[crjohnson32]

This speech is called "Imagine" and it was given by Ron Paul on March 11, 2009.

Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of "keeping us safe" or "promoting democracy" or "protecting their strategic interests."

Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the Constitution did not apply to them. Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. Imagine that they set up checkpoints on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought America would be better off without their presence.

Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers' attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every American killed, ten more would take up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home. Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror.

Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office.

The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed in Texas. We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe-straddling empire and a very intrusive foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment towards us.

According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead of re-evaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans feel as if we have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn't stand for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, mind you, these are military installations. The new administration is not materially changing anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply want our men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in Iraq is not conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United States.

Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats and violence is not isolationism. It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade and diplomacy is the foreign policy of peace and prosperity. It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current actions most definitely will. I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming from the administration. The sad thing is, our foreign policy WILL change eventually, as Rome's did, when all budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted.

[crjohnson32]

[big joe 1212]

If they taliban didn't support the fukkers who killed our citizens then we wouldn't be over there in the first place.

Maybe next time we can just ask them to, please, don't do it again!

[crjohnson32]

If they taliban didn't support the fukkers who killed our citizens then we wouldn't be over there in the first place.

Maybe next time we can just ask them to, please, don't do it again!

Over 1 million citizens have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Do you think all those civilians were affiliated to those responsible for 9/11.

Do you not think they have the same sentiment toward us as you do of them?

Do you think all those civilians were affiliated to those responsible for 9/11.

The point of the speech is not to question whether or not the people in these countries deserve what is happening or not.
Rather it is to question whether we would react differently if the same were happening in our country.

Why do you feel it is our governments job to police the world.
Of the trillions America has borrowed from China, billions was put into foreign aid, why are we going into debt to "help" these countries.
Every empire throughout history has a rise and fall, and every fall is a result of that empire going broke. In 1913 you could walk into a bank and exchange $1 for an ounce of gold, then they made the federal reserve and rather than a gold and silver standard for money, they made an imaginary paper standard. Now that same ounce of gold cost $2000.
What does that say about our economy now, after fighting all these wars, compared to back then, when we minded our own business?
If you believe these people deserve what it happening to them that's fine. But you have to ask yourself at what cost is it worth it to us?
It may not happen in your lifetime, but if America doesn't do something about their debt, your children and grandchildren will witness the fall of the American empire, and those soulless drones in China will step up.
Don't mistake an anti war opinion as unpatriotic. An anti war opinion NOW is the ultimate in patriotism.
The current governments stance on war and foreign policy has been the undoing of a once great empires economy, which history has taught us will be the undoing of that empire.

[CollegeOverUnder]

excellent article sir thank you for the good read I appreciated this