The Principled Realism of Rand Paul

[LatinsforPaul]

The Principled Realism of Rand Paul

On ISIS, the Kentucky senator steers a distinctive course between his party’s neoconservatives and its bellicose populists

Senator Rand Paul distinguished himself among Republicans this week by championing a more careful, pragmatic response to ISIS than any other primary candidate.

So far, it hasn’t won him much support.

The rise of the terrorist group has divided the GOP in an interesting way.

Its neoconservative wing, represented by Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, believe that the Obama Administration ought to have toppled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad long ago; that his ouster should still be pursued concurrent with fighting ISIS, in part to thwart his Iranian allies; that the United States ought to impose a no-fly zone in Syria while arming or even fighting alongside a Saudi-backed coalition; and that conflict with Russia won’t matter if the next president is sufficiently assertive.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are vying to lead a faction with a different view of fighting ISIS. In their telling, the U.S. erred in toppling dictators in Iraq and Libya––pursuing the same course in Syria would empower the same Sunni extremists; instead, the U.S. ought to focus on destroying ISIS as its first priority in the region; in doing so, it should be wary of Iran and Saudi Arabia, rather than embracing the latter; and it should cooperate with Russia against our common enemy, rather than butting heads with the nuclear power in a way that could escalate catastrophically.

These factions confound conventional wisdom.

Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...d-paul/420915/

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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...d-paul/420915/

Then there’s Paul, who stood out Tuesday in large part because he alone opposed almost all of the worst ideas championed by his rivals. In his most direct critique of the Rubio/Bush faction, he said:

There is often variations of evil on both sides of a war. What we have to decide is whether or not regime change is a good idea. It's what the neoconservatives have wanted. It's what the vast majority of those on the stage want. They still want regime change. They want it in Syria. They wanted it in Iraq. They wanted it in Libya. It has not worked. Out of regime change you get chaos. From the chaos you have seen repeatedly the rise of radical Islam. So we get this profession of, oh, my goodness, they want to do something about terrorism. And yet they're the problem, because they allow terrorism to arise out of that chaos.

He took direct aim at Donald Trump too.

“I think we defeat terrorism by showing them that we do not fear them,” he said in his first answer. “I think if we ban certain religions, if we censor the Internet, I think that at that point the terrorists will have won.” He went on, “I will do whatever it takes to defend America. But in defending America, we cannot lose what America stands for. Today is the Bill of Rights' anniversary. I hope we will remember that and cherish that in the fight on terrorism.” Later, Paul tried to speak out against indefinite detention, but was shut down by moderator Wolf Blitzer.

His position is nevertheless clear: Overreacting to terrorism can do more harm than terrorism itself.

But if you’re hoping for a nominee who champions civil liberties even in war time; opposes a proxy war with Russia; opposes “carpet-bombing,” war with Iran, or punishing innocent Muslims; and its temperamentally and ideologically unlikely to overreact to terrorism, then Paul is the GOP candidate for you. I realize that I am describing a collection of positions that may appeal more to centrist elites than large swaths of the GOP primary electorate. And yet I notice those elites are more favorably disposed to Bush, Rubio, and even Cruz than to Paul.

They should reconsider their opinion of Paul.

Having watched the Kentucky senator struggle in the polls, I’d started to hope that Kasich, who has good qualities, would gain traction. But with Kasich declaring his desire to lash out at a nuclear rival and launch a Persian Gulf-style invasion of Syria, during a debate in which Paul turned in the strongest performance of his career, Paul deserves to surge. There is no saner voice in the GOP primary debate about ISIS.

Rand Paul 2016: Because everyone else’s foreign policy is terrifying.

[NativeOne]

The Principled Realism of Rand Paul

On ISIS, the Kentucky senator steers a distinctive course between his party’s neoconservatives and its bellicose populists



Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...d-paul/420915/

"There is often variations of evil on both sides of a war. What we have to decide is whether or not regime change is a good idea. It's what the neoconservatives have wanted. It's what the vast majority of those on the stage want. They still want regime change.

They want it in Syria. They wanted it in Iraq. They wanted it in Libya. It has not worked.

Out of regime change you get chaos. From the chaos you have seen repeatedly the rise of radical Islam. So we get this profession of, oh, my goodness, they want to do something about terrorism. And yet they're the problem, because they allow terrorism to arise out of that chaos"
~ Rand Paul

So the answer is .. let it be arab boots on the ground NOT American or european boots ..

[CPUd]

Gunny in the comment section...

[bronc_fan23]

Conor Friedersdorf does great work all around.