On the Republican side of the race for the White House, Ron Paul stands alone in his opposition to the Iraq War. On the Democrat's side all of the contenders oppose the war, they only differ on how best to leave. On the surface it would appear there is little difference between Ron Paul and the Democrats on this issue but there is a
big difference in the reason
why Ron Paul is opposed to the war.
Ron Paul is not inherently anti-war, in fact if an enemy were a real threat to America, President Paul would have no qualms throwing every weapon in our arsenal at the enemy, if Congress
first enacts a declaration of war. Ron Paul is opposed to the Iraq War because a declaration of war was not enacted by Congress. He is further opposed to it because it is a war that is not a defensive war, we were not attacked by Iraq and Iraq posed no threat to us and neither did Afghanistan. In response to the attack on our soil on 9/11 Ron Paul introduced marque and reprisal legislation which would have offered a reward for Bin Laden whom bounty hunters would attempt to capture. Instead we invaded Afghanistan loudly and Bin Laden easily slipped over the border, or so we think. Both the U.S. and Iraq would be much better off if Ron Paul's marque legislation had gone through.
So Ron Paul believes that when confronting an enemy it should be done constitutionally so that the Executive Branch does not overstep its bounds and that Congress should only declare war against enemies that pose a real threat to the U.S. He is also appalled that members of our National Guard and Border Patrol are over there.
While the Democrats agree that this war is a failure I don't hear from them solutions for avoiding it in the future. Only Ron Paul provides the blueprint for staying out of foreign entanglements, nation-building, making the world "safe" for democracy and endless warfare. President Paul would immediately withdraw troops, not as a cut and run strategy but because this is an illegal war (Congress didn't declare war and it's not a defensive war) and not another penny should be spent and not another American life should be shed.
The other Republicans are salivating at becoming the uber powerful Chief Executive of the World. It's in their best, power-lusting interest to continue the "global war on terror" as that will ensure that they keep the rest of the world at bay and they can have their daily wargasm. President Paul would drastically cut back the power of the executive, give the war power back to Congress, as the Constitution stipulates, and as a result, the world would be a safer place.
