contact Dr. Paul’s campaign (here or here) and set him straight on the terrorist threat to the Great White North.
January 6, 2008 at 5:18 am
I found your blog on Technorati and thought I should comment.
I see your point, that someone has tried to attack Canada… but this just further proves Ron Paul’s point… They attack us because we (or you Canada) are over there in their countries. Withdrawing troops is a common motivating cause of terrorism. And that is what Ron Paul is saying. He may have been unaware of your countries involvement in Afghanistan, but by this standard, your comment that they have been attacked only further proves his policy and viewpoints are the correct ones.
January 6, 2008 at 10:59 am
I believe the point that was being made by Dr. Paul is that our un-declared wars actually promote terrorism. I know this sort of discussion can quickly turn into a chicken and the egg analysis, but from what I have observed from travels to some of these foreign lands, Congressman Paul’s approach warrants consideration. While we can’t expect others to be nice to us, just because we are nice to them, many of our recent un-declared interventions could have been avoided.
For example, in your own case cited above, had the US and Canada, not been engaged in an un-declared war in Afghanistan, then there would be little likelihood that anyone in Canada would be plotting anything to protest actions in Afghanistan, since the military would not be there.
Ron Paul’s position is not isolationist, however. What he has repeated time and again is that if the US is to deploy troops it must be with a declaration of war by Congress (so that the support of the American People is behind the decision). He has also supported the use of force to defend our own territory and to pursue attackers, should another surprise attack occur.
Ron Paul would be a very strong Commander-in-Chief because he would obey the limits of the Constitution and prioritize our defense to protect our People here at home rather than to use our military assets on behalf of the multinational corporate interests in foreign adventures.
Canada’s Orwellian government by the way, has destroyed their citizens’ rights. In Canada, you can be arrested as a “terrorist” merely for expressing political dissent. Tell a joke at the office and you can be jailed or fined for violating Canada’s “diversity” and thought police laws. Canadians who rebel against this oppression are branded “domestic terrorists” and jailed, deported or harassed. The USA is headed in that same direction with the Nixonian Neocons or Hillary and Osama Obama.
One way to illustrate this point to the Republicans and others who seem to favor unlimited federal power, is to have them picture a second Clinton administration. Suddenly, your church group that has been supporting a Right to Life project, is labeled by the FBI as a “domestic terrorist cell” due to the new administration’s belief that all anti-abortion groups are likely to murder abortionists. Consequently, Hillary would use all of that un-checked power that Republicans ceded to Bush, and turn the federal security forces against Right to Life groups, Confederate Heritage Groups and even hunting clubs (because members could own “assault rifles”). Next, all it would take to get you jailed would be an off-hand remark in one of those wire-tapped conversations, where you said anything (even joking) that could be parsed into some sort of threat or plot.
If this sounds far fetched, all you need to do is read about what has been happening to Americans who get labeled as potential domestic terrorists under the Bush administration. Everything from annoyances like being placed on no-fly lists (two Congressmen ended up on this list several times) to having you or a family member, abducted from your home and jailed for questioning for MONTHS without counsel or any idea of a possible release. All without a warrant, or any of the traditional due process afforded to Americans through our traditional legal system.
February 14, 2008 at 12:45 am
I think that Ron Paul, you, me or anybody for that matter should never lose sight of the big picture….. The Fathers of Confederation and the great men who wrote the U.S. constitution were well aware of the dangers of the ‘State’ if their power are left un-checked. We all tend to snicker a bit and think ‘conspiracy theory’ at the suggestion, but its happening, and it’s coming bit by bit. The really sad part is - We are allowing it, and in some cases demanding it. “People willing to trade liberty for security deserve neither” Not sure who said that, but it sure fits.