Watching the debate — and subsequent debate coverage from FOX and other networks made me realize one very important thing: The people of this country are absolutely stark-raving mad. They are so disillusioned and out of tune with reality that they can not even comprehend the fact that people all over the world hate us and it is not because of Britney Spears, Coca-Cola, rap music, our culture, or even our freedom. No, the fact is they hate us because of our foreign policy. They hate us because we have military bases all over the middle east — and the rest of the world for that matter. They hate us because we pick sides in Middle Eastern conflict. Yes, thats right, they hate us because of our foreign policy. Because of our foreign policy. OUR FOREIGN POLICY. Texas Representative Ron Paul had the guts to bring this up in the GOP debate only to subsequently be attacked by a truly ignorant Rudy Giuliani. The exchange went something like this:
Ron Paul: “They attack us because we’ve been over there. We’ve been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We’ve been in the Middle East [for years]. I think (Ronald) Reagan was right. We don’t understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. Right now, we’re building an embassy in Iraq that is bigger than the Vatican. We’re building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting.”
Rudy Giuliani: (Pandering to the audience) “That’s really an extraordinary statement. That’s really an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of Sept. 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq. I don’t think I have ever heard that before and I have heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11. I would ask the congressman withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn’t really mean that.” (Roaring applause from brainwashed neo-con audience)
Ron Paul: (Proudly sticking to his guns) “I believe very sincerely that the CIA is correct when they teach and talk about blow back. When we went into Iran in 1953 and installed the Shah yes, there was blow back. A reaction to that was the taking of our hostages and that persists. If we ignore that, we ignore that at our own risk. If we think that we can do what we want around the world and not incite hatred then we have a problem. They don’t come here to attack us because we are rich and we’re free, they come and attack us because we are over there. What would we think if other countries were doing that to us?”
Here is the video evidence:
I have a question for the shiftless bureaucrat that is Rudy Giuliani: Did you even read the 9/11 commission report? If you did, you would know that in 1996 Bin Laden issued “his self-styled fatwa calling on Muslims to drive American soldiers out of Saudi Arabia” and another in 1998 as a part of a long series of statements by Bin Laden showing resentment towards the interventionist policies of the United States into the Middle Eastern politics, particularly in his home country of Saudi Arabia. Thats right, they hate us because of our interventionist foreign policies.
To quote a wonderful Yahoo News Article:
The 9-11 Commission based its assessments on testimony from experts on terrorism and the Middle East. Asked about the motivations of the terrorists, FBI Special Agent James Fitzgerald told the commission: “I believe they feel a sense of outrage against the United States. They identify with the Palestinian problem, they identify with people who oppose repressive regimes, and I believe they tend to focus their anger on the United States.”
Fitzgerald’s was not a lonely voice in the intelligence community.
Michael Scheuer, the former Central Intelligence Agency specialist on bin Laden and al-Qaeda, has objected to simplistic suggestions by President Bush and others that terrorists are motivated by an ill-defined irrational hatred of the United States. “The politicians really are at great fault for not squaring with the American people,” Scheuer said in a CNN interview. “We’re being attacked for what we do in the Islamic world, not for who we are or what we believe in or how we live. And there’s a huge burden of guilt to be laid at Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton, both parties for simply lying to the American people.”
I find it quite interesting that someone like Mr. Giuliani who claims to be so keen on terrorism prevention does not even know the true cause of said terrorism. Either he doesn’t care enough about terrorism to read the 9/11 commission report and listen to the CIA agents or he doesn’t care enough about the American people to tell them the truth. He would rather say the things that pull on their heart strings and get him the applause. Politics as usual I’m afraid. Either way, I sure as hell do not want him running the country that I live in.
Oh and did I mention Mit Romney wants to double the size of Guantanamo Bay? What the fuck is wrong with these people?
On a more positive note, Ron Paul was winning the live text messaging poll throughout most of the post debate coverage. The look on Sean Hannity’s face was priceless each time he had to announce it. Dr. Paul ended the night in second place behind Romney and ahead of Giuliani. Maybe America is waking up. Only time will tell.
