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And central to the Bush-centric worldview, of course, is the idea that our enemies in the Middle East are motivated by hatred - hatred of freedom. Paul has a different view, which he expressed at the May 15 South Carolina Republican debate: They don’t hate us for who we are; they hate us for what we do, politically and militarily, around the Middle East. “Blowback,” as it’s called, is a controversial thesis, but it does explain why Osama bin Laden goes after America and not, say, Switzerland.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani reacted energetically to Paul in that South Carolina debate, scoring pro-Bush-brownie points on national TV. But Paul is unbowed; he cites, as supporting evidence, the 9/11 Commission report, and calls upon the expertise of friendly foreign policy experts, including former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, author of the 2004 book, “Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror.”
Yet, for all his antipathy to Bush and the neoconservatives, Paul is no fan of the Democrats - regarding them as slaves to the same interventionist ideology. But he does cite one exception to the rule: Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio - the hard-core “peace” candidate who opposed not only the Iraq war but the Clinton administration’s military campaigns in the Balkans. Like Paul the Republican, Kucinich the Democrat is at the bottom of his party’s presidential rankings.
And that’s why, Paul says, the wars are likely to continue, no matter who next wins the White House. But in the meantime Paul campaigns on with his idiosyncratic message, inspired by motives that look a lot like altruism and genuine belief."
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