Congressman Ron Paul: Bombs and Bribes

 

What if tomorrow morning you woke up to headlines that yet another Chinese drone bombing on U.S. soil killed several dozen ranchers in a rural community while they were sleeping?  That a drone aircraft had come across the Canadian border in the middle of the night and carried out the latest of many attacks? What if it was claimed that many of the victims harbored anti-Chinese sentiments, but many dead were innocent women and children?  And what if the Chinese administration, in an effort to improve its public image in the U.S., had approved an aid package to send funds to help with American roads and schools and promote Chinese values here?

Most Americans would not stand for it.  Yet the above hypothetical events are similar to what our government is doing in Pakistan.  Congress has approved an aid package for Pakistan for the stated purposes of improving our image and promoting democracy.  I again made the point on the floor of the House that still no one seems to hear: What if this happened on U.S. soil? What if innocent Americans were being killed in repeated drone attacks carried out by some foreign force who was trying to fix our problems for us?  Would sending money help their image? If another nation committed this type of violence and destruction on our home- land, would we be at all interested in adopting any of their values?

Sadly, the one thing that has entirely escaped modern American foreign policy is empathy.  With- out humility or regard for human life, our foreign policy has been reduced to alternately bribing and bombing other nations, all with the stated goal of “promoting democracy”.  But if a country democratically elects a leader not sufficiently pro-American, our government refuses to recognize them, will impose sanctions on them, and possibly support covert efforts to remove them.  Democracy is obviously not what we are really interested in.  More likely our government is interested in imposing its will on other governments.  This policy of endless intervention in the affairs of others is very damaging to American liberty and security.

If we were really interested in democracy, peace, prosperity and safety, we would pursue more free trade with other countries.  Free and abundant trade is much more conducive to peace because it is generally bad business to kill your customers.  When one’s livelihood is on the line, and business agreements are mutually beneficial, it is in everyone’s best interests to maintain cooperative and friendly relations and not kill each other.  But instead, to force other countries to bend to our will, we impose trade barriers and sanctions.  If our government really wanted to promote freedom, Americans would be free to travel and trade with whoever they wished.  And, if we would simply look at our own policies around the world through the eyes of others, we would under- stand how these actions make us more targeted and therefore less safe from terrorism.  The answer is to get back to free trade with all and entangling alliances with none.  It is our bombs and sanctions and condescending aid packages that isolate us.