November 22, 2011 9:35 PM

Ron Paul: Israel can take care of itself

By
Stephanie Condon
Topics
Foreign Policy ,
Campaign 2012

Setting himself far apart from his Republican colleagues, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul on Tuesday night suggested that the U.S. should have less involvement in Israel's affairs.

"I think they're quite capable of taking care of themselves," he said.

The statement came in response to a question in a Tuesday night debate about whether the GOP candidates would, as president, support Israel in an attack against Iran.

Paul responded that he wouldn't expect such an attack to take place -- but if it were to, "Why does Israel need our help? We need to get out of their way."

The United States sends roughly $3 billion to Israel in military assistance every year.

If they were to conduct such an attack, "that's their business, but they should suffer the consequences," Paul continued. He added that Israel has hundreds of nuclear missiles, so "they can take care of themselves."

Paul pointed to Egypt as an example of foreign intervention that can go awry. The U.S. has sent billions to Egypt only to see a government begin to emerge this year that will be less friendly to Israel, he said.

By contrast, businessman Herman Cain said he would help Israel in such an attack "if the mission and the plan were clear."

"If Israel had a credible plan that it appeared as if they could succeed, I would support Israel, yes," he said. "And in some instances, depending upon how strong the plan is, we would join with Israel for that, if it was clear what the mission was and it was clear what the definition of victory was."

Cain added, however, that coming up with a credible plan would be unlikely because Iran "is a very mountainous region" and it's unclear where it's nuclear development sites are located.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich later said he would only bomb Iranian nuclear sites if it led to regime change.

More from the debate:

Rick Perry: Panetta should resign in protest over supercommittee cuts
Gingrich willing to "take heat" for immigration stance
Bachmann: Perry "naive" on Pakistan policy
Huntsman calls for Afghan troop withdrawal
Rick Santorum endorses Muslim profiling
Republicans call for extension of Patriot Act at debate
Fact checking the GOP national security debate
Republican debate: Winners and Losers

Add a Comment See all 225 Comments
by OnTheCrown November 30, 2011 12:24 PM EST
They should borrow the money from the Chinese moneylenders themselves.
Reply to this comment
by dumbdog12 November 29, 2011 2:40 PM EST
Obama promised change, but things have stayed exactly the same. Many Democrats are disgusted with him. Some Democrats may vote for him simply because it is their affiliated party. The same goes for Republicans. They too don't want Obama reelected, but they will vote for candidates due to their party affiliation.

If FOX News or CNN or ANY other news station says a Republican candidate is electable or is "in the lead" *cough* Newt Gingrich *cough*, then the Republicans jump on the bandwagon. They are like sheep - stupid, brainwashed, easily-molded sheep. They don't know about politics, and if they think they do, most candidates lie anyways. Look at Obama, Bush, Cain, Gingrich, Romney, Perry, and all of the others. There is one man who stands out, though - Ron Paul, possibly the reincarnation of Jesus/Buddha/Allah/The Flying Spaghetti Monster himself.



DRUGS -
Ron Paul does not advocate the legalization of drugs as many think, but rather he wants to give states the choice. This country was founded on state power. The federal government reigns supreme, however. We might as well have King George III as our president. Anyways, drug cartels only exist because drugs are illegal. The War on Drugs OBVIOUSLY doesn't work with... oh, I don't know... about 55% of the population supporting the legalization of pot and probably more smoking it? This futile War also strengthens the drugs cartels. Hard choice, right? Obviously, meth, crack, and the like are much more controversial. But weed is causing violence, filling up our prisons, and making us pay taxes.

Do you, dear reader, know how much money our government spends annually to pay for pot-smoking "criminals'" jail sentences? A whopping 7 BILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY. If we got rid of that, we would forget all about the deficit. What deficit? Exactly <3 One last point in this subject is an excise tax on marijuana, just like on alcohol and cigarettes. This is more cash flow to help with the recession.




VOTES-
Why do so many people think he is unelectable? He has young people's votes, veterans' votes, soldiers' votes, stoners' votes, economists' votes, and many Independent and Democratic votes. Blue Republicans are people that are usually Democrats but are registering Republican ONLY to VOTE for RON PAUL. And oh boy are there a lot of Blue Republicans. Independents would rather vote for Ron Paul than Obama or the mainstream GOP. Speaking of mainstream, why doesn't FOX News, or any other station for that matter, talk about Ron Paul? They say the front-runners are Cain, Romney, and Gingrich, but they fail to mention that Ron Paul is up there with them, actually surpassing Gingrich and Cain and close to Romney. He is winning in Iowa, haven't you heard? If not, then Google "Ron Paul Iowa." I'm sure you'll find plenty of pages on this.

The mainstream do not want him getting attention because the Republicans want a filthy, lying candidate - a candidate that goes against what he advocates.

He has the highest electability among all of the Republican candidates. If Romney runs, how many Democrats or Independents are going to vote for him instead of their own respective parties. If Ron Paul runs, he will get a massive amount of votes from Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, most of which will vote for him ONLY because he is Republican... but no matter. He is the only option.

There are a lot more issues and people, sadly, know nothing about politics..
Reply to this comment
by ramos1129 November 29, 2011 2:04 PM EST
Paul responded that he wouldn't expect such an attack to take place -- but if it were to, "Why does Israel need our help? We need to get out of their way."


The United States sends roughly $3 billion to Israel in military assistance every year.

If they were to conduct such an attack, "that's their business, but they should suffer the consequences," Paul continued. He added that Israel has hundreds of nuclear missiles, so "they can take care of themselves
---------------------------------------

In this matter, Paul is heads above all of the other seven GOP candidates. Israel has proven time and time again that it is one touch country and capable of taking care of itself. Why put ourselves into another noose for? We desperately need to realize that in no way shape or form are we the world's policeman anymore. We simply cannot afford the butcher's bill of doing so.
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by xmissile November 29, 2011 2:00 AM EST
Israel is a prosperous country with a vibrant economy and still receives $8.2M per day from US taxpayers. And yet food banks across our country can't meet the needs of millions of families struggling to make ends meet. One of every six Americans, or 46.2M, are below the poverty line. People are hungry.
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by ramos1129 November 29, 2011 2:06 PM EST
You are right 100%. We should be the ones receiving aid from Israel and not the other way around. Time to drop our pride.
by WallahX November 27, 2011 12:46 PM EST
I quit, its all above my belt buckle.
Reply to this comment
by Samlv November 26, 2011 8:38 PM EST
We need Israel more than it needs us. It is the only democratic country in that region, and a stalwart ally in a fight which will last long after our great grandchildren are in power.
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by cbsblogger November 26, 2011 8:54 PM EST
Sam.....What fight has Israel ever taken on in behalf of the USA? Name one IDF soldier that has ever died on behalf of the USA? Why did Rahm Emanuel join the IDF instead of the US Army? Israel is a foreign policy liability that has killed many Americans and 34 of them were on the USS Liberty in 1967, and 174 were wounded.

If the Israel firsters want to support Israel then why don't they convince the Wall St banker billionaires to donate the $4B that average Americans are now stuck funding. Average non-Jewish Americans are not even eligible to immigrate to or become Israeli citizens, but instead just subsidize and pay their bills.

This entire one way lobbyist forced political relationship goes against the grain of our democracy.
by WallahX November 27, 2011 12:03 PM EST
Thank Netenyahoo, so wise that you make Solomon look like the Shrub.
See all 4 Replies
by cbsblogger November 26, 2011 8:12 PM EST
The Israel firsters are represented by the DNC, the RNC and the Obama czars, Congress and all except for a few such as Ron Paul. I agree 100% on his foreign policy. I can deal with his other beliefs. We need to get out of policing the world and end all foreign aid.

It's time to take the USA back for Americans and not continue to curtsy to the lobbies for Israel and Israel itself. If not we might as well fold up the USA tents. We Americans need to not just suggest it, but demand it.
Reply to this comment
by WallahX November 27, 2011 12:06 PM EST
I dont hink Obama kisses their ass, hes notvery liked or loved by the Zionistista gang of looneys.
by WhiskeyAndBeer November 26, 2011 3:12 PM EST
If I was a big bully in your school, you would fear me, but you wouldn't like me, would you?

Well, that is what we are. The big bully of the world. It is always, "Our way, or be labeled a Communist, a Terrorist (or whatever is the in title at the time) and get bombed".

There are many things (MANY) I disagree with Ron Paul, but I do agree with his point of view on American foreign policy.

We, the 99% are having a really rough time in our own country. Why go all over the place, drop billions of dollars worth of bombs, and then spend trillions reconstructing what we destroyed?

Wouldn't it be better to save the life and limbs of our young men and women and invest that money in improving our country from within?

Let's face it, the Republican dream of turning the Middle East into a Judeo-Christian colony who will supply us with oil at a tenth of the cost, is just a sick fantasy.

Never mind the fact that as consumers, oil prices would never go down, but simply funnel earnings to Mobil Exxon and their friends in Wall Street and Capitol Hill.
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by moshcustom November 25, 2011 8:26 PM EST
Thank goodness for Ron Paul! These other candidates would have us bombing Iran, Egypt, Syria, Yemen and wherever else they can destabilize a region for the exploitation of it's resources. We've watched all this happen right before our eyes time and again for so many years that no one really knows what life would be like without a "bad guy" on some foreign shore that needs our sanctions and consequent bombing, followed by extended occupation which leads to over-reach and over-extension that adds to our already mounting debt and deficit spending thereby destabilizing our own nation much more dramatically than any other we attack. It's WAY high-time we got our young men and women the hell out of all those other violent countries and let them serve their country....IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY! Crazy idea, huh? Bet if you asked our service members what they think about fighting over there for the simple goal of regime re-structuring and resource embezzlement, they would probably prefer honing their military skills at home in case of a possible hostile invasion, instead of an aggressive posture in countries whose names we can't even pronounce properly. I will vote for Dr. Paul!!
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by 1stAmmendment November 25, 2011 12:31 AM EST
Corporate owned CBS is starting to get nervous - Ron Paul is leading in Iowa! So they twist his words around, in fact Ron Paul said "I think they are quite capabable of taking care of themselves" not what CBS titled this thread! These Neocons will resort to anything to keep Ron Paul from becoming President!
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