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Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign
military base, say Chinese or Russian.
Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets
in military vehicles.
Imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting democracy”
or “protecting their strategic interests.”
Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the Constitution did not apply to
them.
Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally
killed or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of the time with
little to no repercussions or consequences.
Imagine that they set up check points on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked
entire neighborhoods of homes.
Imagine if Americans were fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought
America would be better off without their presence.
Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they actually joined
together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership
in government refused or were unable to do so.
Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive
actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our
land. Imagine that the occupiers’ attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans,
the resistance would stop, but instead, for every American killed, ten more would take
up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens
of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home.
Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this
horror.
Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office.
The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people
that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed in Texas.
We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe straddling empire and a very intrusive
foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment towards us.
According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime motivation for
the horrific attacks on 9/11.
But instead of re-evaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it.
We had a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans
feel as if we have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn’t stand
for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason?
These are not embassies, mind you, these are military installations. The new administration
is not materially changing anything about this.
Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American
people, who simply want our men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in
Iraq is not conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United
States.
Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats and violence
is not isolationism.
It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade and diplomacy is
the foreign policy of peace and prosperity.
It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current
actions most definitely will.
I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming
from the administration.
The sad thing is, our foreign policy WILL change eventually, as Rome’s did, when all
budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted.
NARRATOR: Click here to learn all about why Ron Paul is the strongest Presidential candidate
on National Defense.
Or click here to get involved on how to vote in 2012.