<blockquote>'..Ron Paul .. very much doesn't want new wars or new military actions. This is not an unreasonable desire!'
– Peggy Noonan,
A Kettle of Hawks, November 25, 2011</blockquote>
'Ron Paul .. he is averse to war, as are his countrymen.'<blockquote>'Remember when Paul belonged to the minority in Congress that opposed the Iraq War? Now, 62 percent of Americans say fighting the Iraq war was a mistake. You know the Republicans who criticized President Obama for presiding over the end of America's military presence in Iraq? Well, like Paul (and unlike Obama) 78 percent of Americans support full withdrawal. And in Afghanistan, another country that Paul wants to leave, two thirds of Americans want to see troop levels reduced. "Just one in three Americans believe fighting there is the right thing for the U.S. to do," CBS News found, "while 57 percent think the U.S. should not be involved in Afghanistan."
Like Ron Paul, Americans are also overwhelmingly against bombing Iran's nuclear infrastructure. And although I'll bet he wants to cut the Pentagon budget more than the average American does, a majority of the public prefers defense cuts to other kinds, and as Rasmussen found earlier this year, "Nearly one-half of Americans now think the United States can make major cuts in defense spending without putting the country in danger. They believe even more strongly that there's no risk in cutting way back on what America spends to defend other countries."
Comparing Paul's positions to those of either the American people or foreign-affairs experts in the State Department and academia, it is clear that his views are
closer to normal than most of his Republican opponents' (that is to say, closer to normal than everyone but Jon Huntsman). On the biggest, most consequential foreign policy issues, he is averse to war, as are his countrymen. It is only when they are compared to the views of the Washington establishment, where the
Washington Post op-ed page, the
Weekly Standard, and the American Enterprise Institute are regarded as mainstream institutions, that Paul's foreign-policy views seem like the abnormal ones.'
– The Atlantic,
On Foreign Policy, Ron Paul Is More Mainstream Than His Opponents, November 26 2011</blockquote>
Context<blockquote>
Cain Throws in the Towel; Gingrich's Serial Hypocrisy is Embarrassment to Republican Party; Ludicrous GOP Get-Tough Talk; Time for Romney and Gingrich to Step Aside as Well, December 03, 2011
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Tipped Off Prominent Hedge Funds Regarding Fannie Mae While Telling the US Senate and General Public a Different Story, November 29, 2011
Some Failed Institutions Always Foreclose; The Reason: FDIC Sponsored Fraud; Who Benefits: George Soros, Michael Dell; John Paulson; Boycott Dell, November 28, 2011
Ron Paul on a Return to the Gold Standard (When and How); The Dangerous Competing Idea for the IMF to Create the Standards for International Money, November 29, 2011</blockquote>