Posted by
Justin Hayes (L) on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 3:00:00 AM
Unfortunately, Ron Paul and the Libertarian solution to fighting
terrorism has been falsified by conservative commentators and the
media. We have been accused of being "cut and runners" just because we
don't support the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, that is not true. We
realize that terrorism
is a threat to our country. However, we believe
that there are better ways of dealing with it than preemptive wars.
Iraq was not a threat to our security nor did it support the terrorists
involved in 9/11. If we wanted to go to war with a country due to its
links with the attacks of 9/11, it would have made more sense to attack
Saudi Arabia, but unfortunately, they are our "friend." Not that I support attacking Saudi Arabia.
But just because we do not support this war with Iraq, which has made
our country less secure by giving the terrorists more motivation to
recruit members
against us, does not mean we did not or do not support a
counter-attack on the terrorists cells who committed the brutal
acts on 9/11.
Many neo-conservatives and members of the media would like you to believe that Ron Paul
and his supporters believe in disbanding the military and not doing
anything against the threat of terrorism. This is completely false. We
believe in removing our military from unnecessary places in the world,
where there is no threat. We believe in bringing our troops home,
focusing on defense rather than offense, while at the same time rooting
out the terrorists that
are threats to our country. We also believe in focusing on securing our borders so that attacks like 9/11 could be made almost impossible. We realize that our
presence in the Middle-East over the past couple decades has led to the
rise in the terrorist organizations. When the Soviet Union invaded the
region, we gave them weapons and called them freedom fighters. Now these
same groups we once called freedom fighters are the ones that attacked
or inspired the attacks of 9/11 because, just as they didn't like the
Soviet occupation, they didn't like us being there either. Especially setting up bases so close to the Islamic holy land in Saudi Arabia. Hints how Bin Laden was able to recruit his hijackers.
Conservatives don't like (and I don't mean Republicans) big government at home, so why should they be so eager to get involved around the world?
Libertarians believe in respecting the sovereignty of nations to take care of
their own problems, just as we should do domestically. We had a revolution, we had a Civil War, (which was unnecessary), we had a
lot of changes to go through in our development as a nation, and we
shouldn't try to choose sides in their independant endeavors.
If we are attacked or
face the threat of attack from another country, then it is our duty to
use military action with the declaration by Congress, not resolutions
by the United Nations.
I'll let Dr. Paul take it from here.
Dr. Paul:
It has been over 6 years since the atrocities of September 11 were
committed and there are still some very basic measures that need to be
taken to bring the perpetrators to justice and make America safer. I
have proposed legislation to help with these efforts and will continue
to fight in Congress for the safety and security of the American people.
My legislation entitled The Marque and Reprisal Act of 2007 (HR 3216)
makes the surgical strike option available to the President in our
mission to capture Bin Laden. Our military has been pursuing him
without result for far too long now, and it is high time ALL
constitutional tools were utilized in the hunt for this dangerous
madman. As an American it sickens me to know that Bin Laden and top
leaders of al Qaeda remain at large and thumbing their noses at us,
while we unravel the sacred fabric of our constitution out of fear. It
is Osama Bin Laden and the perpetrators of terrorist attacks that ought
to be afraid of us, not the other way around. The answers are found in
the Constitution. We should boldly root out the perpetrators and not
let them get away with their crimes against us. As the home of the
brave we should use Letters of Marque and Reprisal to bring Bin Laden
to justice.
Also, we need to take serious steps to prevent terrorists from gaining
easy access to targets on our soil. Quite alarmingly, even with the
knowledge that the 19 terrorist hijackers entered our country legally,
and that 15 of them were from Saudi Arabia , student visas from
terrorist sponsoring countries are still far too easily obtained. In a
baffling move President Bush struck a deal with Saudi King Abdullah in
2005 to allow 21,000 more Saudi young men into the US on student Visas.
Of course, not all students from terror sponsoring countries are
terrorists, but I place a higher premium on the security of the
American people than the convenience of citizens of hostile countries.
We should not be making the goals of would-be terrorists easier to
accomplish, but rather should be vigilant about defending against
enemies at every turn. They should not be slipping through our doors so
easily, using our immigration laws against us, and that is why I
proposed the Terror Immigration Elimination Act (HR 3217) to toughen
standards for VISAS from countries on the State Department's list of
terrorist sponsoring countries in addition to Saudi Arabia . Just as
you decide who to invite to a dinner party in your home, we should be
in charge of who we allow in this country, without apology.
A lot has been done to fight the War on Terror and much of it has been
misdirected, but there are some tools still needed and more progress to
be made. My bills The Marque and Reprisal Act of 2007 and The Terror
Immigration Elimination Act are logical steps in the right direction.