Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, wants U.S. help against advancing Islamist rebels. Former Rep. Ron Paul, center, wants the answer to be no. AP Photos
As jihadi rebels advance toward Baghdad after capturing much of Iraq’s north, former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, says America’s chickens are coming home to roost and the U.S. should provide absolutely no assistance to the Iraqi government.
“Give them nothing,” the former presidential candidate advises. “The people in that country have to deal with it.”
The Iraqi government is appealing for U.S. assistance as the crisis deepens and President Barack Obama said Friday he’s reviewing options short of on-the-ground help, while expressing irritation about the Iraqi government’s ineptitude.
Paul’s glad that troops are off the table – but fears airstrikes or aid would harm U.S. interests.
“The president should not be sending weapons or training forces, all that would do is give more incentive for al-Qaida to be more active,” he tells U.S. News. “We’ve suffered enough and we don’t suffer at the hands of those who are defending their country, we suffer at the hand of those who have orchestrated this foreign policy that’s doomed to fail.”
Troops from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an al-Qaida offshoot active in the Syrian Civil War, seized Fallujah in western Iraq in January and this week conquered Mosul in northern Iraq, one of the country’s largest cities, as Iraqi soldiers fled. The militants are proceeding south along the Tigris River toward Baghdad, taking several important towns already.
“It reminds me little bit of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam – it was such a surprise, they thought the war was over and the Tet Offensive showed they were so strong that they struck all the cities, and they lost every battle, but they ended up winning the war,” Paul says. “But [in Iraq] they’re winning the battles, so that’s an ominous sign and for our national security’s sake we should just get out of there.”
Paul generated an enthusiastic fan base toward the end of George W. Bush’s presidency by aggressively criticizing the Iraq War, which Bush launched in 2003. He unsuccessfully sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 and 2012, campaigning for a noninterventionist foreign policy.
U.S. troops left Iraq in December 2011, but a large American embassy remains.
Paul blames U.S. policies for Iraq’s instability. “We have for 10 years been bombing Iraq and just stirring up trouble and hatred and chaos; Saddam Hussein was a brute but at least he didn’t murder Christians and cause so much killing,” he says. “We have created a monster.”
ISIS is infamous for beheading, crucifying and otherwise murdering opponents, alleged criminals and religious minorities in Syria, where it is one of several militant groups seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Sunni Muslim group aspires to create a transnational Islamic caliphate spanning Iraq and Syria.
“They’re capturing our weapons in Iraq and even in Syria we support the people trying to overthrow Assad, and they end up with our weapons and we end up being allies with al-Qaida," the former congressman says.
Iran, an ally of the Shiite-led government in Iraq, is supporting Assad in Syria and has reportedly deployed troops to shore up Iraq's government.
“We have a choice: Should we work real hard to preserve a government [in Iraq] that may become a very, very close ally with Iran, or should we throw our support with al-Qaida, which we have done in the past?” Paul says. “I don’t want to pick between the two.”
Steven Nelson is a reporter at U.S. News & World Report. You can follow him on Twitter or reach him at snelson@usnews.com.
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