In our previous Updates we published Ron Paul’s views on various topics from Crime, Abortion, Education, the Environment, Health Care and Foreign Policy. In this update we will continue with Paul’s views on .

 

 

9/11 resulted from blasphemy of our bases in Saudi Arabia

Q: You said about September 11th, "They don't come here to attack us because we're rich and we're free. They come and they attack us because we're over there." And then you added later that al-Qaeda has "determination. The determination comes from being provoked." How have we, the United States, provoked al-Qaeda?

A: Well, read what the ringleader says. Read what Osama bin Laden said. We had a base in Saudi Arabia that was an affront to their religion, that was blasphemy as far as they were concerned. We were bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've interfered in Iran since 1953. Our CIA's been involved in the overthrow of their governments. We side more with Israel and Pakistan, and they get annoyed with this. How would we react if they were on our land? We would be very annoyed, and we'd be fighting mad.

Suicide terrorism stops when we stop intervening abroad

Q: Under your doctrine, if we did not have troops in the Middle East, would al Qaeda leave us alone?

A: Not, not immediately, because they'd have to believe us. But what would happen is the incentive for Osama bin Laden to recruit suicide terrorists would disappear. Once we left Lebanon in the early '80s, suicide terrorism virtually stopped, just like that. But while we were there, suicide terrorism killed our Marines. We have to understand how we would react if some country did to us exactly what we do to them, and then we might have a better understanding of their motivation, why somebody would join the al-Qaeda. Since we've been over there al-Qaeda has more members now than they did before 9/11. They probably had a couple hundred before 9/11.

A: No, it's both. It's sort of like if you step in a snake pit and you get bit, you know, who caused the trouble? Because you stepped in the snake pit or because snakes bite you?

In wartime, people willing to sacrifice liberty for security

Q: A former aide of yours said this: "After Sept. 11, one of the first things Paul said was not how awful the tragedy was, it was, 'Now we're going to get big government.'" Was that your reaction?

A: When you have war--whether it's a war against drugs war against terrorism, war overseas--the mentality of the people changes and they're more willing to sacrifice their liberties in order to be safe and secure. So, yes, right after 9/11 my reaction was, "it's going to be a lot tougher selling liberty." But I'm pleasantly surprised that I'm still in the business of selling liberty and the Constitution and there's still a lot of enthusiasm for it. I might have been too pessimistic immediately after 9/11 because, in a way, it has caused this reaction and this uprising in this country to say, "Enough is enough. We don't need more Patriot Acts, we don't need more surveillance of our people. We don't need national ID cards. We don't need the suspension of habeas corpus. What we need is more freedom."

We have a de-facto draft; we can achieve more in peace

Why is it then that I get the most money as a candidate for the presidency from active military personnel? They're tired of the war too. We already have a de facto draft. These men who have fought valiantly are called up time and time again. Their services are extended from 12 months to 15 months. They've been over there two and three times, and they don't see an end in sight.

This whole idea, we're going through the same argument, the light at the end of the tunnel. We did this in the '60s when I was in the service. And we finally left Vietnam, tragically. But we do much better in peace with Vietnam. We trade with them. They have become Westernized. What we achieved in peace we couldn't achieve in war.

Protect against terrorism by understanding their motivations

Q: What motivates Al Qaeda?

It's not because we are wealthy & prosperous & free. They come here because we are in their country. Permanent bases [in Iraq & elsewhere in the Arab world] just mean that we have expanded the opportunity for the terrorists to come here because there is greater motivation. So, if we want to protect ourselves against terrorism, we have to understand what motivates them. Even Wolfowitz admitted this. He said that the base in Saudi Arabia was an instrumental part of what motivated Osama bin Laden. So if we ignore that, it is at our own folly.

Q: When you made that point at the debate the other night, there were some boos that came out from that Republican audience. Are you in step with Republican voters?

A: I would say that since 70% of the American people want out of the war, and they are tired of it, the Republicans better pick somebody who is opposed to the war or have a new foreign policy, or they can't win.

Violating habeas corpus will be used against us

If you are going to regulate Islamic thinking in this country, be careful, because all the rules you set will be used against Christians. So, protect civil liberties. If you use the violation of civil liberties when it comes to habeas corpus and secrecy, we are going to suffer from this. If we could have done something before 9/11, we should have gotten the government out of the way on regulating our airlines. We should have had more respect for the Constitution.

Protect military chaplains' right to pray in preferred faith

Q: I'm a former Navy chaplain who was punished for praying in Jesus' name, 1 of 68 chaplains now suing the Secretary of the Navy. Would you sign an executive order to protect a military chaplain's right to pray according to the dictates of his conscience --and enforce the law that's been on the books since 1860--to protect military chaplain's right to pray according to their faith?

A: YES

Eliminate FBI & DHS; interpret intelligence intelligently

Q: You say that you would eliminate the IRS, the CIA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Homeland Security, Medicare. You used to want to end the FBI. But if you get rid of the CIA, let alone the FBI, how would President Paul have any idea, any intelligence of what our enemies, foreign and domestic, are up to?

A: Well, you might ask a better question. Before 9/11, we were spending $40 billion a year, and the FBI was producing numerous information about people being trained on airplanes, to fly them but not land them. And they totally ignored them. So it's the inefficiency of the bureaucracy that is the problem. So, increasing this with the Department of Homeland Security and spending more money doesn't absolve us of the problem. Yes, we have every right in the world to know something about intelligence gathering. But we have to have intelligent people interpreting this information.

Pre-emptive war is not part of the American tradition

Q: What's the most pressing moral issue in the US today?

A: I think it is the acceptance just recently that we now promote pre-emptive war. I do not believe that's part of the American tradition. We in the past have always declared war in the defense of our liberties or go to aid somebody, but now we have accepted the principle of preemptive war. We have rejected the just- war theory of Christianity. And now, tonight, we hear that we're not even willing to remove from the table a pre-emptive nuclear strike against a country that has done no harm to us directly and is no threat to our national security!

We have to come to our senses about this issue of war and pre-emption and go back to traditions and our Constitution and defend our liberties and defend our rights, but not to think that we can change the world by force of arms and to start wars.

DHS is unmanageable bureaucracy--eliminate it

Q: You would eliminate the Department of Homeland Security?

A: DHS is a monstrous type of bureaucracy. It was supposed to be streamlining our security and it's unmanageable. I mean, just think of the efficiency of FEMA in its efforts to take care of the floods and the hurricanes.

Q: You would eliminate DHS in the midst of a war?

A: We should not go to more bureaucracy. It didn't work. We were spending $40 billion on security prior to 9/11, and they had all the information they needed there to deal with the threat, and it was inefficiency. So what do we do? We add a gigantic bureaucracy, which they're still working on trying to put it together, and a tremendous amount of increase in f

Military aggressiveness weakens our national defense

Q: How do you reconcile this moral leadership kind of role of conservatism with the very libertarian strain of conservatism--the Barry Goldwater conservatism--that you represent?

A: You do it by understanding of what the goal of government ought to be. If the goal of government is to be the policeman of the world, you lose liberty. And if the goal is to promote liberty, you can unify all segments. The freedom message brings us together; it doesn't divide us. I believe that when we overdo our military aggressiveness, it actually weakens our national defense. I mean, we stood up to the Soviets. They had 40,000 nuclear weapons. Now we're fretting day and night about third-world countries that have no army, navy or air force, and we're getting ready to go to war. But the principle, the moral principle, is that of defending liberty and minimizing the scope of government.

Be cautious about warrantless searches & habeas corpus

Q: What mistakes do you see in the Bush administration?

A: I would work very hard to protect the privacy of American citizens, being very, very cautious about warrantless searches. And I would guarantee that I would never abuse habeas corpus.

Criticizes use of war on terror to curtail civil liberties

He criticizes the United States' intervention in Iraq and what he charges is the use of the war on terror to curtail civil liberties. He also endorses a non-interventionist foreign policy and defederalization of the healthcare system, opposes the death penalty and abortion, and is strongly opposed to a military draft. He has also broken with his party by voting against the Patriot Act in 2001 and again in 2005. He is strongly opposed to a military draft.

Voted YES on restricting no-bid defense contracts.

1. Improving the Quality of Contracts--to restrict the contract period of noncompetitive contracts to the minimum period necessary to meet urgent requirements; and not more than one year unless the the government would be seriously injured.
2. Increasing Contract Oversight--to make publicly available (on websites) justification documents for using noncompetitive contract procedures.
3. Promoting Integrity in Contracting--to prohibit former federal officials from accepting compensation from contractors as lawyers or lobbyists.

Proponents support voting YES because:

In Iraq, we were told we needed Halliburton to get a contract without any competition because they were the only ones who know how to put out oil well fires. So they got a contract on a cost-plus basis even though they had a history of overcharging the taxpayers. And then later we found out that they didn't do anything about putting out oil well fires in the first Gulf war; it was Bechtel, not Halliburton. Contractors were given special treatment by not having healthy competition.

In dealing with Hurricane Katrina, and we have seen the same mistakes again: No-competition contracts; cost-plus contracts. We have seen what the result has been: Wasted taxpayer dollars. This bill requires that if there is an emergency to give a contract, give it. But then have bidding within a year.

Opponents support voting NO because:

We support transparency and accountability in decision-making, but this bill asks for audit reports that are only advisory. To provide those to Congress not only gives you too much information, a lot of it can be misleading and can increase the number of contract disputes.

When you are fighting a war, you need to move quickly. You don't give a 6-month appeal to the folks that lose the competition. You don't give small business set-asides because there is one thing you don't have, you don't have time.

Voted NO on allowing electronic surveillance without a warrant.

Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to allow the President & Attorney General to authorize electronic surveillance without a court order to acquire foreign intelligence information, after certifying that the surveillance is directed at the acquisition of communications of foreign agents.

Proponents support voting YES because:

Intelligence is the first line of defense in the war on terrorism. That means we have to have intelligence agencies and capabilities that are agile, that are responsive to changes in technology, and that also protect the civil liberties of Americans. Let me make an analogy. With modernization, we replaced Route 66 with Interstate 40. We no longer have the stoplights and the intersections. We created on ramps and off ramps and concrete barriers to protect the citizens where traffic was moving very quickly. That is like what we are trying to do here--FISA needs modernization.

Opponents support voting NO because:

We are legislating in the dark. We do not even know what the President is doing now because he will not tell us. The New York Times exposed that the administration had authorized secret surveillance of domestic conversations. When exposed, the President claimed he was operating under inherent powers, but court decisions have found that the President cannot simply declare administration actions constitutional and lawful, whether or not they are.

Yet rather than finding out what is going on, this legislation retroactively legalizes whatever has been going on. The President already has broad latitude to conduct domestic surveillance, including surveillance of American citizens, so long as it is overseen by the FISA court.

This bill does not enhance security, but it does allow surveillance without the traditional checks and balances that have served our Nation well.

Voted NO on continuing intelligence gathering without civil oversight

A resolution providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5020) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2007 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities. Voting YES indicates support of the current methods for intelligence-gathering used by the CIA and other agencies. The resolution's opponents say:

• This bill could have and should have required a dedicated funding line for the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The 9/11 Commission recommended this board to serve as a civil liberties watchdog on the potential erosion of the basic constitutional rights. Now, 15 months later, we find our concerns about basic civil rights to have been well founded, but the oversight board is barely up and running [and is not funded].
• Many of us believe that when the President authorized the NSA surveillance of Americans, he broke the law, plain and simple.
• We are talking about the most basic fundamental civil liberties that protect the American people, and the Republican leadership will not even let us debate it. What are they afraid of?
• If you believe that this President should have the ability to spy on Americans without a warrant and without going to the FISA court, then they should write that bill and bring it to the floor, then have a debate and a vote.

The resolution's proponents say:

• We have had the good fortune in this country for the last 4 1/2 years to have not had another terrorist attack on our soil, and it is not because they haven't tried. The reason for that success boils down to two things: the courage of our soldiers and the quality of our intelligence. Exceptional intelligence is the first line of defense for America in the long war on terrorism.
• I think as a responsible body we have to start out by getting the facts. That means hard work that is done largely in secret. Oversight is under way, and, for the most part, the National Security Agency has been very forthcoming.

Voted NO on federalizing rules for driver licenses to hinder terrorists

REAL ID Act of 2005: To establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, and to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence.

• Title I: Amendments to Federal Laws to Protect Against Terrorist Entry - defining more factors relevant to credibility determinations in asylum cases.
• Title II: Improved Security for Driver's Licenses and Personal Identification Cards - setting minimum security requirements, including the incorporation of specified data, a common machine-readable technology, and certain anti-fraud security features. Title III: Border Infrastructure and Technology Integration - studying ground surveillance technologies.

Voted YES on continuing military recruitment on college campuses

Expresses the continued support of Congress for, and encourages the executive branch to continue challenging any judicial decision against, specified provisions of Federal law prohibiting making certain Federal contracts with or grants to institutions of higher education that prevent military recruiters from having access to their campuses and to certain information about their students.

Voted NO on supporting new position of Director of National Intelligence

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004: Establishment of Director of National Intelligence, to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Director to have extensive national security expertise. Prohibits the Director from being located within the Executive Office of the President or simultaneously serving as head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or any other intelligence community (IC) element.

Voted NO on emergency $78B for war in Iraq & Afghanistan

Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2003: Vote to pass the bill that would supply $77.9 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations in fiscal 2003, including $62.5 billion for military operations in Iraq and the war on terrorism. The bill would also provide for $4.2 billion for homeland security, $8 billion in aid to allies and for Iraqi relief and rebuilding; $3.2 billion for U.S. airlines to cover additional security costs; and $1 billion in aid to Turkey.

Voted YES on permitting commercial airline pilots to carry guns

Armed Airline Pilots Bill: Vote to pass a bill that would create a program where commercial pilots would be deputized as federal law enforcement officers and would then be permitted to carry guns aboard airlines. To participate in the program, commercial pilots would have to undergo specialized training. At least 250 commercial pilots would undergo the training. Within two months of the bill's enactment, the Transportation Security Agency or TSA, would then be required to begin weapons training for pilots who had volunteered for the program. Airlines and pilots will not be held legally accountable when defending planes from terrorist acts except in cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence The TSA could temporarily put the program on hold if a pilot's gun unintentionally discharges and causes injury to a crew member or passenger. The bill also would entail flight attendants to undergo self-defense training. Also study training all federal law enforcement officers on aviation anti-terrorism.

Voted NO on $266 billion Defense Appropriations bill

Vote to pass a bill appropriating $266 billion in defense spending for FY 2000. Among other provisions the bill would allot $1.2 billion for research and development for next-generation tactical aircraft, yet would not include $1.8 billion in procurement funds for the new F-22 Raptor combat aircraft. The bill would also fund a 4.8 percent pay increase for military personnel. The bill would also allot $93.7 billion for operations and maintenance to be used to maintain military properties and spare parts that have been reduced due to overseas military combat missions.

Reference

Voted YES on deploying SDI

Vote to declare it to be the policy of the United States to deploy a national missile defense.

End draft registration; all-volunteer forces

Paul adopted the Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement:

As adopted by the General Membership of the Republican Liberty Caucus at its Biannual Meeting held December 8, 2000.

• WHEREAS libertarian Republicans believe in limited government, individual freedom and personal responsibility;
• WHEREAS we believe that government has no money nor power not derived from the consent of the people;
• WHEREAS we believe that people have the right to keep the fruits of their labor; and
• WHEREAS we believe in upholding the US Constitution as the supreme law of the land;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following [among its] principles:

1. US military should be deployed only where there is a clear threat to vital US interests and only with the consent of the US Congress.
2. No branch of the military should be put in harm’s way without a clear entrance and exit strategy and a goal, which when achieved, constitutes victory.
3. US military personnel should always be under US command.
4. US armed forces should be all-volunteer.
5. Military draft registration should be eliminated.

Federal duty to provide missile defense

Paul adopted the Republican Liberty Caucus Position Statement:

The Republican Liberty Caucus endorses the following [among its] principles:
It is the duty of the federal government to provide a system to defend against missile attacks.

Rated 67% by SANE, indicating a mixed record on military issues

Paul scores 67% by SANE on peace issues

Peace Action, the merger of The Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE) and The Freeze, has effectively mobilized for peace and disarmament for over forty years. As the nation's largest grassroots peace group we get results: from the 1963 treaty to ban above ground nuclear testing, to the 1996 signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, from ending the war in Vietnam, to blocking weapons sales to human rights abusing countries. We are proof that ordinary people can change the world. At Peace Action we believe...

• That every person has the right to live without the threat of nuclear weapons.
• That war is not a suitable response to conflict.
• That America has the resources to both protect and provide for its citizens.

As the Pentagon’s budget soars to $400 billion, 17% of American children live in poverty. For what the US will spend on Missile Defense in one year we could: put over a million children through Head Start OR provide healthcare for over 3.5 million children OR create over 100,000 units of affordable housing OR hire over 160,000 elementary school teachers. At Peace Action our priorities are clear.

The ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.

Terminate Selective Service

Paul sponsored terminating Selective Service

• Repeals the Military Selective Service Act.
• Prohibits the Office of Selective Service Records from being reestablished upon such repeal.
• Transfers the assets, property, and records held by the Selective Service System (SSS), as well as unexpended balances, to the Administrator of General Services.
• Requires that employees of the SSS be assisted to transfer to other positions in the executive branch.
• Prohibits any person from being denied a right, privilege, benefit, or employment position under Federal law on the grounds that the person failed to register under the Military Selective Service Act before its repeal.

Introductory statement by Sponsor:

Rep. PAUL: I am today introducing legislation to repeal the Selective Service Act. The Department of Defense, in response to calls to reinstate the Draft, has confirmed that conscription serves no military need. In his December confirmation hearings, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated his opposition to a military Draft. Secretary Gates' immediate predecessor, Donald Rumsfield, also publicly opposed reinstating the Draft.

Obviously, if there is no military need for the Draft, then there is no need for Selective Service registration. In 1993, the Department of Defense issued a report stating that registration could be stopped "with no effect on military mobilization and no measurable effect on the time it would take to mobilize, and no measurable effect on military recruitment."

Yet the American taxpayer has been forced to spend over $500 million dollars on an outdated system "with no measurable effect on military mobilization!" Shutting down Selective Service will give taxpayers a break without adversely affecting military efforts. I hope all my colleagues join me in working to shut down this un-American relic of a bygone era and help realize the financial savings and the gains to individual liberties that can be achieved by ending Selective Service registration.

Ron Paul on Homeland Security

 

We don't need any troops abroad--they don't help our defense

Q: How many troops do we have overseas right now?

A: I don't know the exact number, but more than we need. We don't need any.

Q: It's 572,000. And you'd bring them all home?

A: As quickly as possible. They will not serve our interests to be overseas. They get us into trouble. And we can defend this country without troops in Germany & troops in Japan. How do they help our national defense? Doesn't make any sense to me. Troops in Korea since I've been in high school! It doesn't make any sense

Opposes Patriot Act & Iraq War

Ron Paul is not your typical Republican. He strongly opposes the war in Iraq. He voted against the Patriot Act, and warns that President Bush is going down a dangerous path toward war with Iran.

The Patriot Act — Nobody Read It!

 

Stop policing the world and we can get rid of income tax

Q: If you eliminate the income tax, as you propose, do you know how much lost revenue that would be?

A: A lot.

Q: Over a trillion dollars.

A: That's good. We could save hundreds of billions of dollars if we had a sensible foreign policy. If you're going to be the policeman of the world, you need that. You need the income tax to police the world and run the welfare state. I want a constitutional-size government.

Q: Would you replace the income tax with anything else?

A: Not if I could help it. You know, there are some proposals where probably almost anything would be better than income tax. But there's a lot of shortcomings with the, with the sales tax. But it would probably be slightly better than the income tax--it would be an improvement. But the goal is to cut the spending, get back to a sensible-size government.

Bring all troops home from abroad & save $100B's every year

Q: You recommend this: "I'd start bringing our troops home, not only from the Middle East but from Korea, Japan and Europe and save enough money to slash the deficit." How much money would that save?

A: To operate our total foreign policy, when you add up everything, it's nearly a trillion dollars a year. So I would think if you brought our troops home, you could save hundreds of billions of dollars. You can start saving immediately by changing the foreign policy and not be the policeman over the world. We should have the foreign policy that George Bush ran on. You know, no nation building, no policing of the world, a humble foreign policy. We don't need to be starting wars. That's my argument.

READ MORE ON RON PAUL’S PLAN FOR AMERICA