2010 Ron Paul 16:1
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker I rise in opposition
to this motion to instruct House conferees on
H.R. 2194, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions,
Accountability and Divestment Act, and I rise
in strong opposition again to the underlying bill
and to its Senate version as well. I object to
this entire push for war on Iran, however it is
disguised. Listening to the debate on the floor
on this motion and the underlying bill it feels
as if we are back in 2002 all over again: the
same falsehoods and distortions used to push
the United States into a disastrous and unnecessary
one trillion dollar war on Iraq are being
trotted out again to lead us to what will likely
be an even more disastrous and costly war on
Iran. The parallels are astonishing.
2010 Ron Paul 16:2
We hear war advocates today on the Floor
scare-mongering about reports that in one
year Iran will have missiles that can hit the
United States. Where have we heard this
bombast before? Anyone remember the
claims that Iraqi drones were going to fly over
the United States and attack us? These
“drones” ended up being pure propaganda—
the UN chief weapons inspector concluded in
2004 that there was no evidence that Saddam
Hussein had ever developed unpiloted drones
for use on enemy targets. Of course by then
the propagandists had gotten their war so the
truth did not matter much.
2010 Ron Paul 16:3
We hear war advocates on the floor today
arguing that we cannot afford to sit around
and wait for Iran to detonate a nuclear weapon.
Where have we heard this before? Anyone
remember then-Secretary of State Condoleeza
Riceís oft-repeated quip about Iraq:
that we
cannot wait for the smoking gun to appear as
a mushroom cloud.
2010 Ron Paul 16:4
We need to see all this for what it is: Propaganda
to speed us to war against Iran for the
benefit of special interests.
2010 Ron Paul 16:5
Let us remember a few important things.
Iran, a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, has never been found in violation
of that treaty. Iran is not capable of enriching
uranium to the necessary level to manufacture
nuclear weapons. According to the entire U.S.
Intelligence Community, Iran is not currently
working on a nuclear weapons program.
These are facts, and to point them out does
not make one a supporter or fan of the Iranian
regime. Those pushing war on Iran will ignore
or distort these facts to serve their agenda,
though, so it is important and necessary to
point them out.
2010 Ron Paul 16:6
Some of my well-intentioned colleagues
may be tempted to vote for sanctions on Iran
because they view this as a way to avoid war
on Iran. I will ask them whether the sanctions
on Iraq satisfied those pushing for war at that
time. Or whether the application of
ever-stronger sanctions in fact helped war advocates
make their case for war on Iraq: as each
round of new sanctions failed to “work”—to
change the regime—war became the only remaining
regime-change option.
2010 Ron Paul 16:7
This legislation, whether the House or Senate
version, will lead us to war on Iran. The
sanctions in this bill, and the blockade of Iran
necessary to fully enforce them, are in themselves
acts of war according to international
law. A vote for sanctions on Iran is a vote for
war against Iran. I urge my colleagues in the
strongest terms to turn back from this unnecessary
and counterproductive march to war.
