Ron Paul On The Failures Of U.S. Intervention In Libya

Video - Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk - Aug. 29, 2011

Full transcript is below.  This is outstanding.

Source - Ron Paul

Mission Accomplished in Libya?

Even as a major hurricane hit America's eastern seaboard, the administration is determined to expand the war in Libya while threatening the regime in Syria.  Is there any limit to government's appetite to create more problems for our nation and economy?

Americans may be tempted to celebrate the apparent victory of US and NATO backed rebels in Libya, since it seems the Gaddafi regime is overthrown. But I believe any enthusiasm for our Libyan misadventure is premature.

The Obama administration attacked Libya without a constitutional declaration of war, without congressional authorization, without meaningful consultation with Congress -- and without a dollar being authorized from the House or Senate.  It was a war started by a president who turned to the United Nations for its authority and ignored the authority of the US Congress.

Are we better off as a nation by ignoring and debasing our Constitution?  Are we better off having spent more than a billion dollars attacking a country thousands of miles away that had not threatened us?  Are we more financially sound having expanded the empire to include yet another protectorate and probable long-term military occupation?  Are we more admired throughout the world for getting involved in yet another war?

Still, many will claim that getting rid of Libyan ruler Gaddafi was worth it. They will say that the ends justify the means. As the civilian toll from NATO bombs adds up in a war started under the guise of protecting a civilian population, even the initial argument for intervention is ridiculous. We should not forget that there were no massacres taking place in Libya before the NATO attack. The attack was a dubbed a preventative humanitarian intervention.  But as soon as NATO planes started bombing, civilians started dying.

Gaddafi may well have been a tyrant, but as such he was no worse than many others that we support and count as allies. Disturbingly, we see a pattern of relatively secular leaders in the Arab world being targeted for regime change with the resulting power vacuum being filled by much more radical elements.  Iraq, post-Saddam, is certainly far closer to Iran than before the US invasion.  Will Libya be any different?

We already see grisly reprisals from the US-backed rebels against their political opponents.  There are disturbing scenes of looting and lawlessness on the part of the rebels.  We know that some rebel factions appear to be allied with Islamic extremists and others seem to have ties to the CIA.  They also appear to have a penchant for killing each other as well as supporters of the previous regime.  The tribal structure of Libyan society all but ensures that an ongoing civil war is on the agenda rather than the Swiss-style democracy that some intervention advocates suggest is around the corner.

What is next after such a victory?  With the big Western scramble to grab Libya's oil reserves amid domestic political chaos and violence, does anyone doubt that NATO ground troops are not being prepared for yet another occupation?

Neo-conservatives continue to dominate our foreign policy, regardless of the administration in power.  They do not care that we are bankrupt, as they are too blinded by their desire for empire and their affection for the entangling alliances we have been rightly counseled to avoid. They have set their sights next on Syria, where the US moves steadily toward intervention in another domestic conflict that has nothing to do with the US.  Already the US president has called for "regime change" in Syria, while adding new sanctions against the Syrian regime.  Are US bombers far behind?

Comments

[Canuck]

Not quite the brutal dictaor the media has made him out to be.

http://sherriequestioningall.blogspot.com/2011/08/truth-about-libya-watch-this-video-and.html

[Tim]

THese people are all ESTABLISHMENT republcans and democrats. They are for the status quo, because they are all in one way or another FEEDING OFF the Federal Government

[MontgomeryScott]

I spent some time researching Muammer Al-Qaddafi. this morning.

I suggest that you watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q11R56Y0Dx4

If this gets your attention, then you can open this link for further eludication:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8744/readgb.htm

These links do not appear to have any atteched viruses (according to Malwarebytes).

"I HAVE MET THE ENEMY, and it is US!!"

Love those George Soros-backed 'rebels' and the banking army called 'NATO'!
CAN YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH?

I am
MontgomeryScott

[MIke S]

Ron Paul gets it right yet again, he would stop the insanity of starting war after war, and help the US remedy its economic problems. Ron Paul is the only hope we have of not sinking into a quagmire of depression and societal breakdown, and contributing to he start of WW3. Ron Paul 2012.

[MP]

I would vote for Obama instead of Perry or Romney, etc anyday - but I would definitely vote for Ron Paul even over Obama. I really hope Ron Paul gets on the main ballot.

[john]

While the banks are getting some real exposure and pressure from some of the worlds greatest financial/economic news sites like the daily bail, the cries for war keep growing louder as the banksters are taking some real heat and will starting throwing each other under the bus shortly. This has the attention of the politicians who are equally complicit and they too will learn what being thrown under the bus feels like.

The MSM is still remarkably silent about the massive criminality of both the banks and our so called leadership.

If we go back in time, some of you will remember the S&L scandal, where Bill Black jailed over 1000 bankers and we must remember John McCains role in the Keating 5.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-k-black/keating-five-michael-patriarca_b_1412109.html

Here is what McCain is trying to do IMHO to save the bankers asses again.

http://thehill.com/video/senate/239151-mccain-us-should-form-coalition-of-the-willing-to-aid-syrian-rebels-


We cannot allow our leadership to change the subject. The banks and many in congress need to be brought to task for destroying this country (and quite a few others too). Enough is enough. We need to take corrective actions here before it's too late.