Posted on 03/31/2014 8:24:21 AM PDT by thetallguy24
At the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin this weekend highlighted a video of Rand Paul speaking in 2012 about sanctions on Iran. In it, Paul disparages the notion of use of force, and for some reason claims the United States was partly to blame for World War II!
“There are times when sanctions have made it worse. I mean, there are times .. leading up to World War II we cut off trade with Japan. That probably caused Japan to react angrily. We also had a blockade on Germany after World War I, which may have encouraged them … some of their anger.”
Rubin spoke with David David Adesnik of the American Enterprise Institute about Paul’s remarks:
After viewing the video, he tells Right Turn, “Blaming the U.S. for Pearl Harbor is a long-standing isolationist habit that reflects tremendous historical illiteracy. Sen. Paul is very poorly informed if he thinks U.S. sanctions ‘probably caused Japan to react angrily.’” He explains, “The U.S. cut off oil supplies to Japan in August 1941, long after Japan had launched its atrocity-laden war against China in 1937. The evidence is conclusive that Japan was determined to dominate all of East Asia. Believing that the U.S. would not stand by passively if it overran Thailand, Singapore, Malaya and the East Indies, Japan launched its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.”
With regard to the Senator’s comments about Germany, Adesnik declared them “so eccentric that it’s hard to be sure what he’s even talking about.” He goes on to point out the obvious, which is that we should be proud of our actions in Europe before and during the war, regardless of whether or not they antagonized the Nazis.
Senator Paul at the time of the video and in remarks since, referred to a nuclear Iran as “not a good idea”, which is true, in much the same way that sticking one’s hand in a wood chipper is a “not a good idea”.
Equally as troubling is his explanation of the rationale for sanctions being “doing something is better than doing nothing.” A colleague objects to Paul’s “straw man” and remarks “is this how we think about national security now?” Good question. Another good question is whether or not the first consideration in pursuing American interests and security is whether or not an enemy or “rogue” nation may become annoyed with us.
Rubin says that “these comments, his bizarre take on historical events and his current opposition to sanctions (in accord with President Obama) raise troubling issues regarding his true beliefs and the degree to which his father’s radical libertarian ideas have rubbed off on him.”
Indeed the issues are raised. And going into 2016, Obamaesque waffling on treading lightly or Ron Paul-like isolationism are not attributes anyone in this party should be looking for in a candidate. Answers to those issues, therefore, should be top priority for Senator Paul.
*Updated with partial transcription of relevant portion for those without audio. 10:43 AM.
We might ask the Chinese if they speak Japanese.
Boy they can’t wait to take anyting he says and twist it into something...
As a political discussion he makes valid points. Hindsight is always clearer.
What a bunch of BS and who the hell cares?
Exactly! Not to mention FDR looking the other way while the attack planes approached Pearl. I had a grandfather IN the White House at the time. Not only could FDR walk if he wanted to, he did a bit of a jig when the attack news came.
Senator Paul is outstanding on some issues, but he’s hardly a conservative. That means we can ally with him at times, but we have to occasionally oppose him.
While his statement is likely true—that America’s trade actions helped influence the Japanese to attack us—he stunningly ignores the greater context. The Japanese were an evil, militaristic culture bent on regional conquest. Calling them evil is an understatement, because the Japanese were absolutely inhuman to anyone they conquered. In other words, they deserved everything they got in WWII and probably a whole lot more.
I don’t think America should be trading with nations like pre-WWII Japan. That would have made us complicit in their actions toward others, like the rape of Nanking in 1937. It also bears noting that we did NOT initiate actual military hostilities. The Japanese started it, and thank God we finished it. They are a far better people today because of it.
A factually true statement. The sanctions against Japan were meant to curtail its ability to fight a modern war against China, and they were extremely effective.
Iron ore, steel, and oil were the key embargoed items, and oil was the real big one. The embargo left Japan with two choices; i.e. take the oil or submit. Japan chose the former.
The lesson being that the enemy always has a choice when you present them with an ultimatum, and any effective embargo is an ultimatum.
FDR was quite foolish to present such an ultimatum to the Japanese and then not be ready for them to fight. What did the Japanese absolutely need, if they weren't to submit? Oil, which could only be gotten in Indonesia.
P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C
He goes down on notch in my estimation. Not beacuse of his theory. I don’t know enough deatilas of the history of the era to say if it’s vaguely possible, but rather because it was a stupid thing to say. And, if you’re running for office you should avoid saying stupid things (unless you’re a democrat, and then it’s expected and won’t hurt you. Look at Biden.)
Continuing to fuel Togo’s war machine with American oil would have made us complicit in the rape of China.
The video posted at the given link:
Rand Paul explains his vote in favor of sanctions against Iran
In it he was explaining his vote for the sanctions saying he believed that we needed to do something to Iran, and most of the video he explains why a pre-emptive war against Iran is a bad idea.
The GOPe machine, particularly the Neocon foreign policy wing, finds Rand Paul distasteful.
I don’t find him so distasteful.
This is part of a smear campaign to take down Rand Paul.
If Rand thinks that endorsing Mitch McConnell buys him insurance from the smearing and destruction of his presidential ambitions by the GOPe, he’s wrong.
I would favor Cruz over Paul but if its Paul versus the GOPe (Christie, Bush etc. or their backups like Scott Walker) I vote Paul.
His ignorance of history is breathtaking. As the saying goes, it is better to remain silent and be thought as an idiot than to speak out and remove all doubt.
At this point I can only conclude that there is no doubt but that Rand Paul is an idiot.
Had he said we should have been better prepared to defend Pearl ok, but blaming us for Pearl is out of whack. The guy comes across as a weasel.
“There are times when sanctions have made it worse. I mean, there are times .. leading up to World War II we cut off trade with Japan. That probably caused Japan to react angrily. We also had a blockade on Germany after World War I, which may have encouraged them … some of their anger.”
Nation states do not remain in a state of perpetual gratitude when their allies of the moment move on to their subsequent self serving policies. Our first President George Washington told the French to get lost when they tried to involve us in their adventures despite the debt we owed them so recently incurred. Nations do not have loyalties, only interests.
He was referring to the "Hunger Blockade" that the Allies maintained against Germany after the Armistice, keeping food from getting into Germany during the post-Armistice famine. It was lifted when Germany agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
There is a lot of truth in what he is saying but any legitimate defense the Japanese might have for their actions were destroyed by their cruelty and brutality towards conquered people.
Also attacking a country in a sneak attack is guaranteed to cause hatred towards those doing the attacking.
I have a book titled “The Rape of Nanking” which should enrage all civilized people. Oddly enough the hero of Nanking who saved thousands of Chinese was a Nazi.
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