It is not too often I am pleased by the foreign policy announcements from this administration, but last week’s announcement that the war in Iraq was in its final stage and all the troops may be home for Christmas did sound promising. I have long said that we should simply declare victory and come home. It should not have taken us nearly a decade to do so, and it was supposed to be a priority for the new administration. Instead, it will be one of the last things done before the critical re-election campaign gets into full swing. Better late than never, but, examining the fine print, is there really much here to get excited about? Are all of our men and women really coming home, and is Iraq now to regain its sovereignty? And in this time of economic crisis, are we going to stop hemorrhaging money in Iraq? Sadly, it doesn’t look that way.
First and foremost, any form of withdrawal that is happening is not simply because the administration realized it was the right thing to do. This is not the fulfillment of a campaign promise, or because suddenly the training of their police and military is complete and Iraq is now safe and secure, but because of disagreements with the new government over a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The current agreement was set up by the previous administration to expire at the end of 2011. Apparently the Iraqis refused to allow continued immunity from prosecution for our forces for any crimes our soldiers might commit on Iraqi soil. Can you imagine having foreign soldiers here, with immunity from our laws and Constitution, with access to your neighborhood?
Some 39,000 American troops will supposedly be headed home by the end of the year. However, the US embassy in Iraq, which is the largest and most expensive in the world, is not being abandoned. Upwards of 17,000 military personnel and private security contractors will remain in Iraq to guard diplomatic personnel, continue training Iraqi forces, maintain “situational awareness” and other functions. This is still a significant American footprint in the country. And considering that a private security contractor costs the US taxpayer about three times as much as a soldier, we’re not going to see any real cost savings. Sadly, these contractors are covered under diplomatic immunity, meaning the Iraqi people will not get the accountability that they were hoping for.
While I applaud the spirit of this announcement – since all our troops should come home from overseas – I have strong reservations about any actual improvements in the situation in Iraq, since plans are already being made to increase the number of troops in surrounding regions. What we really need is a new foreign policy and there is no indication that that is what we have gotten. On the contrary, the administration fully intends to keep troops in Iraq, indefinitely, under a new agreement, while the Iraqis are doing their best to assert their sovereignty and kick us out. Neither are we going to be saving any significant amount of money. My greatest fear, however, is that this troop withdrawal from Iraq will simply pave the way for more endless, wasteful, needless wars.
If you thought the “Transportation Security Administration” would limit itself to conducting unconstitutional searches at airports, think again. The agency intends to assert jurisdiction over our nation’s highways, waterways, and railroads as well. TSA launched a new campaign of random checkpoints on Tennessee highways last week, complete with a sinister military-style acronym–VIP(E)R—as a name for the program.
As with TSA’s random searches at airports, these roadside searches are not based on any actual suspicion of criminal activity or any factual evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever by those detained. They are, in effect, completely random. So first we are told by the U.S. Supreme Court that American citizens have no 4thamendment protections at border crossings, even when standing on U.S. soil. Now TSA takes the next logical step and simply detains and searches U.S. citizens at wholly internal checkpoints.
The slippery slope is here. When does it end? How many more infringements on our liberties, our property, and our basic human rights to travel freely will it take before people become fed up enough to demand respect from their government? When will we demand that the government heed obvious constitutional limitations, and stop treating ordinary Americans as criminal suspects in the absence of probable cause?
The real tragedy occurs when Americans incrementally become accustomed to this treatment on the roads just as they have become accustomed to it in the airports. We already accept arriving at the airport 2 or more hours before a flight to get through security; will we soon have to build in an extra 2 or 3 hours into our road trips to allow for checkpoint traffic?
Worse, some people are lulled into a false sense of security and are actually grateful for this added police presence! Should we really hail the expansion of the police state as an enhancement to safety? I submit that an attitude of acquiescence to TSA authority is thoroughly dangerous, un-American, and insulting to earlier freedom-loving generations who built this country.
I am certain people will complain about this, once they have to sit in stopped traffic for a few extra hours to allow for random searches of cars. However, I am also certain it merely will take another “foiled” plot to silence many people into gladly accepting more government mismanagement of safety.
Vigilant, observant, law-abiding, gun-owning citizens defend themselves and stop crimes every day before police can respond. That is the source of real security in America: the 2nd Amendment right to defend oneself. The answer is for people to be empowered to protect themselves. Yet how many weapons might these checkpoints confiscate? Even when individual go through all the legal hoops of licensing and permits, the chances of harassment or outright confiscation of weapons and detention of citizens when those weapons are found at a TSA checkpoint is extremely high.
Disarming the highways and filling them full of jack-booted thugs demanding to see our papers is no way to make them safer. Instead, it is a great way to expand government surveillance powers and tighten the noose around our liberties.
Ron Paul spoke at the the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition presidential candidate forum in Des Moines on Saturday night. He delivered his biblically-sound message of faith, family, and free-will, and encouraged individuals to determine their own future, rather than allowing Big Government to run their lives.
Ron Paul is America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. Read more...
Ronald Reagan: "Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country."
Ron Paul in the Air Force
Ron Paul is a proud Air Force veteran. He served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force from 1963 to 1965 and then in the U.S. Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968. During his military service Ron Paul spent time on the ground in Iran, Pakistan, South Korea, Turkey, Ethiopia and other countries.
Ron Paul has been married to his wife Carol Wells since 1957. They have five children: Ronald, Lori, Rand, Robert, and Joy. Paul's son Rand is the junior senator from the state of Kentucky.
RonPaul.com is maintained by independent grassroots supporters of Ron Paul. Neither this website nor the articles, posts, videos or photos appearing on it are paid for, approved, endorsed or reviewed by Ron Paul. For Ron Paul's official website go to House.gov/Paul
Processing your request, Please wait....
Recent Comments
11:03 pm: "I’ve had similar problems on the New York Times site – I haven’t used..." - Blue Republic
7:30 pm: "I’m having a BIG problem, I’m being BLOCKED by Craigslist. They will let me post. But..." - fred_bynum
7:17 pm: "@smujismuj Do some research. Or use some common sense.
How can ANY citizen be a..." - jparthum
5:15 pm: "@jparthum Your rhetoric is so awash in absolutes. “…virtually EVERY historian is in..." - smujismuj
12:22 pm: "@smujismuj I am an ‘Anarcho-capitalist’ (IE: Libertarian) –..." - jparthum
11:49 am: "@jparthum What does that have to do with Walmart treating it’s employees like crap, or..." - smujismuj
10:19 am: "It’s not just business interests though, virtually EVERY historian is in unanimous agreement,..." - jparthum
6:22 pm: "http://energyfromthorium.com/ If we want to talk about fuel there are other options to oil." - jester
4:32 pm: "Even if Ron Paul doesn’t get nominated, and even if he doesn’t run third party, I will..." - Ryanoceros
2:05 pm: "Representative Paul: Please consider my plan for improving our Economic situation. PERSONAL..." - RickinTucson
1:22 pm: "I would rather see Ron Paul run with a third party then be forced to vote for the lesser of two evils." - coville
11:13 am: "That’s pretty much the thoughts of people like Robert Kagan. It is worth a debate rather..." - StephenD.Murphy
6:15 pm: "“The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of..." - John Kanash
6:15 pm: "You know Ron Paul is running third even though the main stream media will say nothing of that. Romney..." - Hoyt Brown
6:15 pm: "ESPECIALLY since it was just released that a supporter of Romney just “happened” to..." - Karen Matisz
1:54 pm: "ALAN KEYES !!!" - HenryRuleoflawandmoralityTudor
1:40 pm: "@seejaymouser correction: Spanish is a beautiful language." - Mario A.C.
1:40 pm: "@seejaymouser Are you out of your mind? The majority of murders in this country are committed by..." - Mario A.C.
1:08 pm: "@JenniferNie Question: What will Ron Paul do about the Fed Reserve and their continuous assault on..." - Mario A.C.
11:44 am: "What disturbs me the most is that the Media – Fox News- when there is a discussion of the..." - Liberty