Ron Paul: It’s time those who start wars begin paying for the disasters they create

Escalating tension and fear continue to run rampant around the world, following the bloody terror attacks in Paris, France, which subsequently led to the intensified bombing of ISIS-controlled regions in Syria by military forces in France and the U.S., with Britain not far behind as Prime Minister David Cameron tries to rally support in favor of them joining the fight.^[1,2]

Geopolitical relations worsened even further after Turkish forces shot down a Russian warplane on Tuesday, claiming Russia invaded its airspace. Two Russian pilots managed to eject themselves from the aircraft; however, one was maimed by gunfire while descending to the ground via his parachute. The other was rescued by Russian special forces in an overnight operation.^[3,4]

The shelling is believed to have come from U.S. backed Syrian rebels who also shot down a Russian helicopter using an American-made anti-tank gun while it attempted to rescue the pilots who had parachuted from the warplane. It’s unclear whether personnel operating the Russian rescue chopper survived.

In the midst of escalating tensions over the rising threat of ISIS, President Obama is pressuring the American people to accept thousands of Syrian refugees into the U.S. while failing to admit that intelligent officials have essentially nothing to go on when it comes to vetting them for possible ties to extremism.

Why should Americans pay for the destruction and chaos caused by its tyrannical government?

Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrians into America met opposition when the House voted 289-137 to require that the FBI closely vet refugees for any indication of extremism. Former Congressman Ron Paul objects to Obama’s plan to accommodate thousands of Syrian refugees in the U.S., but for a very logical reason.

“I think it is a sign of Washington’s moral and intellectual bankruptcy that US citizens are being forced to pay for those fleeing Washington’s foreign policy,” wrote Paul in his weekly column, titled: Who Should Pay For the Syrian Refugees?”^[5]

“For the past ten years the US government has been planning and executing a regime change operation against the Syrian government. It is this policy that has produced the chaos in Syria, including the rise of ISIS and al-Qaeda in the country. After a decade of US destabilization efforts, we are now told that Syria is totally destabilized and we therefore must take in thousands of Syrians fleeing the destabilization that Washington caused.

“Has there ever been a more foolish and wrong-headed foreign policy than this?” Paul asks.

“The American people have been forced to pay untold millions for a ten-year CIA and Pentagon program to undermine and overthrow the Syrian government, and now we are supposed to pay millions more to provide welfare for the refugees Obama created.”

How the military-industrial complex makes a killing on killing

“Who should pay for the millions fleeing the chaos that Washington helped create? How about the military-industrial complex, which makes a killing promoting killing?

“How about the Beltway neocon think-tanks that continue to churn out pro-war propaganda while receiving huge grants from defense contractors?

“How about President Obama’s national security advisors, who push him into one regime change disaster after another? How about Hillary Clinton, who came up with the bright idea that ‘Assad must go?’

“How about President Obama himself, a president elected to end wars, but who has ended up starting more wars than his predecessor? It’s time those who start the wars start paying for the disasters they create. Then perhaps we might have some relief from an interventionist foreign policy that is destroying our financial and national security.

“If Obama wants to take in refugees from the chaos in Syria, there are probably plenty of vacant rooms in the White House.”

Sources:

[1] CNN.com

[2] Reuters.com

[3] NewYorker.com

[4] Express.co.uk

[5] RonPaulInstitute.org