do you think our foreign policy contributed to 9-11?
 

Texas Rep. Ron Paul was trying to offer some perspective on the pitfalls of an interventionist policy by the American government in the affairs of the Middle East and other countries.
"Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years," he said.

That set Giuliani off.

"That's really an extraordinary statement," said Giuliani. "As someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq; I don't think I've ever heard that before and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11."
As the crowd applauded wildly, Giuliani demanded that Paul retract his statements.

Paul tried to explain the process known as "blowback" -- which is the result of someone else's action coming back to afflict you -- but the audience drowned him out as the other candidates tried to pounce on him.



i dont have a doubt in my mind that our foreign policy was a big factor in 9-11

Of course foreign policy is to blame... the CIA uses the term blowback all the time when they report to the government.. For example, way back when the US was toppling whoever was in charge of Iran at the time, they said there would be major blowback down the road.

As for bombing Iraq being the cause? I sort of doubt it.. maybe a partial reason.. I thought the main issue for Bin Laden was the troops the US positioned in Saudi Arabia years ago.

i recall reading somewhere that he said he first thought of hatching a plan to fly planes into buildings around 1983 in lebanon, when he said a lot of destruction and people dying, which he felt our support helped cause and he wanted to get back

that makes more sense to me than "those people hated our freedom so they attacked us"

I concur, 9-11 and all the hate in much of the world is because of years of US foreign policy. In this case it was because we kept troops in Saudi Arabia to protect our interest in their oil. In other cases the blind support of Israel, right or wrong. In Venezula trying to force a coup against Chavez, do I need to go on?

In a word, yes.

You reap what you sow.

er, yeah... the propping up of the israeli regime is w/out doubt the largest reason for the 911 attacks..

Our Foreing Policy *IS* 9-11!!

Bin Laden and Saddam was not friends, nor supported each other, so I can't see bombing of Iraq would lead to 9-11.

I think it was planned before that.

Yes, US foreign policy also caused Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and crotch rot.

it is really simple guys - when you are at the top and your country offers the best of everything - it is only natural that the rest of the miserable fucks want you to join them. What a cunt of an attitude!!!

You truly are a moron...

Paul would have been more to the point if he had referred to foreign policy in the region going back over three-quarters of a century. As for Guilliani, while there are plenty of others who apparently do not believe in cause and effect, to say he had never heard similar claims before, was obtuse at best.

nice call!!:thumbsup

What foreign policy??

The only foreign policy for decades was to ass lick, grab as much as possible, sell as much arms as possible, export torture to other regions and tell the world how righteous we are - and then wonder why others may not like the US admin and why we feel under threat. DUH???

That's not a foreign policy - it's the behavior of a thug regime. What is known as "terrorism" is mild in comparison. Live with it.

Of course foreign policy plays a role. And that foreign policy is dictated by oil. No real shock there.

The alternative, however, is even less appealing than fostering some anger in the region and having a tiny percentage of lunatic fanatics try to do something about it.

Staying out of the region means the equivalent of giving control of the U.S. economy (and most of the western world, while we're at it) to a region controlled by people with a mindset roughly a millenium behind the times. The U.S. wrote off that proposed approach 30-some years ago when OPEC, Egypt and Syria managed to absolutely cripple to US economy (and the Netherlands) when they concluded the west's support of Israel during yet another war was unacceptable.

Find an alternative energy to oil and we can get the hell out of that craphole of the world. In the meantime however, the much maligned U.S. presence in the region is ironically the most stabilizing force they have. The closer to something resembling stability that region sees, the better things are for the civilized world. For now the rest of the western world (translated: Europe) can protest and bitch about the U.S. interaction in the Middle East while at the same time reaping the benefits of said presence.

come to think of it, he fucked up with this statement:

Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years," he said.

he should have started it out with "Osama said the reason was for our support of israel" to deflect the statment from himself, if it was wise of him to bring it up at all

Crap... it's dictated by greed - nothing more, nothing less :pimp

Can you tell the Ron Paul that it started long before any bombings for ten years.

It started with his governments shitty conduct in that region decades ago with everything from regime change to killings - but, with the same old agenda - a greed for something that does not belong to his government - oil.

If the best Paul get to is just some bombings - he seriously needs an education or get his ass out of office. The rest of the world knows this - why is there such a blank with members of the US govt?? Are they just totally dumb??

its disappointing to hear that from a presidential candidate, there is no honor in that statement

this is honorable

A military jury recommended that a Navy lawyer spend six months in prison and be dismissed from the service for sending a human rights attorney the names of 550 Guantanamo Bay detainees in an unmarked Valentine's Day card.

However, after the first day of his trial on Monday, Diaz told The Dallas Morning News that he felt sending the list was the right decision because of how the detainees were being treated.
"My oath as a commissioned officer is to the Constitution of the United States," Diaz said. "I'm not a criminal."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/18/nav....ap/index.html

Think you will find in reality that there is .005% of folks with honor among those who wish to stand up as a politicians webmasterchecks. This is not just in the US, but almost anywhere - it's just inbred in those with political ambitions - a human thing.

You know, I have always wondered... if and when an alternative is created, does this get even worse? The worst thing you can do to someone is go after his pocketbook. When we essentially make it so they don't have revenue streams, what do they do to the evil infidels then?

Republicans will never accept that foreign policy caused 9/11.

We're talking about a group of people whose elected officials live or die by their personal ethics rather than their actions in running the country. As long as they are pro-life, believe in Jesus and bash gays, they are highly eligible for the Republican vote.

Does this sound like a party whose supporters are educated about the issues?

Oh please...

well, DUHHH YES it did...plain and simple!!

I'm not saying all Republicans blindly follow their party, but you and I both know the Republican party is carried by the votes of uneducated, rural Americans whose priorities are very different from the rest of the country.