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by RON PAUL
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As we begin a new week, the media is filled with reports that President Donald Trump is ready to approve a U.S. ground operation against Iran, either to seize Iran’s uranium or to attack an island off the country’s coast. Thousands of U.S. troops have sped to the conflict area to await President Trump’s decision.
The President is on the verge of making a serious mistake to add to a series of deadly mistakes that have characterized this terrible war of choice against Iran. A U.S. ground operation against Iran would only achieve the death of thousands of U.S. service members.
Of course, if our Congress was doing its job, this debacle would never have started. Clear signals would have been sent to the President by congressional leadership that in the absence of an imminent attack on the U.S., the U.S. President must go to Congress to make the case for taking the country to war. Instead, what we got was a shrug of the shoulders from Capitol Hill that has already cost billions of dollars and too many lives.
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As we stand on the verge of a major ground operation, the main stated goals of the war are that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz is open for shipping. But both of these things were already true before the war started! Now we are expanding the war to try and reverse the negative consequences of starting the war in the first place!
What was supposed to be a quick “shock and awe” to frighten Iran into capitulation has expanded rapidly and is costing the U.S. dearly. As the New York Times has reported, every U.S. military base in the region has been either destroyed or is severely damaged. Billions of dollars in U.S. military equipment have been destroyed in Iran’s response to the U.S. attack. Just over the weekend, a half-billion dollar U.S. radar aircraft was destroyed at a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia, along with several air tankers.
Iran warned that if the U.S. launched another surprise attack this is how they would respond. The arrogant U.S. Administration was sure they were bluffing.
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The American people may not be getting the full picture of this disaster because they are being lied to – again – by the pro-war mainstream media. The war is going wonderfully, they report. We are obliterating Iran, they say. But what is really being obliterated is a complex global supply chain not just in oil and gas, but in the multitude of products related to oil and gas. Products such as the fertilizer needed to feed the world.
Already we are seeing gas riots in some Asian countries. Fuel rationing and stay-at-home orders have been issued. Australia is set to completely run out of diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel in just weeks. That means no food gets delivered. Power generation plants are shut down. Life becomes unlivable for many.
This is like the foolish move to shut down the global economy during COVID. In fact it is worse. This disaster will not end when the bombs stop falling. It will only be getting started. A worldwide depression may be upon us all because of a war of choice that was illegally launched.
When you are in a hole, it’s best to stop digging. Expanding this war to include a ground operation would be a massive digging operation. It needs to stop. Now.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Ron Paul is a former U.S. Congressman from Texas and the leader of the pro-liberty, pro-free market movement in the United States. His weekly column – reprinted with permission – can be found here.
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4 comments
Why should Trump be concerned? Neither Don Jr, Eric, nor Barron, will be in jeopardy over there. Israel has already indicated tbey will not be sending troops to fight any ground wars in Iran. Israel learned long ago how to dupe the stupid Goyim into doing their fighting for them.
In his 38 years in the house, Ron Paul was a sponsor of exactly two bills that became law, one was a one-page bill, so arcane, that no one understood what they were voting on (HR 6118 dealing with laboratory certification). His other winner had 145 cosponsors and involved fees on ATMs (HR 4367) – he had nothing to do with the authorship of the bill. Of the five bills that he actually introduced, he got a total of “no persons” to cosponsor with him on three and a total of about 10 cosponsors spread over the others.
His influence was so miniscule when he was actually in office that it makes absolutely no sense to listen to him now that he’s been out of office for 14 years. Even Rand doesn’t pay any attention to him – according to NPR, he probably never did…
Little too late for the Pauls to be complaining about the Republican party finally doing the thing they’ve been clamoring about doing for well over thirty years. You’d think that them sitting in the GOP alongside Lindsey “Let’s Do Another Iwo Jima” Graham and John “Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb-Bomb Iran” McCain and all the other ghouls wanting to rain death and destruction over a country of 90 million people purely for capitalizing resources for the biggest leeches on the planet would have woken up even the tiniest of moral fibers within them. Alas, Putin’s messenger boy Rand and “I’m actually fine with billionaires ruling over us as long as they don’t use the government” Ron are fully unequipped to deal with the mortal danger facing the working class.
I’ll never understand right-libertarians and ancaps (granted Rand at least is neither of those in reality) rightfully distrusting the state, even if for the wrong reasons, but then failing to realize they’re only afraid of the puppet and not the puppetmaster. Like yeah the Legion of Doom could be a problem but making sure nothing hinders Lex Luthor from using his vast wealth to influence the world, that’s perfectly normal guys, don’t be commies.
I’m not one of those “No Blood for Oil” clowns of the 19802 and 90s, but I really look forward to the day that North America (not just the US) can achieve a fully integrated self- sufficient oil supply and thus not have to have a single military base in the Middle East, and let those people – including Israel- work out their own problems without our blood and treasure.