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Sunday
March 21, 2010 Since 1922 |
Paul: It’s time to come home
By Luke Hales
Published November 11, 2009 District 14 congressional representative Ron Paul spoke to the West Chambers County Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, with a solid message about our soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan: it’s time to come home.
“The people at our embassy in Baghdad are trying to teach the Iraqi nation about democracy,” Paul said. “But the Iraqi people are ready for self-government.”
Paul, an outspoken critic of much of the legislation in Washington, D.C, is noted for voting on principle as to opposed to voting on party lines. He has drawn fire from fellow Republicans for not moving with the pack on multiple issues throughout his tenure in office. While many from the GOP voted for the PATRIOT Act and entry into the war in Iraq, Paul voted against both measures.
“I don’t believe in undeclared wars,” Paul said. “I was in the service during an undeclared war — Vietnam. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are quickly approaching becoming the longest conflicts in our nation’s history.
“Those who planned to harm us are doing just that on the battlefield and in the economy. We’ve lost close to 6,000 servicemen and women since these wars began. They’re bleeding us slowly.”
Paul was also quick to note that wars of this nature, with the problems our military faces, can create severe trauma in the minds of those who serve. “There’s tens of thousands of soldiers out there who’ve been through three or four tours over there,” Paul said. “Lots of the people are having real problems with stress. And the suicide rate in our military is at a record high.
“We have good soldiers who just go AWOL, and then are caught, but they beg to be tried and removed from duty because they just can’t take it any longer.”
Paul noted that since the Korean War, American warfare has become mired in uncertainty. “We don’t have the goals we had in World War II,” Paul said. “We knew who the enemy was, we had the goal of victory. In Korea, Vietnam, we don’t have that kind of mindset.
“Every time we drop bombs on civilians, we create new families bent on killing Americans. We’ve got to bring the troops home.”
Published November 11, 2009 District 14 congressional representative Ron Paul spoke to the West Chambers County Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, with a solid message about our soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan: it’s time to come home.
“The people at our embassy in Baghdad are trying to teach the Iraqi nation about democracy,” Paul said. “But the Iraqi people are ready for self-government.”
Paul, an outspoken critic of much of the legislation in Washington, D.C, is noted for voting on principle as to opposed to voting on party lines. He has drawn fire from fellow Republicans for not moving with the pack on multiple issues throughout his tenure in office. While many from the GOP voted for the PATRIOT Act and entry into the war in Iraq, Paul voted against both measures.
“I don’t believe in undeclared wars,” Paul said. “I was in the service during an undeclared war — Vietnam. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are quickly approaching becoming the longest conflicts in our nation’s history.
“Those who planned to harm us are doing just that on the battlefield and in the economy. We’ve lost close to 6,000 servicemen and women since these wars began. They’re bleeding us slowly.”
Paul was also quick to note that wars of this nature, with the problems our military faces, can create severe trauma in the minds of those who serve. “There’s tens of thousands of soldiers out there who’ve been through three or four tours over there,” Paul said. “Lots of the people are having real problems with stress. And the suicide rate in our military is at a record high.
“We have good soldiers who just go AWOL, and then are caught, but they beg to be tried and removed from duty because they just can’t take it any longer.”
Paul noted that since the Korean War, American warfare has become mired in uncertainty. “We don’t have the goals we had in World War II,” Paul said. “We knew who the enemy was, we had the goal of victory. In Korea, Vietnam, we don’t have that kind of mindset.
“Every time we drop bombs on civilians, we create new families bent on killing Americans. We’ve got to bring the troops home.”