Video: Ron Paul spins for Iran, of course

[Right Wing]

I guess this isn't Left v. Right, but more along the lines of "Paleo-con v. Neo-con" or "Lunatic v. Mainstream Conservative", but here you go:

Video: Ron Paul spins for Iran, of course

“It’s hysteria. It’s warmongering.”


A follow-up to my post last weekend about what a disgraceful, denialist crank this guy is. Let me go in chronological order, as there’s so much here that’s either dumb or dishonest that I’ll overlook something if I don’t.
1. Who are the mysterious “neocons” who forced poor Barack Obama to disclose the secret Qom site, which Paul would have you believe he didn’t want to do even though he’s been preparing to do it for months? Or have I misunderstood and he’s actually suggesting that Obama’s been duped and that there’s no secret Qom site at all, even though other western intel services have been keeping tabs on it for years? Give us the names of this nefarious Jewish — sorry, I mean “neocon” — cabal, please.
2. According to The Only Man Who Can Save America, Iran actually disclosed the existence of the Qom site to the IAEA before Obama disclosed it, ergo it’s not actually a secret. True. What he doesn’t mention: They only disclosed it a week ago, in the vaguest possible terms, after having kept it a secret for at least three years, and only because they realized that the west knew about it and was about to blow their cover. Nuance, Ron Paul style.
3. An excellent point: He notes that U.S. intel apparently knew about the secret Qom site even before the infamous 2007 NIE declaring that Iran had halted its weapons program was released. Not so excellent: The conclusion he draws from this, apparently, is that the Qom site is nothing to worry about rather than the much more likely conclusion that evidence of Iranian weaponization was withheld from the NIE in a politicized bid to deny Bush any reason to take military action against Iran. Oh, also? No mention here that classified portions of that very same NIE declared that Iran had an estimated 10 to 15 secret nuclear sites. How come, Doctor?
4. “What does the law say?” wonders our hero, declaring Iran innocent of any international violations. In fact, IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei acknowledged just this morning that Iran had broken the law. (In Paul’s semi-defense, this clip was recorded three days ago.)
5. He asserts that the IAEA has never found Iran’s nuclear program to be at fault, which (a) overlooks point 4 above and (b) ignores the fact that the IAEA has been credibly accused by western intel agencies — and not just America’s — of suppressing evidence that incriminates Iran in order to avoid military conflict. In fact, ElBaradei himself is an Iranian stooge of such longstanding that we’ve been writing about it since practically day one of Hot Air. The fact that even he’s been forced to get tough-ish is all the proof you need that Tehran’s in flagrant violation of its international commitments.

Hot Air Blog Archive Video: Ron Paul spins for Iran, of course

[TxBrewer]

Ron Paul is great right up to the border of the United States. When he gets into the realm of foreign policy his logic train runs off the track and into a nuthouse.

I hereby formally request all Ron Paul disciples to forgive me for my blastphemy and not attack my character for daring to question Dr. Paul in any way.

[Brett]

With Ron Paul's ideological defense system in place we could let Iran do what they want, but with our current defense we need to be in there before they get anything done.

[Bucks]

With Ron Paul's ideological defense system in place we could let Iran do what they want, but with our current defense we need to be in there before they get anything done.

.

[Susanna]

Ideological defense system? How can that possibly work against anyone who is determined to "get" you?

[BananaRepublic]

Ideological defense system? How can that possibly work against anyone who is determined to "get" you?

Kind of like the car on the Simpsons that ran solely off of Ed Begley's sense of self worth.

[HebrewHammer]

Ideological defense system? How can that possibly work against anyone who is determined to "get" you?

He means the defense system Ron Paul espouses.

[Bucks]

I guess it's this;

If elected President, Ron Paul will continue his efforts to secure our borders, hunt down the 9/11 terrorist planners (who are still at large), safely withdraw our troops from Iraq and other countries around the world, and finally overhaul the intelligence apparatus in cooperation with intelligence professionals rather than political opportunists.

.

[Susanna]

I guess planes can't get across our borders without permission.

[Brett]

I guess planes can't get across our borders without permission.

Who needs permission when Paul has advocated a very strong missile defense system. And they don't historically attack us with planes from beyond borders.

The only problem with this is that we're not their only target.