Rand Paul: The Crazy Isolationist?: Part I

The War Dogs are out in full force. The target of the WDs is Senator Rand Paul, who War Dogs like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. John McCain, former VP Dick Cheney, and head War Dog cheerleader William Kristol are attempting to paint as a crazy isolationist.

Here in Politico.com you read Robert Zarate, policy director of the Foreign Policy Initiative, a think tank that’s affiliated with conservative commentator William Kristol, argued that “the internationalists need to not only debate the isolationists in Washington, D.C., but they also need to continue making their case persuasively to the American people.”

Paul’s foreign policy advisor Lorne Craner concludes, “Paul’s views are more in line with Americans who are growing increasingly distrustful after their experiences of the Vietnam (let’s not leave out Korea), Afghanistan, and Iraq wars, and want a clear sense of the objectives of future military actions and how they’re going to end.”

A clear sense of objectives? Here Craner, perhaps intentionally, goes to the heart of the original Weinberger/Powell Doctrine, which sets out to prevent the United States from engaging in risky and counterproductive missions that have nothing to do with protecting U.S. vital interests. I have previously posted a three-part series based on the book The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free by my friend Christopher A. Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at The Cato Institute. This is the roadmap all Americans need in terms of understanding the correct approach to a foreign policy that is based on defending America’s shores and keeping Americans safe.

In my three-part series (Part I, Part II, Part III) and in The Power Problem, Weinberger/Powell and its five essential elements are concisely broken down.

Focusing on a U.S. defense strategy, a Cato Institute summary concludes, “The Defense Department’s budget is built on an excessively ambitious strategy that tries to do too much, but leaves the nation less safe from true threats. Defense is a core federal function, but much of the work of today’s military has little to do with protecting our vital interests.”

Finally in “Stay out of Other Nations’ Civil Wars,” Cato Institute’s Doug Bandow writes, “A decade ago another administration began another war with a promise of enshrining Pax Americans on the Euphrates. Unfortunately, the result was a wrecked Iraq, empowered Iran, and discredited America. With the decade-long attempt to implant liberal democracy in Afghanistan finally coming to a close, Washington should reject proposals for another unnecessary war of choice.”