No foolin’. The money bit starts at around 1:10. One of the core arguments against the war is that it’s destabilizing the region; the destabilization that would come with Shiite fundamentalists wielding an atomic bludgeon seems of less concern. Paul squares that circle neatly by declaring that the Middle East is none of our business. He has no moral or strategic interest, obviously, in partnering with Israel to check Islamism. Nor does he seem concerned with guaranteeing our energy interests. To do so would presumably hew too closely to the dreaded neocon “war for oil” bumper sticker, although how he’d plan to meet the demand for petroleum if apocalyptic war did break out isn’t addressed here.

Never mind that, though. What can he possibly mean by “[t]hey’re incapable of even attacking their neighbors … and they have no history of doing this”? Whatever else Paul may be, he’s not stupid. Why would he think Iran, which has advanced ballistic missile technology, would be incapable of attacking anyone? And why, given their fondness for using proxies in Lebanon and Iraq, does he think they’d shy away from handing a nuclear weapon to terrorists to smuggle into a western country? The second-most powerful man in Iran is under indictment in Argentina for his role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center. There’s a $2.65 billion judgment standing against the Iranian government in this country for their role in the 1983 barracks bombing in Lebanon. This is what Giuliani was getting after when he smacked Paul at the debate last month: he seems somehow unable to conceive that state governments and terrorist organizations might coordinate. Which, as I said at the time, is an odd position for a man who voted for the Afghanistan war to be in.

As for the rest of it, from the nonsense about Iran only reacting to our foreign policy to his ignorant insistence that occupation is the source of all grievance, let me know when he gets around to actually addressing what Al Qaeda’s said. He likes to wag his finger at Giuliani about ignoring the enemy’s grievances the better to advance the neocon agenda. Click that last link to see how Paul himself does on that count. Money quote from Gadahn’s tirade: “[L]et us be clear: A pullout from Iraq alone, in the absence of compliance with the remainder of our legitimate demands, will get you nowhere, and will not save you from our strikes.” Click the image to watch.