By: Cliff Kincaid
At a time when President Trump has acted in national self-defense against Iran, Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul has joined with the Democratic Party to subvert his ability to wage war and win. It is another indication that the “libertarian” philosophy of Rand Paul plays into the hands of America’s enemies. He might as well be a Democrat.
Let us not forget that on November 8, 2024, after President Trump won reelection, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization, “has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on U.S. soil…” He said the targets were American citizens, including Donald J. Trump, who in his first term had eliminated the IRGC commander Soleimani.
Senator Paul seems not to understand that we are already at war and that Iran has been waging war on the USA.
Under these circumstances, how can a Senator of the United States, from Trump’s own political party, deny the President the right to defend himself against a global enemy? The act of national self-defense does not require a vote of Congress. It is a matter of urgency and national survival. It is long overdue.
Of course, the war on Iran goes beyond retaliation for the attempt to kill Trump, for hundreds of Americans have been killed by Iran, and they deserve justice. Millions more could die if Iran got the nuclear bomb.
In this critical time, Americans should unite, but Rand Paul decides to join with Senator Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in an Iran war powers vote to give Iran some hope.
I know Paul is a libertarian, but I didn’t think he was a pacifist.
In a 2017 confrontation, Rand Paul’s neighbor in Kentucky, Rene Boucher, ran into him and broke the senator’s ribs. Paul filed a civil suit against his neighbor and was awarded more than $580,000. The dispute involved yard waste. “This lawsuit wasn’t about me,” said the senator. “It was about all of us and what we find acceptable as a society. We need to send a clear message that violence is not the answer – anytime, anywhere.”
That may be the case with yard waste, but in geopolitics, violence and war are sometimes necessary.
He hides behind the Constitution when the founders never intended for the nation not to act in self-defense.
Without a congressional declaration of war, President Jefferson dispatched U.S. military forces against the Barbary pirates, an early example of America taking a stand against Islamic terrorism. It is called self-defense.
“America is at war,” the Senator said in a Fox News article. “But Americans don’t want this war. They didn’t vote for it. In fact, they voted for just the opposite.”
We don’t want war, but the Iranian terrorist regime has been waging war on America.
I think Americans voted for a President who should NOT be a target of assassination attempts by a foreign terrorist regime, and there are many of us who think that such a regime should be destroyed, which is exactly what President Trump has done. Rand Paul said nothing about that in his Fox op-ed. Why is he oblivious to the threats that Iran poses to the United States and our President? Is he blinded by his own libertarian ideology?
In his confrontation with his neighbor, he suffered broken ribs and apparently didn’t fight back. He took the case to court. America cannot afford a nuclear strike by the Iranian regime while we wait for the United Nations to take charge. President Trump understands that. He gave diplomacy a chance.
In destroying the regime, Trump is acting not only on behalf of the United States but the world, even if governments like the UK and Spain will not acknowledge it.
Let us look at what the FBI says about the Iranian regime and its threats. They include “terrorist attacks and kidnappings, espionage and foreign influence operations, cyber-attacks, sanctions evasion, and illicit procurement of sensitive technology to support Iran’s military capability and nuclear program.”
That’s quite a list, and it looks like one of those “foreign influence operations” had an impact on Rand Paul.
The libertarian Senator Rand Paul has done some excellent work regarding the need to imprison Anthony Fauci for supporting China’s COVID experiments, but his views on foreign policy are bizarre. He opposes Trump’s tariffs, which are smart measures short of war designed to punish our adversaries, and then opposes war as well when the evidence is overwhelming as to the threat posed by Iran.
In the case of his angry neighbor, Rand Paul was caught unprepared and suffered 6 broken ribs and went to court, seeking financial damages.
That’s not how President Trump handled Iran. Trump decided not to go to the United Nations for a “solution.” He didn’t seek damages from the International Court of Justice.
Rand Paul lives in a fantasy world in which President Trump is supposed to ignore America’s national interest and seek United Nations help to deal with Iran. That’s the course chosen by Barack Hussein Obama, who also supplied Iran with billions in cash. That guaranteed the Ayatollah’s eventual access to nuclear weapons.
Today, the Ayatollah is dead, and President Trump is very much alive. That is something to celebrate. Unfortunately, Rand Paul and Chuck Schumer are partners in crime, trying to save the Iranian regime from a just and legitimate war of self-defense.
Let’s exchange Rand Paul for John Fetterman, the Democrat supporting President Trump’s Iran actions.
- Cliff Kincaid is president of America’s Survival, Inc. www.usasurvival.org
