Ron Paul and Lew Rockwell: Discussion of Current Issues

Ron Paul on North Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy

Here is Ron Paul with common sense (and correct) foreign policy regarding North Korea.

The JBS Was Right All Along

Check out Robert Welch, founder of the John Birch Society, speaking back in the early 1970′s:

The Media Is Lying to You About Pirates

Actually, rather than telling outright lies, the media is just doing what it normally does–divulging about 30% of what is really going on and spinning it to fit their agenda, while conveniently leaving out the other 70%.

I certainly do not support or defend pirates or their tactics, but the point is that there is always another side to the story (that is not covered in the “mainstream” corporate media). This video from the IFC Media Project fills in some of the missing pieces on the whole piracy thing:

MORE INFO: You Are Being Lied to About Pirates

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Ron Paul on the D.L. Hughley Show

Dr. Paul was on the D.L. Hughley show last night. I have to agree with D.L. Hughley, Ron Paul makes “too much sense to be a Republican” (or a Democrat).

Don’t Expect Obama to Bring Real Change in U.S. Foreign Policy

Afghanistan and Pakistan will be Obama’s Iraq. Only a few days after his inauguration, drone attacks were launched in Pakistan, killing 22. This comes as a 30,000 U.S. troop surge/escalation is being prepared for Afghanistan. Additional warning of this came from Joe Biden himself who said things are going to escalate there on CBS’ “Face the Nation”. A Washington Times article said the following on the issue:

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Sunday that there will be an “uptick” in American casualties in Afghanistan as the U.S. military increases its presence in that country, which he characterized as “a real mess.”

The vice president’s prediction prompted outrage from liberal antiwar groups who characterized it as “cavalier,” although a leading scholar at a Washington neoconservative think tank called the Biden remarks an overdue recognition of reality.

Of course the new administration is just blaming everything on Bush (who does deserve a huge amount of blame). But the point is that they are going to continue the same policies Bush had, just with different rhetoric. There will be no real change (except for the worse) as the powers that be bench “W” and put in their new man Barack. So much for Obama being an anti-war peace candidate. More broken campaign promises are on the way–of that we can be sure.

Ron Paul, as usual, summarizes things quite well:

Another Perspective on Israel and Gaza

The U.S. media can be very one-sided and deceptive. This is especially true when it comes to war and/or the Middle East. It is not unusual for the world to hear one thing while the controlled U.S. corporate “mainstream” media propaganda machine feeds us something else.

In the overall historical perspective (recent events aside) neither group in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is totally right or wrong in their behavior. But we only get one biased side of the issue in the U.S.. This is to be expected — the U.S. arms Israel and gives them huge amounts of money in foreign aid. Of course, the U.S. also leads the way in the so-called “War on Terror” and in pre-emptive war. Below are some resources to help fill in the information gaps.

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Ron Paul on the fighting between Israel and the Palestinians:

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Eric Margolis writes an excellent summary of the issue:

Israel’s ‘Fait Accompli’ in Gaza

There are two completely different versions of what is currently happening in Gaza.

In the Israeli and North American press version, Hamas – “Islamic terrorists” backed by Iran – have in an unprovoked attack fired deadly rockets on innocent Israel with the intent of destroying the Jewish state.

North American politicians and the media say Israel “has the right to defend itself.”

True enough. No Israeli government can tolerate rockets hitting its towns, even though the casualty totals have been less than the car crash fatalities registered during a single holiday weekend on Israel’s roads.

The firing of the feeble, homemade al-Qassam rockets by Palestinians is both useless and counterproductive.

It damages their image as an oppressed people and gives right-wing Israeli extremists a perfect reason to launch more attacks on the Arabs and refuse to discuss peace.

Israel’s supporters insist it has the absolute right to drop hundreds of tons of bombs on “Hamas targets” inside the 360 sq km Gaza Strip to “take out the terrorists.”

Civilians suffer, says Israel, because the cowardly Hamas hide among them.

Actually, it is more like shooting fish in a barrel.

Omitting facts

As usual, this cartoon-like version of events omits a great deal of nuance and background.

While firing rockets at civilians is a crime so, too, is the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which is an egregious violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.

According to the UN, most of Gaza’s 1.5 million Palestinian refugees subsist near the edge of hunger. Seventy per cent of Palestinian children in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition and psychological trauma.

Medical facilities are critically short of doctors, personnel, equipment, and drugs. Gaza has quite literally become a human garbage dump for all the Arabs that Israel does not want.

Gaza is one of the world’s most-densely populated places, a vast outdoor prison camp filled with desperate people. In the past, they threw stones at their Israeli occupiers; now they launch homemade rockets.Call it a prison riot, writ large.

Click here to read the rest Eric Margolis’s article.

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Michel Chussudovsky details some of the real reasons behind the Israeli aggression in The Invasion of Gaza: ‘Operation Cast Lead’:

The aerial bombings and the ongoing ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli ground forces must be analysed in a historical context. Operation “Cast Lead” is a carefully planned undertaking, which is part of a broader military-intelligence agenda first formulated by the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001:

“Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.”[Barak Ravid, Operation "Cast Lead": Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008]

It was Israel which broke the truce on the day of the US presidential elections, November 4:

“Israel used this distraction to break the ceasefire between itself and Hamas by bombing the Gaza strip.  Israel claimed this violation of the ceasefire was to prevent Hamas from digging tunnels into Israeli territory.

The very next day, Israel launched a terrorizing siege of Gaza, cutting off food, fuel, medical supplies and other necessities in an attempt to “subdue” the Palestinians while at the same time engaging in armed incursions.

In response, Hamas and others in Gaza again resorted to firing crude, homemade, and mainly inaccurate rockets into Israel.  During the past seven years, these rockets have been responsible for the deaths of 17 Israelis.  Over the same time span, Israeli Blitzkrieg assaults have killed thousands of Palestinians, drawing worldwide protest but falling on deaf ears at the UN.” [Shamus Cooke, The Massacre in Palestine and the Threat of a Wider War, Global Research, December 2008]

Planned Humanitarian Disaster

On December 8, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was in Tel Aviv for discussions with his Israeli counterparts including the director of Mossad, Meir Dagan.

“Operation Cast Lead” was initiated two days day after Christmas. It was coupled with a carefully designed international Public Relations campaign under the auspices of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Hamas’ military targets are not the main objective. Operation “Cast Lead” is intended, quite deliberately, to trigger civilian casualities.

What we are dealing with is a “planned humanitarian disaster” in Gaza in a densly populated urban area.

The longer term objective of this plan, as formulated by Israeli policy makers, is the expulsion of Palestinians from Palestinian lands:

“Terrorize the civilian population, assuring maximal destruction of property and cultural resources… The daily life of the Palestinians must be rendered unbearable: They should be locked up in cities and towns, prevented from exercising normal economic life, cut off from workplaces, schools and hospitals, This will encourage emigration and weaken the resistance to future expulsions” Ur Shlonsky, quoted by Ghali Hassan, Gaza: The World’s Largest Prison, Global Research, 2005)

Click here to read the rest of Michel Chussudovsky’s article

Israeli Professor Neve Gordon Condemns Israeli Invasion of Gaza on Democracy Now 1/5/09

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SEE ALSO:

Israel Created Hamas, Pro-Israel Resolution a Mistake

Israel is Committing War Crimes The Wall Street Journal

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Ron Paul Interviewed on Russia Today

More From Ron Paul on the Corporate Hand-outs, Economy

Ron Paul’s appearance on Fox News 11.10.2008.

The most recent $40 billion gift to AIG is more of the same failed economic policy. I’m reminded of a picture I saw of Ron Paul in his office. On his desk he had/has a sign that says: “Don’t Steal, the Government Hates Competition”. It’s both funny and sad, but completely true.

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown Calls for New ‘International Order’

Finally this topic is firmly in the area of mainstream news — so let’s all stop with the accusations of it being a conspiracy theory. Hopefully it’s not too late to stop it. Global government is (and has been for a long time) incrementally on its way:

UK’s Brown: Now is the time to build global society

LONDON (Reuters) – The international financial crisis has given world leaders a unique opportunity to create a truly global society, Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown will say in a keynote foreign policy speech on Monday.

In his annual speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, Brown — who has spearheaded calls for the reform of international financial institutions — will say Britain, the United States and Europe are key to forging a new world order.

“The alliance between Britain and the U.S. — and more broadly between Europe and the U.S. — can and must provide leadership, not in order to make the rules ourselves, but to lead the global effort to build a stronger and more just international order,” an excerpt from the speech says…

“My message is that we must be: internationalist not protectionist; interventionist not neutral; progressive not reactive; and forward looking not frozen by events. We can seize the moment and in doing so build a truly global society.”

Read the full story here.

See Also:

The Basic Agenda of the Global Elite

Glenn Beck “Endgame of the New World Order”

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Ron Paul Discusses Today’s Election and What it Means for the Country

Ron Paul (the man who in a perfect world would’ve been elected president today) was interviewed on CNN’s American Morning show. He discussed the elections and what a new president will mean to our country.

Let’s just say it doesn’t look good no matter who of the two “evils” wins today.

Ron Paul Discusses the Elections, Republican Party

Ron Paul on the Rachel Maddow show 10.29.2008

Ron Paul: Bailouts Are Attacking the Dollar

Ron Paul Discusses His Rally on Glenn Beck Show

Ron Paul discusses his “counter rally” in Minneapolis on the Glenn Beck Show 9.3.2008. Glenn is pretty supportive overall but he still can’t give up his neocon-leaning foreign policy, which is enough on its own to discredit him as a reliable source of commentary.

Also, Beck can’t pass up the opportunity to take a jab at Rally for the Republic speaker Jesse Ventura for his common sense stance in questioning the government’s official version/theory of the events of 9/11 (out of all the things Beck could have mentioned in the three minute interview). It wouldn’t be the first time the government has lied to us Glenn…

Ron Paul on the Fed, Foreign Policy 8.28.08

Ron Paul discusses the Fed, the economy, presidential candidates, and U.S. foreign policy (particularly as related to Georgia and Russia) on CNN’s “American Morning” August 28, 2008: