US needs to ‘have a clean cut’ with military involvement in Middle East: Ron Paul
Former US presidential candidate and congressman Ron Paul has backed President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw American troops from Syria, adding that the United States needs to "have a clean cut" with military involvement in the Middle East.
In an interview with CNN, Dr. Paul, a libertarian and the father of Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, called Trump’s announcement "fantastic."
"I don't see it as a political event as much as he had good defense. He campaigned on it. He said it was a bad war. He wanted to get out," Paul said. "I think he's doing great. I think it's fantastic that he's doing it."
Last week, Trump declared victory against Daesh terrorists in Syria and announced to pull out American troops from the country, saying that US troops cannot stay in Syria "forever.”
Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever? Time for others to finally fight.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018
Getting out of Syria was no surprise. I’ve been campaigning on it for years, and six months ago, when I very publicly wanted to do it, I agreed to stay longer. Russia, Iran, Syria & others are the local enemy of ISIS. We were doing there work. Time to come home & rebuild. #MAGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018
Several senators on both sides of the aisle have accused Trump of making a hasty decision, with one administration official saying "the President's decision-by-tweet will recklessly put American and allied lives in danger around the world."
But Congressman Paul said the president did the right thing.
"I like people who stand out on principle in spite of their personal biases, and I think this is good. I'm so happy that he's going to maybe move it on to Afghanistan," Paul said.
Paul said the United States should decide if it is an empire or a republic.
"This is the whole point: Should we start our debate and our plans from the assumption that we have the moral obligation to run an empire -- that we are the great nation, we spread American exceptionalism and therefore we have this moral obligation -- or should we believe in a republic and we have no business there, which is designed by the Constitution?" Paul said.
Dr. Paul called Trump’s announcement of withdrawing troops from Syria “a step in the right direction.”
"This is a teeny, teeny step away from the militant empire that we operate, and it's so impractical, but it's a step in the right direction," he said.
Dr. Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul, also defended Trump's decision to withdraw the American troops in Syria and asked him to end the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan as well.
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