Ron Paul Delivers Common Sense

Ron Paul, the renowned Libertarian politician, is blasting the idea of rebuilding the U.S. military heavily promised by Republican presidential candidates.

He said Americans need to rebuild the military, if at all, by restoring its mission as the defense of the United States, not of “Washington’s overseas empire.”

“The neocons will weaken our country and our military by promoting more war,” Paul wrote in his weekly column posted on the Ron Paul Institute web site on Sunday. (Source: “Do We Need To ‘Rebuild The Military’?” Ron Paul Institute, March 6, 2016.)

Top frontrunners in the Republican race include Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich.




“What does ‘rebuild the military’ mean? Has the budget been gutted?” Paul wondered. He firmly answered, “No. The United States still spends more on its military than the next 14 countries combined.”

Under the Democratic Administration of Barack Obama, the military budget is still 41% more than it was in 2001, when Republican George W. Bush kicked off his presidency, according to Paul.

Russia and China—the two greatest threats—spend one-tenth and one-quarter of the U.S. military budget, respectively, he wrote, adding that the U.S. military maintains more than 900 bases in 130 countries and is actively involved in at least seven wars, including those in Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan.

“I do not agree with the presidential candidates, but I do agree that the military needs to be rebuilt. I would rebuild it in a very different way, however,” he wrote.

Paul’s son, Rand Paul, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination last April, but suspended his campaign in February 2016.

Paul himself sought the presidency of the United States on three occasions: as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988 and as a candidate in the Republican primaries of 2008 and 2012.

Paul said in his weekly column that he would not build according to the demands of the military-industrial complex, which he claimed, “cares far more about getting rich than about protecting our country.”

He repeated that the purpose of the U.S. military is to defend the United States. “We must adopt a policy of non-intervention and a strong defense of this country,” he said. “It is not to make the world safe for oil pipelines, or corrupt Gulf monarchies, or NATO, or Israel.”