Ron Paul House Floor Speech on Iraq (October 8, 2002)

(C-SPAN) Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) spoke about Iraq during a House floor speech on October 8, 2002.

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(October 2, 2002) Joint Resolution [by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress] to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releas...

(House of Representatives - October 8, 2002) Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. Full transcript of Ron Paul's statement opposing the Authorization.
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/con...

(House of Representatives - October 8, 2002) Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. Congressional Record of the session.
http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/query...

(House of Representatives - October 16, 2001) "Mr. HYDE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1465) to authorize the President to exercise waivers of foreign assistance restrictions with respect to Pakistan through September 30, 2003, and for other purposes."
http://www.fas.org/terrorism/at/docs/...

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Ron Paul voted against the 2002 Iraq resolution.

Said there is "no convincing evidence that Iraq is capable of threatening the security of this country." Stands against the preemptive strike.

In the Christian doctrine of Just War, the proper authority must be responsible for initiating the war, that proper authority cannot be transferred to the President nor to the United Nations. Going to war through the back door (the UN).

There's no act of agression. Iraq, an impoverish, 3rd world nation. Congress must assume responsibility for the declaration of war.

The Iraq Position Locator:
http://www.slate.com/features/iraqpos...

Ron Paul
Against the war.

Mitt Romney
Supported Bush's decision to go to war but has said that the postinvasion period was "mismanaged."

Rudy Giuliani
Supported the invasion then, supports it now.

John McCain
Strongly supported the war from the beginning. Voted for and co-sponsored the 2002 resolution.

Fred Thompson
Voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in October 2002.

Hillary Clinton
Voted to authorize the war, urging Bush to use this "awesome responsibility" only "as a last resort."

Barak Obama
Opposed the war from the start. "Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors," he said in 2002.

John Edwards
Voted to authorize the war in 2002, declaring that the United States must "eliminate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction."

Joe Biden
Voted to authorize the war in 2002.

Nancy Pelosi
Voted against the 2002 joint Iraq resolution. Warned that using force without first exhausting diplomatic methods "will be harmful to our war on terrorism."

• Category

  News & Politics

[mjs1231]

Last man standing just threw in the towl.

We are screwed

[busamhusam]

this man should be the president  of the usa, shame on the us and what a shame to us all

[ihatelameusernames]

There has never been a threat to America's national security except ISRAEL

[TheTrueGamble]

Jayrod God bless your dad. I am opposed to these wars. I served in the Army National Guard for 3 years and realized how much I did not want to go over there, and luckily never had to. However, I am opposed to these wars.

[MurdocHughes]

US Government doesn't speak for it's people, even though it's supposed to.

[Restfulrain]

Seriously USA - remember the golden rule. Treat others as you would like to be Treated. USA is a bully and it knows it. God forbid anyone else tries to gain power ...

[jayrod8907]

After seeing what war did to my dad, I promised myself that I would never support any war that was not justified. Go ask these soldiers and their families what they think of these wars. Don't sit here and tell me that presidents are justified in declaring war without congressional approval. No person should have the unilateral power engage in acts of warfare without ANY sort of check or balance on his/her decision. You clearly have no idea what the constitution is meant to protect.

[jayrod8907]

My dad served 2 tours in Iraq, 1 in Afghanistan. He now has PTSD as a result of his service and still has nightmares because he was forced to kill needlessly. So many families go through unneccesary heartache because of these wars that have nothing to do with our security. The fact that we so willingly send our soldiers to die in a country without a formal declaration of war should not be tolerated. If you are so willing to support these wars, then go walk the walk, don't just talk the talk.

[jayrod8907]

Furthermore, you are completely missing Ron Paul's argument. He does not want our military to breach the sovereignty of other nations because we would object to it here if another country did the same to us. He does not want our executive to use the military for narrow political reasons, nor does he want the Congress to give it's power of declaring war to the executive because, according to Article 1, Section 8, Congress has the sole power to declare war.

[jayrod8907]

The whole argument is that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional because it gives the president the unilateral power to engage in warfare. The act of invading a country is an act of war. Imagine if Venezuela invaded the U.S. because Chavez gave the military the power to do so. All Americans would immediately cry out for war against Venezuela. Breaching a country's sovereignty is an act of war. Just because presidents have done it in the past does not make it legal.