Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Rand Paul: The Iraq Surge Worked

More great reporting from Bloomberg's David Weigel as he informs us that Rand thinks the surge worked in Iraq:
Paul had finally found something that he and Jeb Bush agreed on–if only in part.

"Whether or not the surge worked–obviously, it worked," said Paul, responding to a question from Bloomberg. "It was a military tactic and it worked. In fact, some of the ideas from the surge could be used again. In fact, the main problem we have with ISIS is that the Sunni population is either indifferent, supportive, or hates the Shiite government more than it hates ISIS. Now, over time I think that will turn, but I think there are ways that Americans and our interactions can influence the support of the Sunni chieftains. Many will say that the surge's success was in encouraging the Sunni chieftains to be on our side, and I still do favor that."

Paul's assessment of the troop surge was at odds with the one offered by his father in 2007. Former U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas built a following with a hearty anti-war campaign, telling Republican audiences that America never should have entered Iraq. The "success" of the surge, he told libertarian-leaning reporter John Stossel at the time, was "propaganda."
Meanwhile, Olivia Nuzzi notices the Rand nuance::
Rand Paul, the junior United States senator from Kentucky and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has a tendency to take positions so nuanced they can, within the span of a few statements, veer into abstraction.
Abortion is no different... it is entirely possible that socially conservative Republicans who believe certain forms of birth control cause abortion could outlaw those forms of birth control, and Paul couldn’t say a thing about it.
Not that you’d be able to understand what he was trying to say anyway.
 

3 comments:

  1. The Iraq surge worked like the TARP bill worked.

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  2. The good news from this is that you won't have to worry about Rand becoming a Fox News commentator after he loses both senate and presidential elections. To be in the opinion business, one has to actually has to hold an opinion.

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  3. Frank Luntz is the Machiavellian wordsmith that Rand aspires to be, but he is only capable of a back alley shell game with neocon catchphrases.

    ReplyDelete