Foreign Policy and the GOP Defeat

[Boudicca]

The foreign policy of the US has destroyed the Republican Party as we've transitioned from a peaceful nation of a free people making and trading our widgets to the horrors of a bullying empire steamrolling the globe with the world's most powerful military. The empire is unsustainable, expensive to maintain and it's destroyed us while voraciously consuming vast assets and the wealth of the American people as well as future generations of Americans.

The "War Party" is no longer viable. We need to close our global military installations because they only inspire hatred of the US. NATO has outlived its usefulness and should be abolished and de-funded. Let Europe defend her own borders. Why allow NATO to install nukes in Poland when it only severely agitates Russia? How would we like it if Russia or China installed threatening military bases in Mexico or Canada? Nobody wants to be facing down the barrel of another nation's weapons that are capable of killing millions. It's time to leave South Korea to defend its own borders.

Iraq is a disaster and we've only unleashed an Islamic civil war that can never be won because it's been raging for 1400 years. We can never churn backward Muslim nations into Jeffersonian democracies because they are culturally, ideologically and theologically averse to the Judeo-Christian model of governance. Heck, every Muslim nation is ruled by some kleptocratic family (House of Saud) and where feeble democracies exist, they opt for Sharia law. We forced the Palestinians to hold elections and they elected Hamas. We forced Egypt to become more Democratic and each year it's the Islamist who win more and more seats in Parliament. We aided Sunni Islam and Saudi Arabia with the building of nukes in Pakistan and this only propelled India to arm itself with nukes. Considering that the Sunni Islam that hails from Saudi Arabia is the kingpin of global Islamic terror, I find it odd indeed that the GOP was beating the war drums to attack Shiite Iran. With all the Islamist terror around the world, the Shiites have never been implicated nor is there a shred of evidence that the world's horrors can be traced back to Iran or Shiites. From the 911 to the Bali Bombers to the attacks on public transportation in Great Britain and Spain to the bombings of 2 US African Embassies to the USS Cole to Mumbai, it's Sunni fingerprints that are all over these deeds. Yet, US foreign policy protects the rulers that propel the ideology that is directly responsible for all terror and death raging around the globe.

More recently, we armed the psycho of Georgia and furnished the arms to invade South Ossetia where the Russian speaking population was being killed in huge numbers. Without US arms and US foreign policy, Georgia would not have been able to attack South Ossetia and Russia would not have intervened.

US foreign policy only serves to pit one nation against another and it is US arms that provide the killing instruments. Most of our foreign aid dollars come right back to defense contractors.

It's time to kill the military industrial complex and the security industrial complex that has now allowed the government to spy on American citizens, their phones and their computer - all without warrants or probable cause. The GOP Nazification of American and the churning of these sacred shores into a terrifying police state must end.

The GOP will never win back the constituencies it has lost like the Paulites, Buchananites, paleo's, constitutionalists, Reagan Dems, independents and anti-war Republicans.

Obama beat McCain by over 8.5 million votes. The GOP also lost the Catholic vote which it had won in 04. Indeed, the Catholic vote was largely responsible for delivering the Reagan Dems. Indeed, folks like the Rev. Hagee calling the pope the Whore of Babylon and the Anti-Christ has served to reinforce the belief that the GOP has been hijacked by a wing of hate mongering Christianity. As the GOP is now dubbed the "Party of Neocon and Theocons", the GOP is headed straight toward the dustheap of history.

With the economy and financial system in ruins, the GOP offers nothing except the beating of war drums. I know Republicans who didn't object to Obama winning because they didn't believe that Obama would "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" and they greatly feared that the notoriously unstable McCain would unleash a nuclear war. Americans want out of foreign intrigues and follies. Americans don't want the blood of foreign citizens on their hands. They want their country and economy rebuilt and the constitution restored, but considering that the GOP favors the draconian marriage of big business and big government (fascism), the GOP is a long way from re-constituting itself as a party worthy of respect so long as the neocons and theocons rule the War Party.

The GOP must either change or get used to being the minority party. The GOP must become anti-war and non-interventionist. The GOP must oppose Wall Street Welfare. The GOP must support sound money and abolish the Federal Reserve whose unbriddled corrupt power built a fictitious bubble economy based on a gigantic Ponzi scheme. The GOP must nullify NAFTA that has shipped millions of jobs to foreign shores. The GOP must renounce tax policies that actually give tax breaks to US companies who earn profits offshore.

Bottom line: the GOP has miserably failed America and the American people on national security, economic issues, montary policy, fiscal sanity and the preservative of the American Dream.

America has become the "Evil Empire" and the Empire must die.

[Suzanne]

Well, I wouldn't say it is the philosophy of only the GOP. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Obama's number one mentor and Foreign Policy advisor, has a long history in both parties. He was involved in the Kennedy, Carter, Reagan, Bush administrations, and now Obama's.

The empiracle agenda has been going on for many years...and "they" have effectively used "The Bomb" to justify it. I would encourage you to watch this important lecture from 1968 by G. Edward Griffin. Both sides of the fence have been perpetrating this nonsense since WW2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7CfJ8wxahA

[Jim Rock]

the vote was 52.9% Obama , your quote is a call out that was determined an Obama talking point to try and break the moral of the Americans

also agree that we retreat our Army world wide and go on the peace , love and we love ya brother Forign Policy. With a move like that we wont have to worry about having an Army at all . We will have nothing to defend because of the absolute surrender to the world.

The only people we have become the Evil Empire to is our enemies. If you believe we are the evil empire then maybe you ought to move on to a country that has your wishes in mind. Mexico defends its borders so you wont fit in there so you have a long ways to travel

If it wasnt for the GOP we would have been the slap clown of the world, the terrorist finally go the upper hand on us with the president that had his own interest in mind. When we were attacked with a real leader we took the war to the enemy. We havent been attacked since , The enemy is now preparing attacks on us with a man pretending to take a throne that has no knowledge what so ever about foriegn policy. Everything you wrote is from the Obama talking points menu. Need to remeber we have access to the Obama info also and cell phones with text messages too. You guys are not like special people

so you want us to be pansies? too many men and women have died for the US to be what you want

[Boudicca]

Our financial system and economy are in ruins. We can't afford a trillion dollar a year foreign policy and we can't afford to police the world. It has nothing to do with being "pansies". Of all the terrorists who committed 911, the British bombings, the Spanish train bombings, the USS Cole, the bombing of our 2 embassies in Africa, Mumbai and numerous other terror attacks around the globe, none were from Iraq. Most hailed from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt. That's because Islamic terrorism is propelled by an extreme form of Sunni Islam that was born and nurtured in Saudi Arabia but exported mostly to Pakistan and Egypt. Also, none of the terrorists were from Iran nor were any of them even Shiite.

The bottom line is that our foreign policy is an expensive disaster. Hussein did not have WMD's. I invite you to read my blog posts because I've posted some excellent articles.

Finally, the "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" McCain lost by over 8.5 million votes, Obama crushed the GOP in the electoral college vote with 365, and the GOP witnessed 9 red states that turn blue (OH,FL,VA,NC,IA,IN,NV,NM,CO).

Over 70% of the American people oppose the Bush wars because the American people simply do not like war. If we are going to march off to war, we should have Congress declare war as is required by the Constitution.

I understand that foreign policy is a huge divide among conservatives. But conservatives notwithstanding, we need a foreign policy that will be accepted by the majority of the American voters.

[Boudicca]

Great quote!! I especially love:

'...we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. "

Now, how do we get that Eisenhower warning in the GOP Platform?

Reading the GOP Platform on "National Security" is like reading a blueprint for endless war and non-stop interventionism.

But if you read the Democratic Platform, it's even more neocon than the GOP Platform because it calls for a 65,000 increase in the U.S. Army and 27,000 more Marines. Heck, why does the supposed "peace" party need 92,000 more troops?

[Terrence Abrams]

Oh my God folks, we just found STRANDED WIND's Alter-Ego identity on our party website !!!

[Jim Rock]

if the American people dont agree with war , why have the Social/Democrat Party given us oh so many? We are fighting 2 wars under Rep administration in the entire history of the US. Where have the brains God Gave you people gone? Both times the Reps have introduced us to war we were attacked and one of those times we were attacked by the Democrats when they opened fire on Fort Sumnter .

Where do you even come up with the 70% number? I know exactly where that number comes from because, remeber , Socialist arent the only ones to infiltrate sites . We are not and never have been at War with Iraq , we are at war with Terrorist and if you used any of the info your very tightly closed , easily led mind, encountered you will find terrorist were trained in Iraq. We destroyed the camp!

Sadam Obama Hussien had so many WMDs they had to take months for our troops to remove them. We finally in June finished removing 550 metric tons of weapon grade uranium "yellow cake", took 37 truck loads to transport it to the fleet . The Ober Media doesnt talk about that, as a matter of fact CBS,CNN,NBC all formally refused to report that story. WMDs that were turned in to the UN for hearings turned up missing, corrupt organization

Back off Obama/Oberman/Soros/Axelrod people. we are not "educated beyond our inteligence"

Boudicca said:

Our financial system and economy are in ruins. We can't afford a trillion dollar a year foreign policy and we can't afford to police the world. It has nothing to do with being "pansies". Of all the terrorists who committed 911, the British bombings, the Spanish train bombings, the USS Cole, the bombing of our 2 embassies in Africa, Mumbai and numerous other terror attacks around the globe, none were from Iraq. Most hailed from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt. That's because Islamic terrorism is propelled by an extreme form of Sunni Islam that was born and nurtured in Saudi Arabia but exported mostly to Pakistan and Egypt. Also, none of the terrorists were from Iran nor were any of them even Shiite.

The bottom line is that our foreign policy is an expensive disaster. Hussein did not have WMD's. I invite you to read my blog posts because I've posted some excellent articles.

Finally, the "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" McCain lost by over 8.5 million votes, Obama crushed the GOP in the electoral college vote with 365, and the GOP witnessed 9 red states that turn blue (OH,FL,VA,NC,IA,IN,NV,NM,CO).

Over 70% of the American people oppose the Bush wars because the American people simply do not like war. If we are going to march off to war, we should have Congress declare war as is required by the Constitution.

I understand that foreign policy is a huge divide among conservatives. But conservatives notwithstanding, we need a foreign policy that will be accepted by the majority of the American voters.

[Chris Lawley]

As I recall, the war mongering United State has been reducing the number of military installations worldwide since the Clinton Administration.

I even believe that "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran "McCain" supported three rounds of unscheduled closures in 2001, 2003, and 2005.

http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/

Where do these people come from?

[Boudicca]

Jim:

There are many polls showing that about 70% of the American people oppose the Iraq war. Here's one:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/08/poll-iraq-war-oppos...

Quote: "Sixty-eight percent of poll respondents opposed the war, setting a new record. The level of opposition is slightly up from last month and 1 percentage point higher than the previous record of 67 percent, first set in December 2006 in a CNN/Opinion Research survey."

But the most telling poll of all was the election results on 11/4. Obama sailed to victory on the promise that he would end the Iraq war.

Liberals are already moaning that Obama will not deliver on his promises.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16292.html
Liberals voice concerns about Obama

Quote: "..some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss."

On the WMD issue, the CIA issued a report stating that no WMD's were ever found in Iraq. Hussein had no weapons grade plutonium or the means to make it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7634313/
CIA’s final report: No WMD found in Iraq

Quote: "In his final word, the CIA’s top weapons inspector in Iraq said Monday that the hunt for weapons of mass destruction has “gone as far as feasible” and has found nothing, closing an investigation into the purported programs of Saddam Hussein that were used to justify the 2003 invasion.

“After more than 18 months, the WMD investigation and debriefing of the WMD-related detainees has been exhausted,” wrote Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group, in an addendum to the final report he issued last fall.

“As matters now stand, the WMD investigation has gone as far as feasible.”

In 92 pages posted online Monday evening, Duelfer provides a final look at an investigation that occupied over 1,000 military and civilian translators, weapons specialists and other experts at its peak. His latest addenda conclude a roughly 1,500-page report released last fall.

Another addendum also noted that military forces in Iraq may continue to find small numbers of degraded chemical weapons — most likely misplaced or improperly destroyed before the 1991 Gulf War. In an insurgent’s hands, “the use of a single even ineffectual chemical weapon would likely cause more terror than deadlier conventional explosives,” another addendum said."

It's also true that a lot of the degraded chemical weapons that were found were given to Saddam Hussein by the U.S. for use in the Iran/Iraq war. Additionally, it was the U.S. who provided Hussein with the technology to produce chemical weapons. There's a great photo out there with Don Rumsfeld warmly shaking hands with Hussein and there is no doubt that Rumsfeld was instrumental in arming Hussein with chemical weapon technology.

Look, I understand that we are world's apart on the issue. Frankly, I consider myself a recovering neocon but when the truth started hitting me, I accepted it.

Here's the problem: until the GOP and its factions can come to an agreement on foreign policy, we cannot Rebuild the Party. Too much has been lost. The election results attest to that.

[Young Jeffersonian Republican]

Common Sense That Is No Longer Common...

"The spirit of this country is totally adverse to a large military force." -Thomas Jefferson (What?! You mean having troops stationed in over 100 different countries is not compatible with a Republic? But Bush/Mccain/Jindal say it is what were supposed to do!)

"America does not travel abroad in search of dragons to slay. If she did, she would quickly become Mistress of the world" -John Quincy Adams

"Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none."
-Thomas Jefferson

[Jim Rock]

do you have any reputable sources?

Boudicca said:

Jim:

There are many polls showing that about 70% of the American people oppose the Iraq war. Here's one:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/08/poll-iraq-war-oppos...

Quote: "Sixty-eight percent of poll respondents opposed the war, setting a new record. The level of opposition is slightly up from last month and 1 percentage point higher than the previous record of 67 percent, first set in December 2006 in a CNN/Opinion Research survey."

But the most telling poll of all was the election results on 11/4. Obama sailed to victory on the promise that he would end the Iraq war.

Liberals are already moaning that Obama will not deliver on his promises.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16292.html
Liberals voice concerns about Obama

Quote: "..some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss."

On the WMD issue, the CIA issued a report stating that no WMD's were ever found in Iraq. Hussein had no weapons grade plutonium or the means to make it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7634313/
CIA’s final report: No WMD found in Iraq

Quote: "In his final word, the CIA’s top weapons inspector in Iraq said Monday that the hunt for weapons of mass destruction has “gone as far as feasible” and has found nothing, closing an investigation into the purported programs of Saddam Hussein that were used to justify the 2003 invasion.

“After more than 18 months, the WMD investigation and debriefing of the WMD-related detainees has been exhausted,” wrote Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group, in an addendum to the final report he issued last fall.

“As matters now stand, the WMD investigation has gone as far as feasible.”

In 92 pages posted online Monday evening, Duelfer provides a final look at an investigation that occupied over 1,000 military and civilian translators, weapons specialists and other experts at its peak. His latest addenda conclude a roughly 1,500-page report released last fall.

Another addendum also noted that military forces in Iraq may continue to find small numbers of degraded chemical weapons — most likely misplaced or improperly destroyed before the 1991 Gulf War. In an insurgent’s hands, “the use of a single even ineffectual chemical weapon would likely cause more terror than deadlier conventional explosives,” another addendum said."

It's also true that a lot of the degraded chemical weapons that were found were given to Saddam Hussein by the U.S. for use in the Iran/Iraq war. Additionally, it was the U.S. who provided Hussein with the technology to produce chemical weapons. There's a great photo out there with Don Rumsfeld warmly shaking hands with Hussein and there is no doubt that Rumsfeld was instrumental in arming Hussein with chemical weapon technology.

Look, I understand that we are world's apart on the issue. Frankly, I consider myself a recovering neocon but when the truth started hitting me, I accepted it.

Here's the problem: until the GOP and its factions can come to an agreement on foreign policy, we cannot Rebuild the Party. Too much has been lost. The election results attest to that.

[Boudicca]

The CIA report is available on the internet. Do you not consider the CIA a reliable source?

Mainstream media is what it is. But you don't have to accept the polls. Just look at the election results which, IMHO, says a whole lot more.

Jim, you do not have to believe anything I say or even the links I provide. Research it yourself. It's out there.

There were no WMD's ever found in Iraq. The American people hate the Bush wars and proved it on election day. The polls are merely an expectation of an election result.

But that's not the critical issue here. The real issue is whether or not the neocons are going to work with the voting faction it lost to rebuild the party. If we fail at this endeavor, the GOP will be the minority party for a very long time.

There simply aren't enough neocon interventionists out there to win elections. War is a lose-lose for the GOP. And if we can unite, it will be a lose-lose for the Dems as well. With Obama showing his neocon stripes, the Democratic base is already massively unhappy and he hasn't even been inargurated yet.

Also, there are other issues besides the war issue that contributed to the GOP's 11/4 bloodbath. If I had to summarize the primary causes of the GOP's defeat, I'd have to conclude that it was the Bush wars and the economy.

The GOP must strive to stand for something that offers the American people peace and prosperity. That's what build the GOP and the failure to adher to those principles has also brought the GOP down.

We need solutions to the great divide.

[Jim Rock]

I belive it was Daddy Bush or maybe even Ronnie Raygun that started or at least enacted the closure of the bases. With the fall of the Soviet Union we could afford the downsizing and the new warfare doesnt require the masses of men to fight Urban warfare like we have entered now. I was in the military in the 70s and just can not fathom what the troops have access to now. Missles more accurate than Nolan Ryan , man , actually thinking about the Surgical small Army warfare we do now is scary. Unmanned fighter planes , beyond me , and who would ever think that kid of ours playing Nintendo would end up flying a multi million dollar unmanned weapon of war . We called them nerds and they can drop a bomb on my napkin in the front yard

Chris Lawley said:

As I recall, the war mongering United State has been reducing the number of military installations worldwide since the Clinton Administration.

I even believe that "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran "McCain" supported three rounds of unscheduled closures in 2001, 2003, and 2005.

http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/

Where do these people come from?