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2005 Ron Paul Chapter 104 Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional website. Congressional Record [.PDF] The Iraq War 18 October 2005 2005 Ron Paul 104:1 Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for 5 minutes. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Texas? There was no objection. ,BR> The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. PAUL) is recognized for 5 minutes. 2005 Ron Paul 104:2 Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, supporters of the preemptive war against Iraq say it was justified by the unprovoked 9/11 attacks. They claim that Muslim hatred for our democracy, freedom, Western values, and prosperity inspired the 19 suicide terrorists who attacked us on that dreadful day. 2005 Ron Paul 104:3 Opponents of the war argue that al Qaeda radicals who planned the attacks were not allies of Saddam Hussein, and that Iraq posed no threat to our national security. They further argue that our occupation of Iraq now inspires a growing number of radical Islamists to join the ranks of al Qaeda and support its war against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. 2005 Ron Paul 104:4 But proponents of the war insist that our presence in Iraq is not what motivates al Qaeda to attack us, since we had no troops on Iraqi soil on 9/11; and yet al Qaeda attacked us anyway. 2005 Ron Paul 104:5 The enemy, they claim, is simply a group of radical Islamic fundamentalists who have hijacked the Muslim religion and declared war against our values for no legitimate or logical reason. 2005 Ron Paul 104:6 We should look at the facts if we want to understand why a growing number of Iraqis and Muslims worldwide are now motivated to join the insurgents in a guerrilla resistance that includes suicide terrorism. It is true that there were no U.S. troops in Iraq on 9/11, but it is also true that Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing to do with that attack. 2005 Ron Paul 104:7 In addition, we have been bombing Iraq since 1991, more than 10 years, on a regular basis. Stiff economic sanctions imposed on Iraq for over a decade by the U.S. and Britain caused extreme suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, many of them children. 2005 Ron Paul 104:8 Most military experts consider an economic blockade an act of war. We insulted and provoked millions of Muslims, especially fundamentalists, by keeping a military base in Saudi Arabia after the Persian Gulf War. 2005 Ron Paul 104:9 Osama bin Laden specifically expressed outrage at this policy in his writings. Throughout the 1980s, we allied ourselves with Saddam Hussein, a secularist in his fight against Iran and other Shiite fundamentalists. 2005 Ron Paul 104:10 We involved ourselves in this civil struggle within the Muslim community. For decades, we supported various secular Arab governments throughout the region, always in opposition to religious fundamentalists. The U.S. never waivered in its enthusiastic support of Israel over Arab-Muslim interests. 2005 Ron Paul 104:11 For decades Muslim fundamentalists have viewed U.S. policy as being driven by religious zealots because of the strong vocal support from many fundamentalist Christian leaders. 2005 Ron Paul 104:12 For literally hundreds of years, Europe has continually challenged Muslim and Arab domination of the Middle East. We have never, Europe or the United States, denied our interest in controlling Middle East oil. From Woodrow Wilson to the current neoconservative brand of foreign policy, the zeal for spreading democracy and Western values through force of arms has antagonized most Muslims. 2005 Ron Paul 104:13 If we continue to insist that our policy of foreign intervention has nothing to do with the ongoing war against an enemy we refuse to understand, we guarantee that this war will not soon end. 2005 Ron Paul 104:14 My suggestion is to change our foreign policy. Stop the war, bring our troops home, and stop the wasteful spending overseas. If we do not, the real security of our homeland will continue to be in jeopardy and the economic consequences will get worse and our freedoms at home will be further reduced. 2005 Ron Paul 104:15 It is time to say no to undeclared wars. It is time to say no to political and U.N. wars. It is time to say no to preemptive war. It is time to say no to nation building. It is time to say no to assuming it is our duty to make the world safe for democracy. It is time to say no to meddling in the affairs of others. It is time to say no to fighting countries that have never threatened our national security. It is time to stop financing extravagant war spending by printing more money. It is time to say yes to more sensible diplomacy. 2005 Ron Paul 104:16 The senseless death and suffering of so many with nothing to show for it must end. Peace is a far better goal to strive for than an undefined victory in a war that has no end.

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