Marco Rubio's 7 Lousy Foreign Policy Judgments: If you liked George W. Bush, you'll love Rubio

REASON ^ | 04/15/2015 | Matt Welch

[SeekAndFind]

On Monday, I wrote about how Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) is the foreign policy antithesis to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) in the 2016 GOP presidential field, frequently sparring directly with his fellow member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. To collect some of Rubio's foreign-policy uber-hawkery in one place, I've compiled a list of seven highly questionable judgments by the Cuban-American freshman senator.

1) Supported regime change in Libya. March 30, 2011:

[T]his resolution should also state that removing Muammar Qaddafi from power is in our national interest and therefore should authorize the President to accomplish this goal. […]

For more than four decades, Qaddafi has terrorized the Libyan people, sowed instability among its neighbors, plotted assassination attempts against heads of state and supported terrorist enterprises such as the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 innocent people - including 189 Americans.

Inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, Libyans have rebelled against Qaddafi's brutal regime, demanding democratic reforms, transparent governance, and respect for basic human and civil rights. […]

The world is a better place when America is willing to lead. And American leadership is required now more than ever.

Bolding mine (as will be below) to highlight the cruel chasm between wishes and reality.

2) Advocates an unconditional authorization of war against the Islamic State. Feb. 11, 2015:

There is a pretty simple authorization [President Barack Obama] could ask for and it would read one sentence: 'We authorize the president to defeat and destroy ISIL.' Period. And that's what I think we should do.

Open-ended declarations of war have not been a friend of liberty or limited government.

[BenLurkin]

[MichaelCorleone]

Well I don’t...and I won’t.

[EGPWS]

KEERIST!

With the present situation I miss Jimma'!

[ansel12]

Reason magazine is the flagship libertarian magazine, so they are weak on defense and anti-Reagan on foreign affairs.

[cowboyusa]

Rubio is a king Neo-Con. He is all in on the surveillance state, was all in on the war on Libya, and for meddling around in the Middle East. How has that worked out for Christians? He would have us be a busybody all over the world. Cruz has the true Reagan foreign policy of using the military to only defend the US,
and not go nationbulding around the world. Reason is very right about this.

[conservativejoy]

So glad to see such due diligence in reporting the facts on candidates positions. Great job!

[ansel12]

Reagan and Cruz are sure not libertarians, Cruz wants to supply weapons to Ukraine and Reagan invaded Grenada for regime change.

Reagan was busy all over the globe taking on dictators and regimes that he wanted destroyed or weakened, or replaced.

[Theoria]

I have always said, if you like John McCain, you will love Marco Rubio.

[cowboyusa]

All true, but all of it was toward the purpose of stopping the global Soviet threat to US. The fp that Rubio supports has upended the strongmen that kept the radicals in check. It has not benefited us at all, in fact it has made us less safe. Reagan also played Iran and Iraq against each other perfectly. Just a personal question if you don't mind: Do you think that Radical Islam is a bigger threat the Soviet Union was? (I think the Soviet Union was the bigger threat.)

[ansel12]

The Soviet Union was the more immediate threat.

Today Putin is trying to regain that power to threaten the world.

[lormand]

REASON magazine? No thanks!