Ron Paul Unplugged

Dec. 11, 2007 — -- Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is the only Republican presidential candidate who says we need to get our troops out of Iraq now, and that we never should have invaded Iraq at all.

The United States should not be the "world's policeman," said Paul.

"It's OK for us to have a responsibility, personally, to help other people … [but] to go around the world and spread democracy and spread our goodness, no. I think it doesn't work … too many unintended consequences, and, to spread our goodness overseas, it usually requires force.

"We're spreading our goodness in Iraq, [and] we can't do that without dropping bombs on them and killing a lot of people."

I pointed out to him that many people say, "If we don't attack the enemy over there, then they'll attack us here." Paul argued that the opposite is true, that America having bases overseas is what inspires hatred against the United States, especially American bases in areas that many Muslims view as holy.

He also said he doesn't view suicide terrorism as a solely religious issue.

"The country that has the most suicide terrorism is Sri Lanka, and it's not a Muslim issue. … The two most radical Islamic countries in the world, Iran and Sudan, do not commit suicide terrorism, so that is not the litmus test; the litmus test is whether they interpret, or we are actually occupying a territory that they resent, [and] in the case of Saudi Arabia, that was holy land for them.

"If China were to do the same thing to us, and they were here, and they had troops in our land, and they said they were going to protect their oil … we would resent it, we'd probably do some shooting," he said.

As far as the threat of Middle Eastern countries acquiring nuclear weapons, Paul said, "It's the lack of diplomacy that is the greatest threat, not the weapons themselves."

I asked him if war is ever justifiable. "Sure," he said. "If you're attacked, you have a right and an obligation to defend our country, and the Constitution is very clear on that. … I do not believe there is ever a moral justification to start the war."