"Rand Paul's Evolution On Iraq Is Fully Complete" [View all]

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Rand Paul's Evolution On Iraq Is Fully Complete

by Igor Bobic at the Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/03/rand-paul-iraq_n_5762270.html

"SNIP..........................

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) raised eyebrows this weekend when he endorsed one of the most hawkish positions toward the Islamic State militants currently wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria.

"If I were president, I would call a joint session of Congress," Paul told the AP. "I would lay out the reasoning of why ISIS is a threat to our national security and seek congressional authorization to destroy ISIS militarily."

That put the self-professed non-interventionist to the right of many of his fellow presidential hopefuls, who sounded more tentative notes when asked about the proper U.S. response. Seeking to "destroy ISIS militarily" would require some sort of ground presence in the region, and involve far greater American involvement in another Middle East conflict.

.........

Paul's proposed path to intervention has complicated recent attacks he has levied against members of both parties, including a key contrast he has tried to make between himself and other prospective 2016 challengers. After he initially made the case against U.S. intervention in Iraq in June, Paul expressed "mixed feelings" about airstrikes later that month. He then followed up by criticizing "war hawks" like Hillary Clinton, only to advocate for war himself two days later.


.............................SNIP"