Ron Paul blames Neocons

The third largest political party in the state of Texas, “The Libertarian Party of Texas”, looked also at the current refugee crisis gripping the European Union and was also confronted with the question if it is “all America’s fault”.

Fox Business Network has never before reached as many as 1 million viewers for an event, but this November the 10th an estimated 13.5 million people watched the fourth Republican presidential debate of the season, making it the most-watched program in Fox Business Network’s history.

We do know Fox news is not the best television station to rely on. On that station they considered Ron Paul his critique of US foreign policy in a recent interview on the Fox Business Channel as a smear to the United States. He does not blame the host for making this claim, but he thinks it is important to clarify the point.

For him it has become common to discount any criticism of US foreign policy as “blaming America first.” But like we here, also Americans should recognise that it is always best to check everything and to question many things. The easiest way is to swallow everything just like that. But for a democracy when everything is looked at and when everything is dared to be checked and questioned, everybody has to have the right to say his or her opinion. Freedom of speech is part of democracy.  It is a convenient way of avoiding a real discussion.

Ronald Ernest “Ron” Paul (born August 20, 1935) American physician, author, and politician, former Republican congressman, two-time Republican presidential candidate, and the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1988 U.S. presidential election.

The last decades we have seen America, Great-Britain and some other countries making false claims that certain countries had chemical and atomic weapons and were preparing attacks on the West. We saw certain countries like the United States of America putting on an aggressive policy in the Middle East – for example in Iraq. Ron Paul, about whom the mainstream media and the Republican establishment wish he would just go away, and many others think that may have resulted in the creation of terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda in Iraq. Now Ron Paul asks if pointing out the unintended consequences of bad policy is blaming America?

Is it “blaming America” to point out that blowback – like we saw on 9/11 – can be the result of unwise US foreign policy actions like stationing US troops in Saudi Arabia?

he questions.

Ron Paul wrote

In the Fox interview I pointed out that the current refugee crisis is largely caused by bad US foreign policy actions. The US government decides on regime change for a particular country – in this case, Syria – destabilizes the government, causes social chaos, and destroys the economy, and we are supposed to be surprised that so many people are desperate to leave? Is pointing this out blaming America, or is it blaming that part of the US government that makes such foolish policies?

We sincerely must see that in case Europe, America and Russia would have reacted much quicker not so much damage would have occurred and we would not have to face such a catastrophic outcome for the population who now tries to find better living opportunities in the West.

Accusing those who criticize US foreign policy of “blaming America” is pretty selective, however.

continues Paul.

Such accusations are never leveled at those who criticize a US pullback. For example, most neocons argue that the current crisis in Iraq is all Obama’s fault for pulling US troops out of the country.
Are they “blaming America first” for the mess?
No one ever says that.
Just like they never explain why the troops were removed from Iraq: the US demanded complete immunity for troops and contractors and the Iraqi government refused.

Do the Americans also not see that they have been long enough in a country which is not theirs? Were they to stay and to be what, an occupying army or a peace force army, for how long?

America with Europe and the whole world has to see that

Iraq was not a stable country when the US withdrew its troops anyway. As soon as the US stopped paying the Sunnis not to attack the Iraqi government, they started attacking the Iraqi government. Why? Because the US attack on Iraq led to a government that was closely allied to Iran and the Sunnis could not live with that! It was not the US withdrawal from Iraq that created the current instability but the invasion. The same is true with US regime change policy toward Syria. How many Syrians were streaming out of Syria before US support for Islamist rebels there made the country unlivable? Is pointing out this consequence of bad US policy also blaming America first?

Last year Ron Paul was asked by another Fox program whether he was not “blaming America” when he criticized the increasingly confrontational US stand toward Russia. Here’s how he put it then:

I don’t blame America. I am America, you are America. I don’t blame you. I blame bad policy. I blame the interventionists. I blame the neoconservatives who preach this stuff, who believe in it like a religion — that they have to promote American goodness even if you have to bomb and kill people.

In short Ron Paul clearly says

I don’t blame America; I blame neocons.

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Preceding articles:

Iraq’s economy buckles under the surging costs of fighting Islamic State militants and the plunge in global oil prices

Asylum seekers crisis and Europe’s paralysis

A former war refugee’s views on the current refugee crisis

Social media a destabilisation tool in the Middle East and Syrian conflict

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Additional reading:

1. Entering a new period of ‘Cold War’
2. Iraqi Underclass and animosities
3. Iraqi Christians flee homes amid Islamic militant rampage
4. ISIS, Mosul Dam and threatening lives of those who want to live in freedom
5. Wrong ideas about religious terrorism
6. UK forces EU to lift embargo on Syria rebel arms
7. Bringing into safety from Irak and Iran
8. Lacking legitimacy in the eyes of his people

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Further reading:

1. In Fox News, an Obama Nemesis Redux ; as Election Nears, Testing a Delicate…
2. Tuning in for News, Laughs; Viewers Trust What They Hear on Fox News and…
3. Chris Cuomo compares Fox’s Megyn Kelly to monkeys at a zoo
4. News Networks Need to Become More Expert at Finding ‘Experts’
5. Is Fox News A Member of Ku Klux Klan?
6. The End of a Scandalous Affair: Why a Liberal Loved and Left Ben Carson
7. Bill O’Reilly Fires Back at George Will—But the Fight Appears to Be Over
8. Democracy in Action
9. The End of a Scandalous Affair: Why a Liberal Loved and Left Ben Carson
10. Tuesday’s Republican Debate Was Fox Business’ Most Watched Program Ever
11. Fox Business Network Reached 13.5 Million for GOP Debate
12. Ron Paul’s Race: Presidential Aspirant Ron Paul Speaks about Successfully…
13. Ron Paul Revolution: GOP’s Last Best Hope; Party Must Recommit to Ideals of…
14. Ron Paul: Driving the Republican Election Debate Agenda
15. Have the Media Suppressed Ron Paul’s Coverage?
16. Interview on Liberty Cap Talk Live November 2015
17. Nov. 12th Polls – Rand Paul and Matt Jones (Kentucky Sports Radio)
18. Does the Bell Toll for the Fed? by Ron Paul

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