Ron Paul: Wrong on the Taliban

National Review Online ^ | January 19, 2012 | Andrew C. McCarthy

[Cincinatus' Wife]

RonPaul knows even less about the history of our enemies than he does about their proper treatment under the Constitution. He actually interrupted Monday night’s Republican candidates’ debate so he could interject the following:

>>>I would like to point out one thing about the Taliban. The Taliban used to be our allies when we were fighting the Russians. So Taliban are people who want — their main goal is to keep foreigners off their land. It’s the al-Qaeda — you can’t mix the two. The al-Qaeda want to come here to kill us. The Taliban just says, “We don’t want foreigners.” We need to understand that, or we can’t resolve this problem in the Middle East. We are going to spend a lot of lives and a lot of money for a long time to come.<<<

Everything in this statement is wrong. Everything. Let’s start with the most basic point. The Taliban most certainly were not “our allies when we were fighting the Russians.” How could they have been, considering that the Taliban did not exist at the time of the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan?

I won’t belabor the point that it was not the UnitedStates but the Afghan mujahadeen,with the help of non-AfghanMuslims (mostly Arab), who did the actual fighting against the Soviets. We did,after all, fuel the anti-Soviet jihad with billions of dollars in materiel and other assistance — through our intermediary, Pakistani intelligence, with the Saudis matching our aid dollar-for-dollar. Presumably,this is what RepresentativePaul was talking about. Nevertheless, while a number of the Taliban’s eventual founders were veterans of the anti-Soviet jihad, the fact is that the Taliban was not established as an organization until 1994. That is five years after the Soviet Union skulked out of Afghanistan and three years after it collapsed.

[CitizenUSA]

I’m amazed that Ron Paul claimed he understands the Taliban’s motives. He’s separated from reality. I think he sees the world not as it really is but through ideological blinders, and his sort of ideology could get a lot of people killed.

[Uncle Lonny]

The man is a nut case!

His charge about the Taliban is bogus propaganda that has been spouted by the hard left for years.

What next? Paul claiming that Bush wired the twin towers for demolition that it was set off a floor below the impact area of the two airliners an hour after they crashed into it?

It wouldn’t surprise me a bit.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

This small statement of idiocy on Ron Paul’s part was overlooked because of all the other idiotic statements he makes. For instance, he wants zero percent income tax? He said that in the debate. Yes, I would like to see lower taxes, but zero??? Unless he’s got a plan out there for a national sales tax I’m unaware of, exactly how does he plan to raise the funds to run necessary government functions? Does he seriously believe that taxes on imports and tarrifs would raise those funds?

I think he’s smoking some of that stuff he claims should be legalized....

[Colonel Kangaroo]

The Taliban is as welcoming to foreigners as the friendly Afghan people has always been. And no doubt we will succeed in making over Afghanistan in our democratic freedom loving image. Maybe the British Empire and the USSR failed in Afghanistan but we shall surely succeed. After all, we have tons of money to spend.

Whatever failings Ron Paul has in foreign policy pales to insignificance compared to the comedy/tragedy of Afghan errors produced by America's three stooges, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and current President Obama.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

And his vetting is not taken seriously because he won’t/can’t “win” the nomination, yet what IS he doing — he’s giving Romney the path to the nomination — so the “Establishment” makes it no big deal (Yawn — Isn’t this interesting? — Yawn).

[x_plus_one]

Ron Paul, M.D. is an academic elitist and needs a real education. Medical schools are the ultimate academic ivory tower. Ron Paul’s disease can be cured with the longest, most expensive learning curve that will kill us all.

[Theophilus]

I'm a Ron Paul supporter and I wish he would not apologize for the Taliban. They are despicable in innumerable ways (pedophilia, abuse of women, murder of Christian converts, drug production and trade) and they are financially exploiting our military and it's supply line via the jingle truck protection racket. While feigning hatred and jihad toward the "foreign infidel" on their soil, they are tapping us for every penny they can get.

For anyone who has been following Afghanistan, you would know that part of the current strategy of Obama and our military leaders is to negotiate with the Taliban. Did you notice how strangely gracious the Taliban spokemen were about the urination incident? They quickly assured the world that it would not harm negotiations???

Whatever you can say about Dr. Paul, you can bet that he has absolutely no desire to negotiate with them. It is obvious that he wants to extract us from that tar baby as quickly our servicemen can fly out of there since there is nothing to gain there at all.

[Theophilus]

Nobody would be sadder to see us go than the Taliban. (except maybe the Pakistanis)

[SJackson]

Ron Paul’s Absurd ‘Golden Rule’

[USS Alaska]

Nevertheless, while a number of the Taliban’s eventual founders were veterans of the anti-Soviet jihad, the fact is that the Taliban was not established as an organization until 1994. That is five years after the Soviet Union skulked out of Afghanistan and three years after it collapsed.

Do not let facts get in the way of rupaul's story.

The man has a good idea when it comes to fiscal policy, but no understanding at all of foreign policy.

[mnehring]

All of you mean people don't get it. Dr. Paul was a combat OBGYN who actually delivered the Taliban and Osama himself, right after he gave the Founding Fathers their first pap smear. All of you must hate the Constitution to disagree with Paul. He is known as the "Ministry of Truth" and if he says it, it must be true. We are not at war with Oceania, errr.... I mean the Taliban.

Do not argue with Tehran Ron

[USS Alaska]

I'm a Ron Paul supporter and I wish

Of course you do, it's kinda like hoping for change, but you're wishing for the unicorn.

Peace in our time, the taliban are our friends, the mooselimb terrorists are only trying to get the nuke so that we will respect them.

If a Chinese dissident came to America, that would be like osama bin laden going to pakistan....HUH???

Rupaul is a nut and if you support him, just take a bottle of sleeping pills and the pain will end.

Or you can just WISH...

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

” bogus propaganda”

Hey! Leave me outa this!

[Theophilus]

Rupaul is a nut and if you support him, just take a bottle of sleeping pills and the pain will end.

I realize that Dr Paul is old, inarticulate, philosophically flawed and sometime incoherent. However, in the case of foreign policy, I support him because it is better to be right for the wrong reasons than fully, delusionally and dogmatically self persuaded that nation building in Afghanistan is a good idea.

You want to talk "nuts"? How nutty is it to spend 1.2 million per deployed serviceman per year (FY11) on this boondoggle? You go ahead in froth in Ron Paul derangement over his stupid comments about the Taliban. Bankruptcy will drive us from our folly before they ever will.

[Tatze]

This small statement of idiocy on Ron Paul’s part was overlooked because of all the other idiotic statements he makes. For instance, he wants zero percent income tax? He said that in the debate. Yes, I would like to see lower taxes, but zero??? Unless he’s got a plan out there for a national sales tax I’m unaware of, exactly how does he plan to raise the funds to run necessary government functions? Does he seriously believe that taxes on imports and tarrifs would raise those funds?

We had a zero percent income tax until the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified in 1913. A zero percent income tax was the design of the founders. The progressive mindset of massive spending prompted the need for increased revenues and its gotten more and more out of control since then.

So I would love a return to a zero percent income tax, but there first must be massive spending cuts. In practicality, I wouldn't mind the income tax so much if there was not so much waste, fraud and outright massive unconstitutional spending. Reign in the spending to only what is constitutionally authorized, and the income tax could be slashed dramatically or eliminated altogether.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Reign in the spending to only what is constitutionally authorized, and the income tax could be slashed dramatically or eliminated altogether."

I live in Littoralville and in Littoralville you are not going to get rid of all the welfare programs in the next 4 years. Even if it were possible, you would still need more taxes than what comes in from tarrifs to fund the government. This is more 19th century thinking. In 1900 we didn't have the Armed Forces of today. Are you saying we should just do away with the Navy? We no longer have the option of riding on the British Empires coatails to ensure free and open waterways.

[Tatze]

Wow, you certainly read a lot into my statement that was not there.

Is a military a constitutionally authorized expense? Yes, so we should not get rid of the Navy, nor did I say we should.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Is a military a constitutionally authorized expense? Yes, so we should not get rid of the Navy, nor did I say we should."

I didn't read anything into it. You do away with income tax and don't have a national sales tax. You rely on tarrifs and import taxes to raise federal revenue, you have defacto given up our military because you can't raise the revenue to fund most of the federal government. Keep in mind, this is what Ron Paul (your candidate) wants. To raise federal revenue by import taxes and tarrifs. Hence why I said it's 19th century thinking because that's what we did before we had the income tax. There was a short time during the Civil War when we had an income tax.

[Tatze]

No seriously, stop reading things into my statements. You aren’t very good at it. Ron Paul is most certainly NOT my candidate.