On Foreign Aid and Human Rights (of trial by jury)
Notes from the video above;
1. Ron Paul - 'For me this is taking money from poor people and giving it to rich people and it becomes a weapon of war'
That aid often goes to war lords, dictators or politicians is well known (i.e. the rich of that area). That it often contributes to regional instability is less known publicly but is well known otherwise:
Rather, in countries ravaged by both humanitarian catastrophe and civil war, international aid may inflame or prolong the conflict. In a devastated country with no other income, the money spent by aid organisations in rent, per diem payments, taxes to governments or rebel warlords, bodyguards, gasoline, bars, whores and restaurants turns the "aid industry, supposedly neutral and unbiased, into a potentially lethal force the belligerents need to enlist". Even food becomes "a form of arms delivery". Polman gives a case of international NGOs (non-governmental organisations) paying warlords a tax on each child they vaccinate.
2. I would cut all foreign aid, I would treat everyone equally.
Giving more aid to one nation and less aid to another can cause jealousy and even create suspicions of favoritism which would make attempts at diplomacy during a crisis difficult (unless more aid is given... it's a vicious cycle)
We know its OK to treat siblings unequally but fairly. however, the US is not the parent to any other country nor should it assume such responsibilities (as being a 'world policeman' suggests, with 900 bases in 150 countries).
3. Would you condone Ronald Reagan's tactics of negotiating for hostages
(The not 'Soverign nation argument for negotiations', if accepted, does apply to Palestine as Israel was given statehood through the UN but Palestine wasn't for no sensible reason I have heard of. So logically, accept it or not, Palestine is a 'state'.)
Among the most pressing foreign affairs problems facing the U.S. during Reagan's tenure was the activity of various rogue terrorist organizations. In 1980, Reagan campaigned on a pledge to take a firm stand on terrorism. Under his watch, he promised, the U.S. would never negotiate with terrorists. During Reagan's eight years in office hundreds of Americans, including 241 Marines stationed in Beirut, were killed by terrorist acts. Particularly troubling to Reagan was the plight of several U.S. citizens who had been kidnapped and tortured by Muslim extremists in Lebanon. In an effort to win release of the hostages, Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, along with members of the National Security Council and the CIA, sold weapons to Iran. Iran, at the time engaged in a war with Iraq and considered a terrorist nation by the U.S., was believed to have influence with the hostage-takers. The Iranians were overcharged for the weapons, and North then funneled the extra proceeds from the arms sale to the contras in Nicaragua. The operation resulted in several direct violations of stated U.S. policy and congressional mandate.
4. Ron Paul distinguishes between 'suspects' and 'terrorists'
This is because...
Rand Paul remains committed to his belief that prisoners deserve trials and disposition not indefinite detention.
His stance remained unchanged even with political support for extra-judicial killings involving Muslim US Citizens.
1. Ron Paul - 'For me this is taking money from poor people and giving it to rich people and it becomes a weapon of war'
That aid often goes to war lords, dictators or politicians is well known (i.e. the rich of that area). That it often contributes to regional instability is less known publicly but is well known otherwise:
Rather, in countries ravaged by both humanitarian catastrophe and civil war, international aid may inflame or prolong the conflict. In a devastated country with no other income, the money spent by aid organisations in rent, per diem payments, taxes to governments or rebel warlords, bodyguards, gasoline, bars, whores and restaurants turns the "aid industry, supposedly neutral and unbiased, into a potentially lethal force the belligerents need to enlist". Even food becomes "a form of arms delivery". Polman gives a case of international NGOs (non-governmental organisations) paying warlords a tax on each child they vaccinate.
2. I would cut all foreign aid, I would treat everyone equally.
Giving more aid to one nation and less aid to another can cause jealousy and even create suspicions of favoritism which would make attempts at diplomacy during a crisis difficult (unless more aid is given... it's a vicious cycle)
We know its OK to treat siblings unequally but fairly. however, the US is not the parent to any other country nor should it assume such responsibilities (as being a 'world policeman' suggests, with 900 bases in 150 countries).
3. Would you condone Ronald Reagan's tactics of negotiating for hostages
(The not 'Soverign nation argument for negotiations', if accepted, does apply to Palestine as Israel was given statehood through the UN but Palestine wasn't for no sensible reason I have heard of. So logically, accept it or not, Palestine is a 'state'.)
Among the most pressing foreign affairs problems facing the U.S. during Reagan's tenure was the activity of various rogue terrorist organizations. In 1980, Reagan campaigned on a pledge to take a firm stand on terrorism. Under his watch, he promised, the U.S. would never negotiate with terrorists. During Reagan's eight years in office hundreds of Americans, including 241 Marines stationed in Beirut, were killed by terrorist acts. Particularly troubling to Reagan was the plight of several U.S. citizens who had been kidnapped and tortured by Muslim extremists in Lebanon. In an effort to win release of the hostages, Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, along with members of the National Security Council and the CIA, sold weapons to Iran. Iran, at the time engaged in a war with Iraq and considered a terrorist nation by the U.S., was believed to have influence with the hostage-takers. The Iranians were overcharged for the weapons, and North then funneled the extra proceeds from the arms sale to the contras in Nicaragua. The operation resulted in several direct violations of stated U.S. policy and congressional mandate.
4. Ron Paul distinguishes between 'suspects' and 'terrorists'
This is because...
Rand Paul remains committed to his belief that prisoners deserve trials and disposition not indefinite detention.
His stance remained unchanged even with political support for extra-judicial killings involving Muslim US Citizens.
Moment of Zen On Gitmo from Colbert Report:
Note: Our support of the Unconstitutional Gitmo Detention Center Is Because Of The GOP Led Congress (Obama's fault is in listening to Fox News led public opinion manipulations);
An news article explains what happened with Guantanamo...
The responsibility lies not so much with the White House but with Congress, which has thwarted President Barack Obama's plans to close the detention center, which the Bush administration opened on January 11, 2002 with 20 captives. Congress has used its spending oversight authority both to forbid the White House from financing trials of Guantánamo captives on U.S. soil and to block the acquisition of a state prison in Illinois to hold captives currently held in Cuba who would not be put on trial - a sort of Guantánamo North. The current defense bill now before Congress not only reinforces these restrictions but moves to mandate military detention for most future al Qaeda cases unless the president signs a waiver. The White House withdrew a veto threat on the eve of likely passage Wednesday, saying the latest language gives the executive enough wiggle room to avoid military custody.
The responsibility lies not so much with the White House but with Congress, which has thwarted President Barack Obama's plans to close the detention center, which the Bush administration opened on January 11, 2002 with 20 captives. Congress has used its spending oversight authority both to forbid the White House from financing trials of Guantánamo captives on U.S. soil and to block the acquisition of a state prison in Illinois to hold captives currently held in Cuba who would not be put on trial - a sort of Guantánamo North. The current defense bill now before Congress not only reinforces these restrictions but moves to mandate military detention for most future al Qaeda cases unless the president signs a waiver. The White House withdrew a veto threat on the eve of likely passage Wednesday, saying the latest language gives the executive enough wiggle room to avoid military custody.