I've said before that one of the things that bother me most about Rand Paul is his isolationist tendency. But at least he comes by it honestly. Here's father Ron on Russia's takeover of Crimea:
What's the big deal? Opponents of the Crimea vote like to point to the illegality of the referendum. But self-determination is a centerpiece of international law. Article I of the United Nations Charter points out clearly that the purpose of the U.N. is to "develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples."
Why does the U.S. care which flag will be hoisted on a small piece of land thousands of miles away?
But it sort of matters which small piece of land, doesn't it? If the Dominican Republic wants to put the muscle to Haitiand take total control of Hispaniola, that's not such a big deal. When Valadimir Putin shows every sign that he'd like to piece the Soviet Union back together, that is. And let's not lose sight of the larger story:
I’ve been saying for years that we’re the target of a global war, that the Pyongyang-Beijing-Moscow-Tehran-Damascus-Havana-Caracas etc Axis of Evil is hell-bent to dominate and destroy us. Now the evidence is so clear that only a willfully blind man could fail to see it. When the pundits were saying that Assad’s doom was imminent, I warned that he had the full support of Russia and Iran, and they would not go quietly. He didn’t, but the pundits are still trying to unscrew the inscrutable jihadi networks and alliances, invoking the tired chant of Sunni vs Shi’ite, and refusing to see the battle of Syria in the context of the real war.
Today, the repression of the Venezuelan people is under the command of Cubans and aided by Hezbollahis, which is part of the same picture that has Russian troops-in-mufti operating in Ukraine, Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah killers operating in Syria, Iranian-guided terrorists fighting in Yemen, Iranian-trained Taliban killing Afghans and Americans, and on and on. That picture has been clarified by the announcement that Russia is opening naval bases in Latin America.
Maybe I'm not quite as alarmist as this guy, but surely it's fair to say that Mitt Romney was right about the danger still posed by Russia and Barack Obama was wrong to sneer at the idea during their debate. We tend to be able to focus on only one thing at a time -- War on Terror! War on Terror! But that's not the only threat we face. We need to be able to think in terms of a two-front challenge.
Oh, wait.
