The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under
the Speaker’s announced policy of January
6, 1999, the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. PAUL) is recognized for 60 minutes.
1999 Ron Paul 29:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, supporters
of internationalism celebrated NATO’s
50th anniversary with the Senate’s 1998
overwhelming approval for expanding
NATO to include Eastern European
countries. This year’s official inclusion
of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic
made all NATO’s supporters
proud, indeed. But in reality, NATO
now is weaker and more chaotic than
ever.
1999 Ron Paul 29:2 In the effort to expand NATO and
promote internationalism, we see in reaction
the rise of ugly nationalism.
The U.S. and NATO policy of threats
and intimidation to establish an autonomous
Kosovo without true independence
from Serbia, and protected by
NATO’s forces for the foreseeable future,
has been a recipe for disaster.
1999 Ron Paul 29:3 This policy of nation-building and interference
in a civil war totally contradicts
the mission of European defense
set out in the NATO charter.
1999 Ron Paul 29:4 Without the Soviet enemy to justify
the European military machine, NATO
had to find enemies and humanitarian
missions to justify its existence. The
centuries-old ethnic hatreds found in
Yugoslavia and the militant leaders on
all sides have served this purpose well.
Working hard to justify NATO’s policy
in this region has totally obscured any
objective analysis of the turmoil now
raging.
1999 Ron Paul 29:5 Some specific policy positions of
NATO guaranteed that the ongoing
strife would erupt into a full-fledged
and dangerous conflict. Once it was determined
in the early 1990s that outsiders
would indict and try Yugoslavian
war criminals, it was certain
that cooperation with western negotiators
would involve risks. Fighting to
the end became a practical alternative
to a mock international trial. Forcing
a treaty settlement on Serbia where
Serbia would lose the sovereign territory
of Kosovo guaranteed an escalation
of the fighting and the forced removal
of the Kosovars from their
homes.
1999 Ron Paul 29:6 Ignoring the fact that more than
500,000 Serbs were uprooted from Croatia
and Bosnia with the encouragement
of NATO intervention did great
harm to the regional effort to reestablish
more stable borders.
1999 Ron Paul 29:7 The sympathy shown Albanian refugees
by our government and our media,
although justified, stirred the flames of
hatred by refusing to admit that over a
half million Serbs suffered the same
fate and yet elicited no concern from
the internationalists bent on waging
war. No one is calling for the return of
certain property and homes.
1999 Ron Paul 29:8 Threatening a country to do what we
the outsiders tell them or their cities
will be bombed is hardly considered
good diplomacy. Arguing that the
Serbs must obey and give up what they
see as sovereign territory after suffering
much themselves as well as face
war crimes trials run by the West
makes no sense. Anyone should have
been able to predict what the results
would be.
1999 Ron Paul 29:9 The argument that, because of humanitarian
concerns for the refugees,
we were forced to act is not plausible.
Our efforts dramatically increased the
refugee problem. Milosevic, as he felt
cornered by the Western threats, reacted
the only way he could to protect
what he considered Serbia, a position
he defends with international law while
being supported by unified Serb people.
1999 Ron Paul 29:10 If it is the suffering and the refugees
that truly motivate our actions, there
is no answer to the perplexing question
of why no action was taken to help the
suffering in Rwanda, Sudan, East
Timore, Tibet, Chechnya, Kurdish,
Turkey, and for the Palestinians in
Israel. This is not a reason; it is an excuse.
1999 Ron Paul 29:11 Instead, we give massive foreign aid
to the likes of China and Russia, countries
that have trampled on the rights
of ethnic minorities.
1999 Ron Paul 29:12 How many refugees, how many children’s
death has U.S. policy caused by
our embargo and bombing for 9 years of
a defenseless poverty-ridden Iraq. Just
as our bombs in Iraq have caused untold
misery and death, so have our
bombs in Serbia killed the innocent on
both sides, solidified support for the
ruthless leaders, and spread the war.
1999 Ron Paul 29:13 This policy of intervention is paid for
by the U.S. taxpayer and promoted illegally
by our President without congressional
authority, as is required by
the Constitution.
1999 Ron Paul 29:14 The United States Government has
in the past referred to the Kosovo Liberation
Army leaders as thugs, terrorists,
Marxists, and drug dealers. This
current fight was initiated by Kosovo’s
desire for independence from Serbia.
1999 Ron Paul 29:15 The KLA took on the Serbs, not the
other way around. Whether or not one
is sympathetic to Kosovo’s secession is
not relevant. I for one prefer many
small independent governments
pledged not to aggress against their
neighbors over the international special
interest authoritarianism of
NATO, the CIA, and the United Nations.
1999 Ron Paul 29:16 But my sympathies do not justify our
taxing and sending young Americans to
fight for Kosovo’s independence. It is
wrong legally and morally; and besides,
the KLA is not likely to institute a
model nation respecting civil liberties
of all its citizens.
1999 Ron Paul 29:17 The biggest irony of this entire mess
is to see the interventionists, whose
goal is one world government, so determined
to defend a questionable group
of local leaders, the KLA, bent on secession.
This action will not go unnoticed
and will provide the philosophic
framework for the establishment of a
Palestinian state, Kurdistan, and independent
Tibet, and it will encourage
many other ethnic minorities to demand
independence.
1999 Ron Paul 29:18 Our policy of intervention in the internal
affairs of other nations, and
their border disputes is not one that
comes from American tradition or constitutional
law. It is a policy based on
our current leaders’ belief that we are
the policemen of the world, something
we have earnestly and foolishly pursued
since World War II and in a more
aggressive fashion since the demise of
the Soviet Union.
1999 Ron Paul 29:19 Interventionism is done with a pretense
of wisdom believing we always
know the good guys from the bad guys
and that we will ignore the corporate
and political special interests always
agitating for influence. Nothing could
be further from the truth.
1999 Ron Paul 29:20 Instead of being lucky enough on occasions
to pick the right side of a conflict,
we instead end up supporting
both sides of nearly every conflict. In
the 1980s, we helped arm, and allied
ourselves with, the Iraqis against Iran.
Also in the 1980s we supported the Afghan
freedom fighters, which included
Osama Bin Laden. Even in the current
crisis in Yugoslavia, we have found
ourselves on both sides.
1999 Ron Paul 29:21 The United States, along with the
United Nations, in 1992 supported an
arms embargo against Kosovo essentially
making it impossible for the
Kosovars to defend themselves against
Serbia. Helping the Albanian Muslims
is interpreted by some as token appeasement
to the Arab oil countries
unhappy with the advantage the Serbs
got from the arms embargo.
1999 Ron Paul 29:22 This balancing act between three vicious
warring factions was doomed to
fail and has only led to more instability
and the spreading of the war in
the region.
1999 Ron Paul 29:23 Instead of pretending to be everything
to everyone, while shifting alliances
and blindly hoping for good to
come of it, we should reconsider the advice
of the Founders and take seriously
the strict restraints on waging war
placed in the Constitution.
1999 Ron Paul 29:24 Not much long-term good can come
of a foreign policy designed to meddle
and manipulate in places where we
have no business or authority. It cannot
help the cause of peace.
1999 Ron Paul 29:25 Unfortunately, our policies usually
backfire and do more harm than good.
When weaker nations are intimidated
by more powerful ones, striking back
very often can be done only through
terrorism, a problem that will continue
to threaten all Americans as our leaders
incite those who oppose our aggressive
stands throughout the world.
1999 Ron Paul 29:26 War has been used throughout history
to enhance the state against the
people. Taxes, conscription and inflation
have been used as tools of the
state to pursue wars not popular with
the people. Government size and authority
always grows with war, as the
people are told that only the sacrifice
of their liberties can save the nation.
Propaganda and threats are used to coerce
the people into this careless giving
up of their liberties.
1999 Ron Paul 29:27 This has always been true with military
wars, but the same can be said of
the war mentality associated with the
war on drugs, the war on poverty, the
war against illiteracy, or any other
war proposed by some social do-gooder
or intentional mischief maker.
1999 Ron Paul 29:28 But when a foreign war comes to our
shores in the form of terrorism, we can
be sure that our government will explain
the need for further sacrifice of
personal liberties to win this war
against terrorism as well. Extensive
preparations are already being made to
fight urban and domestic violence, not
by an enhanced local police force, but
by a national police force with military
characteristics.
1999 Ron Paul 29:29 Even the war against national disasters
led by FEMA, usurps local authority
while imposing restraints on movement
and controlling recovery efforts
that should be left to local police, private
insurance, and voluntary groups.
1999 Ron Paul 29:30 Our overseas efforts to police the
world implies that with or without success,
resulting injuries and damage imposed
by us and others will be rectified
with U.S. tax dollars in the form of
more foreign aid, as we always do. Nation
building and international social
work has replaced national defense as
the proper responsibility of our government.
1999 Ron Paul 29:31 What will the fate of NATO be in the
coming years? Many are fretting that
NATO may dissolve over a poor showing
in Yugoslavia, despite the 50th anniversary
hype and its recent expansion.
Fortunately for those who cherish
liberty and limited government, NATO
has a questionable future.
1999 Ron Paul 29:32 When our leaders sanctioned NATO
in 1949, there were many patriotic
Americans who questioned the wisdom
and the constitutionality of this organization.
It was by its charter to be
strictly a defensive organization designed
to defend Western Europe from
any Soviet threat. The NATO charter
clearly recognized the Security Council
of the United Nations was responsible
for the maintenance of international
peace and security.
1999 Ron Paul 29:33 Likewise, the legislative history and
congressional testimony maintained
NATO could not usurp from Congress
and the people the power to wage war.
We have drifted a long way from that
acknowledgment, and the fears expressed
by Robert Taft and others in
1949 were certainly justified.
1999 Ron Paul 29:34 United States and NATO, while deliberately
avoiding a U.N. vote on the
issue, have initiated war against a sovereign
state in the middle of a civil
war. A Civil War that caused thousands
of casualties and refugees on both sides
has been turned into a war with hundreds
of thousands of casualties and
refugees with NATO’s interference. The
not-so-idle U.S. threats cast at
Milosevic did not produce compliance.
It only expanded the violence and the
bloodshed.
1999 Ron Paul 29:35 The foolishness of this policy has become
apparent, but Western leaders are
quick to justify their warmongering. It
was not peace or liberty or national security
they sought as they sent the
bombs flying. It was to save face for
NATO.
1999 Ron Paul 29:36 Without the Soviets to worry about,
NATO needed a mission, and stopping
the evil Serbs fit the bill. It was convenient
to ignore the evil Croates and
the Kosovars, and it certainly was easy
to forget the United Nations’, NATO’s,
and the United States’ policies over the
past decade that contributed to the
mess in Yugoslavia.
1999 Ron Paul 29:37 It was soon apparent that bombing
was no more a successful diplomatic
tool than were the threats of dire consequences
if the treaty, unfavorable to
the Serbs, was not quickly signed by
Milosevic. This drew demands that policy
must be directed toward saving
NATO by expanding the war. NATO’s
credibility was now at stake and how
could Europe, and the United States
war machine, survive if NATO were to
disintegrate.
1999 Ron Paul 29:38 Hopes as expressed by Ron Brown and
his corporate friends were not extinguished
by the unfortunate and mysterious
Air Force crash while on their
way to Bosnia to do business deals. Nobody
even bothers to find out what U.S.
policy condones business trips of our
corporate leaders in a war zone on an
Air Force aircraft. Corporate interests
and the military-industrial complex
continues to play a role in our Yugoslavian
war policy. Corporate America
loves NATO.
1999 Ron Paul 29:39 Most politicians and the public do
not know what NATO’s real mission is,
and today’s policy cannot be explained
by reading its mission statement written
in 1949. Certainly our vital interests
and national security cannot justify
our escalation of the war in Yugoslavia.
1999 Ron Paul 29:40 The excuse that we are the only superpower
is hardly a moral reason to
justify bombing nations that are seen
as uncooperative. Military strength
gives neither a right to bully nor a monopoly
on wisdom. This strength too
often, when held by large political entities,
is used criminally to serve the
powerful special interests.
1999 Ron Paul 29:41 The Persian Gulf and Yugoslavia obviously
are much more economically
intriguing than Rwanda and Sudan.
There are clearly no business benefits
for taking on the Chinese over its policy
toward Tibet. Quite the contrary,
we do business with China and subsidize
her to boot.
1999 Ron Paul 29:42 In spite of the powerful political and
industrial leaders’ support behind
NATO, and the budgets of 19 Western
countries, NATO’s days appear numbered.
We shall not weep when NATO
goes the way of the Soviet Empire and
the Warsaw Pact. Managing a war with
19 vetoes makes it impossible for a coherent
strategy to evolve. Chaos, bickering,
bureaucratic blundering, waste
and political infighting will surely result.
1999 Ron Paul 29:43 There is no natural tendency for big
government to enjoy stability without
excessive and brute force, as was used
in the Soviet system. But eventually
the natural tendency towards instability,
as occurred in the Soviet Empire,
will bring about NATO’s well-deserved
demise. NATO, especially since
it has embarked on a new and dangerous
imperialistic mission, will find
using brute force to impose its will on
others is doomed to fail.
1999 Ron Paul 29:44 It has been said that, in numbers,
there is strength. But in politics, it can
also be said that, in numbers, there is
confusion as differences become magnified.
1999 Ron Paul 29:45 Nationalism is alive and well even
within the 19-member NATO group.
When nationalism is non-militaristic,
peace loving, and freedom oriented, it
is a force that will always undermine
big government planners, whether
found in a Soviet system or a NATO/U.N. system.
1999 Ron Paul 29:46 The smaller the unit of government,
the better it is for the welfare of all
those who seek only peace and freedom.
NATO no longer can hide its true
intent behind an anti-communist commitment.
1999 Ron Paul 29:47 Some have wondered how a 1960s generation
administration could be so
proned to war. The 1960s were known
for their rebellion against the Vietnam
War and a preference for lovemaking
and drugs over fighting, even Communists.
In recent months four separate
sovereign nations were bombed by
the United States. This has to be some
kind of a record. Bombing Belgrade on
Easter has to tell us something about
an administration that is still strangely
seen by some as not having the determination
to fight a real war. There
is a big difference between being anti-war
when one’s life is at risk as compared
to when it is someone else’s.
That may tell us something about
character, but there is more to it than
that.
1999 Ron Paul 29:48 Many who were opposed to the Persian
Gulf and Vietnam Wars are now
strongly supporting this so-called just
and humanitarian war to punish those
who are said to be totally responsible
for the Yugoslavian refugee problem.
The fact that Serbia is not Communist
in the sense of North Vietnam may
play a part for some in making the decision
to support this war but not the
war in Vietnam. But the Persian Gulf
War was not at all about communism,
it was about oil.
1999 Ron Paul 29:49 Some from the left, if strongly inclined
toward internationalism, supported
the Persian Gulf War, but for
the most part the opposition came
from those who chose not to support a
president of the opposite party, while
today, supporting one’s own party’s position
to bomb the Serbs becomes politically
correct.
1999 Ron Paul 29:50 The same can be said of those who
are opposed to the Yugoslavian war.
Where they supported the Persian Gulf
War, this administration has not garnered
their support for partisan reasons.
The principle of interventionism,
constitutionality and morality have
not been applied consistently to each
war effort by either political party, and
there is a precise reason for this, over
and above the petty partisanship of
many.
1999 Ron Paul 29:51 The use of government force to mold
personal behavior, manipulate the
economy and interfere in the affairs of
other nations is an acceptable practice
endorsed by nearly everyone in Washington
regardless of party affiliation.
Once the principle of government force
is acknowledged as legitimate, varying
the when and to what degree becomes
the only issue. It is okay to fight Communists
overseas but not Serbs; it is
okay to fight Serbs but not Arabs. The
use of force becomes completely arbitrary
and guided by the politician’s
good judgment. And when it pleases
one group to use constitutional restraint,
it does, but forgets about the
restraints when it is not convenient.
1999 Ron Paul 29:52 The 1960s crowd, although having a
reputation for being anti-war due to
their position on Vietnam, has never
been bashful about its bold authoritarian
use of force to mold economic
conditions, welfare, housing, medical
care, job discrimination, environment,
wages and working conditions, combined
with a love for taxes and inflation
to pay the bills. When in general
the principle of government force to
mold society is endorsed, using force to
punish Serbs is no great leap of faith,
and for the interventionists is entirely
consistent. Likewise, the interventionists
who justified unconstitutional
fighting in Vietnam, Panama, Nicaragua,
Grenada, Libya and the Persian
Gulf, even if they despise the current
war in Yugoslavia, can easily justify
using government force when it pleases
them and their home constituency.
1999 Ron Paul 29:53 Philosophic interventionism is a
politician’s dream. It allows arbitrary
intervention, domestic or international,
and when political circumstances
demand opposition, it is
easy to cite the Constitution which always
and correctly rejects the use of
government force, except for national
self-defense and for the protection of
life, liberty and property.
1999 Ron Paul 29:54 Politicians love interventionism and
pragmatism, the prevailing philosophy
of our age, a philosophy based on relative
ethics. No rigid adherence to law
or morality is required. Even the Constitution
can be used in this delicate
debate of just when and for whom we
go to war. The trick is to grab the political
moral high ground while rejecting
the entire moral foundation upon
which the law rests, natural rights, rejection
of force and the requirement
politicians be strictly bound by a contract
for which all of us take an oath
to uphold.
1999 Ron Paul 29:55 What does this hodgepodge philosophy
here in the Congress mean for the
future of peace and prosperity in general
and NATO and the United Nations
in particular? Pragmatism cannot prevail.
Economically and socially it
breeds instability, bankruptcy, economic
turmoil and factionalism here at
home. Internationally it will lead to
the same results.
1999 Ron Paul 29:56 NATO’s days are surely numbered.
That is the message of the current
chaos in Yugoslavia. NATO may hold
together in name only for a while, but
its effectiveness is gone forever. The
U.S. has the right to legally leave
NATO with a 1-year’s notice. That we
ought to do, but we will not. We will
continue to allow ourselves to bleed financially
and literally for many years
to come before it is recognized that
governance of diverse people is best
done by diverse and small governments,
not by a one-world government
dependent on the arbitrary use of force
determined by politically correct reasons
and manipulated by the powerful
financial interests around the world.
1999 Ron Paul 29:57 Our more immediate problem is the
financing of the ongoing war in Yugoslavia.
On February 9 of this year I introduced
legislation to deny funds to
the President to wage war in Yugoslavia.
The Congress chose to ignore
this suggestion and missed an opportunity
to prevent the fiasco now ongoing
in Yugoslavia.
1999 Ron Paul 29:58 The President, as so many other
presidents have done since World War
II, took it upon himself to wage an illegal
war against Yugoslavia under
NATO’s authority, and Congress again
chose to do nothing. By ignoring our
constitutional responsibility with regards
to war power, the Congress implicitly
endorsed the President’s participation
in NATO’s illegal war
against Yugoslavia. We neither declared
war nor told the President to
cease and desist.
1999 Ron Paul 29:59 Now we have a third chance, and
maybe our last, before the war gets out
of control. We are being asked to provide
all necessary funding for the war.
Once we provide funds for the war, the
Congress becomes an explicit partner
in this ill-conceivedNATO-inspired
intervention in the civil war of a sovereign
nation, making Congress morally
and legally culpable.
1999 Ron Paul 29:60 Appropriating funds to pursue this
war is not the way to peace. We have
been bombing, boycotting and killing
thousands in Iraq for 9 years with no
end in sight. We have been in Bosnia
for 3 years, with no end in sight. And
once Congress endorses the war in
Yugoslavia with funding, it could take
a decade, billions of dollars, and much
suffering on both sides, before we put it
to an end.
1999 Ron Paul 29:61 Bellicosity and jingoism associated
with careless and illegal intervention
can never replace a policy of peace and
friendship whenever possible. And when
it is not, at least neutrality. NATO’s
aggressive war of destruction and
vengeance can only make the situation
worse. The sooner we disengage ourselves
from this ugly civil war, the better.
It is the right thing to do.
Notes:
1999 Ron Paul 29:10
East Timore probably should be East Timor.
1999 Ron Paul 29:10
Kurdish, Turkey probably should be either Kurdistan, Turkey or Kurdish Turkey (without the comma).
1999 Ron Paul 29:20
Osama Bin Laden probably should be uncapitalized: Osama bin Laden.
1999 Ron Paul 29:32
The NATO charter clearly recognized the Security Council of the United Nations was responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security. probably should be
The NATO charter clearly recognized that the Security Council of the United Nations was responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.
1999 Ron Paul 29:34
A Civil War that caused thousands of casualties probably should not be capitalized:
A civil war that caused thousands of casualties.
1999 Ron Paul 29:36
the evil Croates probably should be the evil Croats.
1999 Ron Paul 29:57
On February 9 of this year I introduced legislation to deny funds to the President to wage war in Yugoslavia. See
1999 Ron Paul Chapter 6.
