The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. PAUL) for 5 minutes.
2011 Ron Paul 10:1
Mr. PAUL.
The important question being asked today with regards to foreign policy is should the United States impose a no-fly zone over Libya? There are leaders on both sides of the Capitol and leaders in both parties who are now advising this as well as individuals in the administration. It is my opinion that we should not. It would be foolish, it would have a downside, and we should think very, very carefully before we go expanding the wars that we’re already involved in. We’re in two major wars with Iraq and Afghanistan, and that involves Pakistan and Yemen already.
2011 Ron Paul 10:2
So to go into Libya now and impose a no-fly zone—we have to remember, a no-fly zone is an act of war. What moral right do we have to participate in war activity against Libya? Libya hasn’t done anything to the United States. They’re not a threat to our national security. There’s been no aggression. There’s no constitutional authority for a President to willy-nilly go and start placing no-fly zones over countries around the world.
2011 Ron Paul 10:3
We tried this in the 1990s and did it for 8 or 9 years. We had a no-fly zone, along with sanctions and blockades, around Iraq. Finally, it ended up with war. And the wars were based on lies. And then when that happened they said, yes, but it was well worth it because we got rid of a bad guy. But we also lost close to 4,500 American military people, 30-some thousand suffered severe injuries and hundreds of thousands are applying now for disability because we went to war when we shouldn’t have gone to war.
2011 Ron Paul 10:4
To expand this war now makes no sense whatsoever. It’s against international law. It challenges the War Powers Resolution. For that reason, we should stop and think. Congress should act. I’m preparing to introduce a resolution next week that it is the sense of Congress that the executive branch can’t do this without approval from the Congress.
2011 Ron Paul 10:5
Why should we do this? Do you think it will cost some money? Yes, it is going to cost a ton of money. Innocent people will be killed. You can’t just all of a sudden turn a switch and say don’t fly over Libya; you have to bomb a lot of anti-aircraft sites and a lot of military establishments, so the war is on.
2011 Ron Paul 10:6
From my viewpoint, this is the kind of thing that has been going on too long. It contributes significantly to our bankruptcy, and we are now spending approximately $1 trillion a year maintaining our empire around the world. We are in the process of remaking all the borders and leadership in the Middle East and Central Asia, and now in North Africa we’re getting involved. We have invested $70 billion trying to prop up a dictator in Egypt, and look at how that ended up. Now we are hustling around to find out who the next dictator is.
2011 Ron Paul 10:7
So if we get involved, I’m not sure they even know who to bomb and which one and who is going to come out on top. That is an internal matter. It is a civil war that is going on. We can cheer for one side or the other, but that is not a justification to place the burden on the American people, both militarily and individually, as well as monetarily. Some would say yes, that sounds good, I agree, and as long as we get approval from the U.N. and NATO, it will be okay. But, you know, that is just really a cop-out. What army and air force and technology does the U.N. have, and what does NATO have? You get a resolution at the U.N. that says let’s take out this bad guy and do these things, or NATO does it. They are all of our airplanes and all our money. And no matter what, anything and everything that goes wrong, the United States will be blamed for it. There is enough resentment against us already for pretending that we can tell every other country how to live.
2011 Ron Paul 10:8
The best way to look at this, I believe, is how would we as a people and how would we as a Congress respond if we were a weaker nation and there was a stronger nation, if they came and imposed a no-fly zone over us or had sanctions against us or had a blockade. We wouldn’t accept that. That would unify us. So I don’t buy into this thing that this is the only humanitarian thing we can do, expand the war.
2011 Ron Paul 10:9
If we want to do something for humanity, we need a new foreign policy. We need a foreign policy that isn’t built on militarism; it’s built on more cooperation and more trade and not picking our dictators.
2011 Ron Paul 10:10
Look at what happened after we picked a dictator for Iran. Sure, it lasted for 25 years or so. But eventually it radicalized the Islamists and they had a revolution, and we came out on the short end of that. So I think it is time that we reassess this and think about a policy that makes a lot more sense. Economically, we need to do it.
