Imagine an Occupied America

by Rep. Ron Paul

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 U.S. 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 checkpoints 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, 10 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 toward 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 reevaluating
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. Fifty thousand 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.

dave wrote:
Imagine an Occupied America

by Rep. Ron Paul

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 U.S. 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 checkpoints 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, 10 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 toward 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 reevaluating
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. Fifty thousand 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.

Dave, thanks for posting this. Ron Paul IS RIGHT ON THE MARK!!!!
Unfortunately, some of the ditto (dumbo) heads here just won't get it. :-(

P.S. This bears repeating:

According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime
motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11.

In article ,
Billy Burpelson wrote:

dave wrote:
Imagine an Occupied America

by Rep. Ron Paul

SNIP

Dave, thanks for posting this. Ron Paul IS RIGHT ON THE MARK!!!!
Unfortunately, some of the ditto (dumbo) heads here just won't get it. :-(

P.S. This bears repeating:

We know you are a dimwit. You don't have to repeat it.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

MWB - Here is another 'special' Off-Topic Thread
started by "Dave" - please do something ~ RHF