- Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of
Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian.
Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling
American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the
auspices of "keeping us safe" or "promoting democracy"
or "protecting their strategic interests."
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- Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that
the Constitution did not apply to them. Imagine that every now and then
they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed
or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of
the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. Imagine that
they set up check points on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked
entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were fearful of these
foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought America would be better off
without their presence.
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- Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being
in Texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense
of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or
were unable to do so. Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists
or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured
and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers'
attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans, the resistance
would stop, but instead, for every American killed, ten more would take
up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most
of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return
home. Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home
and put an end to this horror.
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- Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took
office.
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- The reality is that our military presence on foreign
soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops
would be if they were stationed in Texas. We would not stand for it here,
but we have had a globe straddling empire and a very intrusive foreign
policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment towards
us.
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- According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle
East was the prime motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead
of re-evaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had
a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do
so many Americans feel as if we have a right to a military presence in
some 160 countries when we wouldn't stand for even one foreign base on
our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, mind you, these are
military installations. The new administration is not materially changing
anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics
does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply want our
men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in Iraq is not conducive
to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United States.
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- Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with
other nations with threats and violence is not isolationism. It is the
opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade and diplomacy
is the foreign policy of peace and prosperity. It is the only foreign policy
that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current actions most definitely
will. I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign
policy rhetoric coming from the administration. The sad thing is, our foreign
policy WILL change eventually, as Rome's did, when all budgetary and monetary
tricks to fund it are exhausted.
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- Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation
as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today.
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