“Their foreign policies are identical, they want more troops in Afghanistan. They want to send more support to Georgia to protect the oil line there. Neither one says bring home the troops from Iraq from the bases — you know the bases are going to stay there, the embassy as big as the Vatican, that’s going to remain. So their foreign policies are exactly the same. They’re both very, very aggressive with Iran. So I would say there’s no difference.”
Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has declined to endorse either John McCain or Barack Obama, and he told CNN’s Kiran Chetry on Thursday that he sees “no difference” between them because both espouse foreign policies that only create more threats to our national interests.
Chetry asked Paul, “Do you think it’s a valid argument … that a John McCain administration would be a four-year extension of the Bush administration?”
“Sure, but I think that’s what’s going to happen with Obama, too,” Paul replied. “There’s no difference.”
“Their foreign policies are identical,” Paul explained. “They want more troops in Afghanistan. They want to send more support to Georgia to protect the oil line there. Neither one says bring home the troops from Iraq from the bases — you know the bases are going to stay there, the embassy as big as the Vatican, that’s going to remain. So their foreign policies are exactly the same. They’re both very, very aggressive with Iran. So I would say there’s no difference.”
“How would you handle these global threats, then, if it’s not to send our troops there and make sure that we’re protected?” Chetry asked.
“We create the threats!” Paul replied emphatically. “Why are we on the borders of Russia provoking the Russians? I mean, the Georgians initiated the military attack against these enclaves where there were mostly Russians. … It’s the fact that we’re over there that we create these crises.”
“Isn’t it part of our duty, though, to support these fledgling democracies that ask for our help?” asked Chetry.
“No, it’s not our responsibility to do that,” Paul said firmly. “We should endorse the principle but not send troops and money. … Once we get over there, we just aggravate the situation.”
“We bombed Serbia in order for Kosovo to become independent,” Paul concluded. “Now the Russians are doing the same thing. … It’s this total inconsistency.”
This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast August 28, 2008:
