[Dr. Frank fan]

No country can risk a military war with the United States, nor can one risk sheltering terror groups who do (re: afghanistan, which paul supported action against).

Sure they can shelter terror groups which do, as long as they hide it better than Afghanistan did. In such cases Ron Paul will be out in the forefront arguing that there is "no link" and "terrorists are just thugs". And states sheltering terror groups is not the only concern; what about supporting them?

The whole point here is that the Ron Paul mindset undermines deterrence entirely. Deterrence is about making credible threats to respond to attack. Ron Paul is essentially telegraphing to any potential enemies that if they hide their connection to an attack well enough, he'll look the other way.

[traviskicks]

Ron Paul is essentially telegraphing to any potential enemies that if they hide their connection to an attack well enough, he'll look the other way.

And the alternative? Attack any old country without evidence of knowledge or complicity in terrorist attacks, but a mere suspicion?