I wanted to post about his last night, but right after the GOP debate ended on FOX we had a massive storm move through, which left me without internet for most of the day.
So – during last night’s debate Ron Paul was discussing our foreign policy and how it helped lead to 9/11:
“Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we’ve been over there. We’ve been bombing Iraq for 10 years,” he [Ron Paul] said.
Asked by a moderator if he was suggesting the United States invited the attacks, Paul said: “I’m suggesting we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it. And they are delighted that we’re over there because Osama bin Laden has said: I am glad you’re over on our sand because we can target you so much easier.”
To which Giuliani responded:
That’s an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq,” said Giuliani, who leads national polls in the Republican race.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before, and I’ve heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11th,” Giuliani said to wild applause, asking Paul to withdraw the comment.
And received mass applause. You can check the whole thing out at Crooks and Liars.
The MSM has been all over this story today. Wolfblitzer was even trying to get Paul to rescind his comments this afternoon. The problem is that they are attacking the wrong person. Ron Paul is right on this issue and the 9/11 commission even backs him up. His problem was his lack of explanation. Iraq was a small part of the reason, but what about Saudi Arabia? We have been interfering in that region for decades. Osama knows that and attacked us for it. I am not justifying his attack, but simply stating the facts.
I suggest that Giuliani reads Richard Clarke’s Against All Enemies and he might learn a little more about the history of what lead up to 9/11. Just because Giuliani was the mayor of the town that sustained the biggest part of the attacks (and contrary to how Republicans try to spin it – New York was not the only place attacked on 9/11), doesn’t make him an expert on Islamic affairs or Osama bin Laden. It makes him the same as George Bush – a person willing to use that horrible day to advance their own agenda.
Make no mistake about it; Giuliani will take the exact same approach to the Middle East that George Bush has. The terrorists would love nothing more than having that luxury. It is Bush who said he don’t spend much time thinking about Osama – not the Democrats. We need a change in strategy and leadership and that will not happen with Giuliani in the White House.