Senator Rand Paul vs. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on military sales to Saudi Arabia

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Foreign policy is always an interesting topic in American politics, and one that is not always black and white. As we remember the victims of the tragic 9/11 terrorist attack, we remember this point. Not everything politically or even militarily abroad is black and white. While we sent our military to Afghanistan on a mission to avenge the fallen, a specific mission would become a global “war on terror” that would expand operations abroad. Included in these expansions of action would be the invasion of Iraq.

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Among the disturbing revelations to come years later would be the Saudi Arabian connection to 9/11. When the final pages of the 9/11 Commission Report would be declassified, it was revealed the connection to the hijackers ran deeper than previously suspected.

Now that this is public knowledge, how could anyone support military sales to Saudi Arabia?

The mainstream media in America has lost a great deal of credibility over the years, becoming a propaganda machine for the political elite. It’s been generally favorable to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and quite hostile to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. It’s also turned up the heat on Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson over not knowing a city in the Middle East.

Trump has spoken out against the Iraq invasion and Johnson, being a Libertarian, is more opposed to interventionism. Clinton, who supported the invasion, is attracting hawkish Republicans and neoconservative minds.

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So is it any surprise when Senator Rand Paul is criticized by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer for opposing a $1.1 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia?

Senator Paul’s issue involved the Saudi role in bombings of Yemen. The Yemen bombings have resulted thousands of deaths, including numerous civilians. Last month, Saudi Arabia bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Yemen, resulting in deaths and injuries ranging from young children to adults. This isn’t the first time this has occurred, as medical facilities have been bombed and even medical professionals such as ambulance drivers shot.

Everything has gotten to a point where the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement regarding the repeated attacks on medical facilities in Yemen.

But what is CNN’s Wolf Blitzer worried about? The military-industrial complex.

Blitzer expressed concern at Senator Paul’s opposition to the arms sale because it would cost the defense industry jobs. In a weak attempt to corner the United States Senator from Kentucky in a “gotcha!”, he then noted that the United States would experience a significant loss of jobs and revenue by halting military sales to Saudi Arabia.

“That’s secondary from your standpoint?” Blitzer pressed Senator Paul.

To this point, the United States has offered more than $115 billion in military sales to Saudi Arabia. Even as the country drops bombs on hospitals and shoots ambulance drivers, while claiming numerous innocent civilian lives, the United States government is trying to send more arms.

If Saudi Arabia was involved with the 9/11 hijackers and now is slaughtering innocent civilians in Yemen, why should the United States government be using taxpayer dollars to give the country’s government more weapons of war?

Senator Paul is standing up for the innocent, while the American media is a voice for the Obama Administration, acting as an accomplice to civilian slaughter.

Chris Dixon is a liberty activist and writer from Maine. In addition to being Managing Editor for the Liberty Conservative, he also writes the Bangor Daily News blog "Undercover Porcupine" and for sports website Cleatgeeks.

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