Ron Paul and Foreign Aid: Why the US Has Been the Cause of the Israel Gaza Conflict

Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) wrote on his blog that, though the ceasefire in Gaza seems to be holding, we must realize that without changes in U.S. foreign policy "it's only a matter of time before the killing begins again."

The 2012 presidential candidate compared the current situation with 2009, when 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed. Paul says that, just as in 2009, the current conflict has been encouraged by the United States. “It's our money and our weapons," he added. 

The libertarian icon, which is serving his last term in Congress, notes the U.S. role "has not changed" under the Obama administration; and that we keep making the same mistakes of George W. Bush. He agrees with Salon's Glenn Greenwald in that "the U.S.' financial, military and diplomatic support of Israel has been the central enabling force driving this endless conflict [...] paid for, in substantial part, by the U.S. taxpayer…”

And, though the Obama administration prides itself of having restored America's popularity overseas, Paul believes the president holds himself to a double standard because of his justification for supporting Israel during the Gaza conflict. "No country on Earth would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders,” was the Obama rationale when — according to Paul — "this president rains down missiles on Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and numerous other countries on a daily basis."

Paul concluded that continuing to rain down missiles on so many increasingly resentful nations, the U.S. is undermining rather than furthering its security. "We are on a collision course with much of the rest of the world if we do not right our foreign policy. Ending interventionism in the Middle East and replacing it with friendship and even-handedness would be a welcome first step."