Ron Paul missed an opportunity to TRULY devastate the GOP

[NewYorkerfromMass]

Paul could have totally devestated the GOP if he had delivered the line I am suggesting below, so I am posting what he should have said here in the hopes word gets back to him and he is ready in the next debate. Here is the 'offending' exchange:

REP. PAUL: I’m suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it, and they are delighted that we’re over there because Osama bin Laden has said, “I am glad you’re over on our sand because we can target you so much easier.” They have already now since that time — (bell rings) — have killed 3,400 of our men, and I don’t think it was necessary.

MR. GIULIANI: Wendell, may I comment on that? That’s really an extraordinary statement. That’s an extraordinary statement, 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 heard that before, and I’ve heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11th. (Applause, cheers.) And I would ask the congressman to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn’t really mean that. (Applause.)

MR. GOLER: Congressman?

REP. PAUL: I believe very sincerely that the CIA is correct when they teach and talk about blowback. When we went into Iran in 1953 and installed the shah, yes, there was blowback. A reaction to that was the taking of our hostages and that persists. And if we ignore that, we ignore that at our own risk. If we think that we can do what we want around the world and not incite hatred, then we have a problem.
They don’t come here to attack us because we’re rich and we’re free. They come and they attack us because we’re over there. I mean, what would we think if we were — if other foreign countries were doing that to us?

Transcript from James Bovard's blog

OK Paul was good, but this would have really blown their socks off:

REP. PAUL: They come and they attack us because we’re over there, and in fact we were- We had bases in Saudi Arabia, established there by the first President Bush to execute the first Gulf War. It was these bases in Saudi Arabia which Osama bin Laden SPECIFICALLY objected to, and caused him to say that Islamic jihadists must drive the infidels from the Holy Land. So the facts are clear: we were there and we were not welcome. But guess what? This President Bush complied with bin Laden, basically surrendered to his wishes, submitted to the terrorists and REMOVED THOSE BASES! So tell me, what is the point of this "WAR ON TERROR"?

[T Wolf]

1. Why does it seem that the non-pols on this site have a better grip on

reality than "our" representatives in government?

And why do they never listen to us?

And still they come begging for money.

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Sounds good! IMO, Paul's trouble was in keeping the use of the word

"We". Specifically, it's been the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government. Guiliani grabbed the 'we' and 'us' as if he's just part of the commons. We're all in this together dontcha know. :eyes:

The problem, as you pointed out, is the "Deciders" while the rest of us having to live with the consequences.

[whistle]

3. I really believe that Rep. Ron Paul's actual response above will

...continue to resonate among voters and I'm sure his campaign will repeat it over and over and in many variations.

As for your suggested statement, I guess that has been based on what Bush ordered back in late April 2003 after we had invaded Iraq:

<snip>
Last Updated: Tuesday, 29 April, 2003, 15:16 GMT 16:16 UK

US pulls out of Saudi Arabia


The US was not allowed to carry out air strikes from Saudi Arabia. The United States has said that virtually all its troops, except some training personnel, are to be pulled out of Saudi Arabia.

The decision was confirmed by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during a joint news conference with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Sultan.

Both men stressed that there were no differences between their countries and their co-operation would continue.

Ever since the 1991 Gulf war, the US has had about 5,000 troops stationed in Saudi Arabia - a figure that rose to 10,000 during the recent conflict in Iraq.

<see insert> This does not mean we have requested them to move, Prince Sultan, Saudi Defence Minister US-Saudi 'uneasy' ties

<continue article>
The BBC's Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says this is a strategic shift of great political as well as military significance.

Technically US troops there have been part of Operation Southern Watch, which has enforced the no-fly zone over southern Iraq set up after 1991.

But our correspondent says the US troops have become a potent symbol of Washington's role in the region, and many Saudis see them as proof of the country's subservience to America.

Saudi Arabia is home to some of Islam's holiest sites and the deployment of US forces there was seen as a historic betrayal by many Islamists, notably Osama Bin Laden.


Bin Laden used American presence to justify anti-US attacks
It is one of the main reasons given by the Saudi-born dissident - blamed by Washington for the 11 September attacks - to justify violence against the United States and its allies.

But news of the US pull-out does not mean the campaign is over for Bin Laden and his followers, according to the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi.

Their agenda now goes beyond the boundaries of one country, he says. Their goal is to liberate all Muslim societies from foreign troops and what they see as ungodly secular rulers.

The al-Qaeda leader was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1991 because of his anti-government activities.
<MORE>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2984547.stm

<also see>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2985131.stm

[Virginia Dare]

4. I would add..

that the American people have a right to know what the Saudis had redacted from the 9/11 Commission report.

[Double T]

5. The USA needs to maintain and create enemies in order to justify.........

the ridiculous expenditures for intelligence, security and the military. The USA has been maintaining and creating enemies around the world, specially in the ME, for more than a century. You can only kick a dog just so many times before he will turn on you and bite you. Ron Paul is a political sage.

[Spoonerian]

6. I've never really heard anybody explain

the removal of the Saudi Arabian bases for the reasons that have always seemed obvious to me:

1. Do you know how people like Michael Moore like to say, "We invaded the wrong country. We should have invaded Saudi Arabia. 15 of the 19 patsies were from Saudi Arabia?"

Well, how can the U.S. invade Saudi Arabia if it already occupies it?? So, it always seemed logical to me that the U.S. must retreat from Saudi Arabia as a necessary first step before launching a nice invasion that will please Michael Moore-type democrats and Republicans alike.

2. In the "Grand Game" (as Brezenski calls it), 14 permanent mega-bases in Iraq are geopolitically much better suited for the decades of bombings and besiegements that are ahead that will be carried out by the republicans and democrats that control the U.S. government in order to win the "Big Prize" (as Cheney calls it).

[primative1]

7. Hmm ..

Insightful, albeit depressing analysis.

[Alexander]

8. Didn't you watch the debate? Paul's time was up.

If he said what you suggested he would've been cut off mid-sentence.

[CGowen]

12. 30 sec is a short time n/t

[flpoljunkie]

9. Unfortunately, bringing up Iraq first gave Giuliani an opening to attack Paul, and he jumped on it.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

10. But the added comment would be a rebuttal

of Rudy, and a good closer, as inserted from the transcript.
I'm tellin' ya, they'd have been gobsmacked and left speechless.

[primative1]

11. Wonder if there will be another chance ..

Sounds like the GOPers are scrambling to cut Paul out of future debates. They dont have a choice really. If Paul shows up at another one there isnt anyone who considers themselves a journalist that wont go right back to this exact point and Rudy .... he isnt even skating on thin ice, thats an oil slick hes standing on .....

[NewYorkerfromMass]

13. It's thin ice the whole Bush WH is standing on.

They're all guilty!