Ron Paul 2003 Speech Predicts Iraq Invasion Loss Of Freedom & Privacy After 9⧸11 Part 1 Of 2 [keG8c7WvCww]

00:21 It's a 20 minute tail. You're about to get on TV here. Sir? I'm poking for the trademark deal. Yeah, no, I see you. I watch you. How are ya doing? Oh not too bad. Get a sniff. Hey how are you doing? Just gonna have the congressman autograph my constitution. That's very good idea!

01:06 It's good to see you again. I just ordered a bottle of

01:49 I've invited Bill Harrah, who's a little more balanced to go ahead and introduce himself. Now why do i see surprised faces on stage? My name is Bill Harrah, I'm the director of the ACLU Texas and you shouldn't be surprised seeing me here The ACLU in Washington, DC has worked for many years with Congress to run well. And he has been one of our most fearless, strident fighters for freedom and liberty in the Congress at a very, very difficult time. In my opinion like I saw on a sign the other day, the best model of a patriot act is the US Constitution.

02:56 And those who dare to fight for the principles expressed in the United States Constitution, in times like these are truly patriots. Ron Paul is a patriot. The constitutionally protected and long-time cherished right to privacy has been under threat not just since September 11th but for at least the past 10 years more so than before with computers and cameras and sensors, wireless communications GPS biometrics other technologies that are superseding previously held notions of how to limit the government from interfering with our freedom of thought, freedom of movements our freedom of conscience, association and privacy to our unique individual physiological makeup. Our DNA structure

03:57 And I think that's a good thing. I'm going to be speaking about the legislation that we have in place. I'm thanking the Congressman for his legislation that would repeal a vision in current law allowing for database on unique health identifiers. That sort of vision and courage is why I am here today to introduce beyond that, and probably most vividly was the fact that Ron Paul had occurred to stand up against

04:56 the threats to freedom like we haven't seen in 50 years, and that was with the swift passage of the USA Patriot Act. Ron Paul said quote in reflection, attacks on our homeland prompt massive increase in bureaucracy to protect us from all dangers seen and imagined. The prime goal or concern of the founders for protection of liberty is ignored Those expressing any serious concern for personal liberty are condemned for their selfishness, self-centeredness and the lack of patriotism. That in fact was the risk that Ron Paul took courageously when he stood up to the fight and like many others were unwilling too and we applaud him for that and honor him for that

05:55 The moral, I think in this story and I want to thank God's everyone for having the courage and the vision to ask me to come introduce Ron Paul tonight is that frankly we do have a lot of common ground. And if we work together like we had on the Patriot Act like we can in other areas together we can genuinely be a force In Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed Homeland Security Task Force immediately after September 11th I'm very proud to say that these people gathered did not go over the line, the way that our Congress did. The way New York did and Florida did and Minnesota did Illinois did in other states they passed 44 recommendations that do nothing to enhance the authority of law enforcement to invade our privacy And to harass us as citizens They took responsible measures to protect our courts To prepare for

06:52 I'm going to give you a little bit of background on the drug war. And I think that's a good thing. to release non-violent prisoners from prison and put them back into the community so they can reform, work and take care of their families. We think we should abolish these narcotics task forces because they've shown themselves to be nothing more than roving bands of thieves. To demonstrate our genuine pride in support for Ron Paul's courageous efforts

08:07 Sustained liberty under constant threat. I'm going to deputize the Congress of Rochelle as the eighth COU in Texas! Thank you very much, it's real nice to be here and see this crowd. This is very interesting. And thank you for that very nice introduction. I appreciate that, but also appreciate the opportunity to come and talk and visit with thoughtful people who are concerned and interested in issues. And I was asked just a little while ago by the media are the people really concerned? Have they been affected by these news? The answer is a lot of them have not yet

09:04 And I think that's a good thing. a little introduction about how things operate in Washington. And that tells you a little bit what the obstacles are and the legislative process and the mentality up there. You know, it wasn't too long ago there was say, a concern brought to me about a piece of legislation that had $60,000 written into a piece of legislation for bicycle trail in Alexandria

09:57 And when they went to the member of Congress who lives in that district, and they asked him how did you get it? Did you put that in for your districts. He says I don't even know anything about them. Well that's unusual because all the goodies are there for good reasons and somebody worked on them to get a pass. So they hunted this down and hunted it down. They finally found which office he came from. It came from an office in Arizona And I asked them, they said why do you care about $60,000 bicycle trail in Alexandria? And then they went a little bit further and they found out that his staffer had lived in Alexandria, Virginia. He stocked it in the dark of night on a sliceable trail. That's how...that's not...you know, it's a little story. It's an iron story but that's probably the way most of Washington works because this omnibus bill we just passed here last week over my objection,

10:57 It had, I think 11 thousand pages. And it wasn't even available to us and you notice the opposition on the other side, white plate put them on the desk by that high! And uh...it was not available for any member of Congress. Those behind-the scenes drew this up and spent all that money All your money so work hard they need your money. And it keeps working that way But you know, in our lame duck session we had a bill come up. It had to do with the bankruptcy bill which was a good bill and I wasn't supportive of the bankruptcy bill but then there was controversy and there was controversial piece of legislation stuck on dealing with abortion so it's very hot issue There is tight vote on the rule that killed the bill not because the large majority of house supported

11:57 But because of the other issue, this was brought up. And the voting that was going on here was really, really tight. I mean it was back and forth and back and forth. The whip went around twisting arms and getting the votes he won. Fine a vote here or there then the other side would get a vote. This was going on like 45-50 minutes trying to figure out how this bill would go And finally, it was very clear the bill would be defeated. And it was at that moment that the leadership on our side of the aisle who had worked so hard for about 40 minutes to get the bill passed and finally realized they couldn't pass it, they couldn't call any more chits in. So they made an announcement. The message went around the floor you are now free to vote your conscience

12:48 And then 100 people switched their votes. Then it was overwhelmingly defeated, so that's the way it works and that how some of this horrible legislation gets passed. The emotion in a short period of time exists, the political sentiments where people think arm twisting support for the president, support for party and trying to get ahead in your parties One thing I've observed is that the frequent statement is if you go to an individual who's in a leadership position, one of the top 20 or 30 positions. You say, hey why are you going this way? No, you don't believe that way. He says well it's different now. I'm in leadership. So when you're in leadership, you're more likely to go along and get along in order to satisfy those individuals who are in leadership

13:41 So the process is not all that encouraging. It's really a pretty tough system. The Homeland Security Bill as well as the Patriot Act were passed in very, very unusual fashions. The committee, the House Committee before it was kept open until 5 o'clock in the morning, rules were bent and twisted and in order to avoid two-thirds vote they were able to pass things on majority vote So, the process was such that on the Patriot Act we had seen one version of it. The final version was not available to us and it came back from the Senate. There is no hard copy. It's hard until last minute you can finally find it on the internet.

14:32 And I think that's a good thing. And I said, well, you know what? Let me very briefly go over, in very general terms the philosophy that I follow. Because if you understand that philosophy which I'm sure many of you already do very well because if your American and like the Constitution thats pretty much my philosophy its not a lot more complex than that but I thought it through a little bit more and I apply those rules to all legislation

15:53 Of course, the first thing I do immediately with legislation is first apply the test of the Constitution. If it's something that is unconstitutional, I just vote for no matter how well intended and some, it's tough sometimes because if it very well intended at least they want to appear so. And the other test I take are promises I make. It's legal to tax you even though my promise And I'm not going to go into that.

16:35 I'm not going to go into that. You know, the promises are there but who knows where. But most of it is evaluating the political impact in the district and money raising and special interest groups And that is a more difficult thing They also say well we can weigh this because if its mostly good or just partially bad therefore we have to vote for it Now that's another tough thing for me because what I do

17:21 I think that even if you give them 5%, it's too much. Because the incremental is, there is always something good in all the bills and they tell you there is something good all the bills. So it is a big call to make up my mind, I still squirm, I have to admit that because you know out there by yourself and sometimes it becomes noticeable but the other day I walked in and really got worried because I walked in, I had voted sure I read the bills more than anybody else because when they're thinking about voting no they come to me find out why we are supposed vote no

18:13 But the reason is, anyway I walked in and went to get my vote. And it was one of these that seemed to be very non-controversial which isn't very often. All a sudden there was no vote up there! I was talking with someone and I glimpsed up there and said wait a minute... There's a No Vote up there? That's not what I thought. I must have made a mistake!! But I don't know whether he changed his vote or not. Anyway, anyway that uh...I have to watch out for that because I don't want to lose my reputation. My philosophy along with the Constitution starts with the principle of non-aggression and this is a basic one it isn't hard to comprehend if you ask the American people

19:00 I imagine, and I would hope 99% would agree. You're not supposed to kill people. You're not supposed to shoot or hurt people. You're not just supposed to steal from people. And you're not even supposed to threaten people for that. That is a good political idea. It's something that most of us have learned in our religious beliefs. All the major religions teach this, that you don't kill and you don't steal and you don't lie. You live up your promises in your contracts And that's pretty basic. But the big problem has been that we still recognize that, fortunately in society, that we're not supposed to do these things. But we have done something wrong in allowing the governments to do the things you and I aren't allowed to do. So if you and I are not allowed to transfer wealth and steal or hurt people

20:07 Our job then, as those who participate in government and political action is to put the same restraint on government. Now, where does the moral principle come from with non-aggression? It comes to people in different ways. Some people just accept it because it sounds logical. Some people call it natural law. Some people call it getting our rights from our creator and that we have a natural right to our life and our liberty and our property because if you have a right your life into your liberty to work and thrive and take care of yourselves

20:51 Then you have the right to the fruits of your labor. So this applies across the board, the right to life and liberty and pursuit of happiness comes from for me it comes from a creator but I'm not annoyed by those who come to it say from a utilitarian or logical viewpoint or something people want to call natural law because the ultimate result is all the same in the political sense that if somebody else who disagrees with me on my religious beliefs honors and respects or the right to life and liberty, and recognizing that aggression is wrong. My religious liberties will be protected." That's why the approach to this viewpoint isn't as important as accepting the principle that we not aggress against others. Sometimes I take a definition, and I just don't usually lay word for aggression

21:55 And I think that's a very important point. because they don't think you're doing what you ought to do, and what is best for you. And then it seems like today there's a tremendous number of people that liked this idea for both parties to intervene in the internal affairs of other people. I think we should not be interventionists in the economy. I don't think we should be interventionists in private liberty and private choices

22:48 And I don't think we should be interventionists in the internal affairs of others. What is the practical purpose of a philosophy like this? There's a tremendous practical benefit. Now, even if there were not a benefit that would be practical and beneficial I wouldn't want that philosophy because that's what I want. I wanted to be a free person even if I would be poor and it just didn't look nearly as productive but

23:28 The utilitarian, the practical reason for this is that if you want a more prosperous society and if you want a more peaceful society, you will accept this principle. Because that's what should be our goal – peace and prosperity for maximum number of people How does this work? What happens is if you have a political system that pays a lot of attention to personal liberty, what you do is release an energy from each and every individual. It isn't collective it's individual. The responsibility is on the individuals take care of oneself and accept the consequences of all their decisions

24:12 That if they do that, then they become much more creative. There's much more abundance and there is a much greater chance of having peace. Production goes up and happiness goes up If and when governments move in and say well we should do this in the economy because the economy is unfair We will forcibly do this and this. We will take from the rich and give to the poor because it's good, and it's fair." That's a lot of good motivation, and that kind of motivation opposed legislation up in Washington. But then if you apply that same principle to saying well I don't think you should be drinking beer, and I don't think you should be smoking cigarettes, and you shouldn't be gambling, and you stay out too late at night

25:05 And all of a sudden, but the government's going to put the rules on you for your own good. We're going to make you a better person and then in the other sense, in the third sense that is we are going to make the world live like Americans did. We are going to impose our system on them because we are the best and we generally have been the best. Because we have had not because we've been authoritarian interventionist But we have been the best because we have had the greatest concentration and emphasis on liberty. We have released the greatest amount of energy into the productive section, we've had greater inventions and we've had greater prosperity."

26:01 But now I think things are changing because we have had less emphasis on this. Because when governments take over this role of allowing an individual with this creative energy to strive for excellence and strive for virtue, which is what life is all about... If you take that away from the individual and give it to government even with the government's good motivation so that we all strive for fairness and excellence and better governments overseas, the government cannot do that without sacrificing the most important element. The most important element is individual liberty. So they're incompatible. But we in the last 100 years have accepted a notion that it's the government's responsibility. And this is the reason if anything goes wrong what is the government going to do about?

26:56 You know, this last week I took a very controversial vote. And I'm almost afraid to mention it here because I'm afraid you all disagree with me on this vote! But this vote came up and it was designed to stop those horrible horrible talent marketing people I'm going to be a good guy. So the ball went sailing through and everybody knows that everybody hates telemarketers. And so they passed it, there may have been two but I know I'm going to know and I figured well why do we need a government? Why do we need the federal government to tell us oh!

28:00 How are we going to know about that without monitoring phone calls? Who's getting the phone calls, and who can't not. Who is guilty. I mean the thing just goes on and on. Besides these kind of problems which seem unsolvable you figure well how is it going to happen maybe the technology isn't there but most of time or probably all the time the technology is there and its better done held by somebody else rather than big brother like me The whole idea that we resort to the government encourages, you know just more meddling. More record keeping and I just want to know every single thing that would do it. You know another statement made a few years ago and I imagine most of you have heard this from a political consultant and he described a neat system and that was the executive order. Kinda like the executive order.

29:06 Thank you. Now they can't do it by law, and a lot of times the public gets wind of what they're doing. And if they don't know it, much later than they do about executive order. So executive orders that's bad news because we're not following rules or cheating. We are not all cheating? They aren't all cheating. Paul DeGallo. Anybody ever hear of Paul DeGallo? Yeah. Paul DeGallo said something very famously he said stroke with pen, law with land kind of cool

29:44 That's what he thinks about executive orders. He was expressing something that nobody else is honest enough to express, and he loved it. He was there. He was working with Clinton and believe me they're still up there who like to write these executive orders. Matter of fact the other day I got wind of a bill and this did not get a lot of news It had to do with social security with Mexican citizens If a Mexican citizen comes over here and works, I don't want to get into immigration. That's difficult but I have some ideas about what we ought to do and it's not putting a lot of guns shooting people. But anyway, I don't like the system that says that anybody who comes steps over can become an automatic citizen which some do because I delivered them

30:42 If a Mexican citizen comes over, legal or illegal and works for a few quarters and goes back and fulfills his working career in Mexico. They can apply for Social Security here and get benefits on it. They want to change that. They want to change that too. Other countries already have that ability. So some of you are why discriminate against the Mexicans? I said good, I don't wanna discriminate against Mexicans just take away their power from everybody else. The Mexican citizen will qualify just by coming over. And I just don't see how that is going to be an advantage in trying to solve this horrendous problem that we have with Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid for that reason. Since you know, I'm on the position that I don't believe much in this welfare state any more than I believe in a warfare state, I do have a position on this because I know I'm not going

31:47 And I think that's a good thing. a long time before you have to just cut everybody off. I do not see this idea that we are compelled to finance the world. Matter of fact, this whole system...I am very confident that my arguments are going to win not because these arguments that I'm making them but the arguments that we make dealing with our government doing too much

32:29 And I think that's a good thing. Privacy is the essence of liberty. Big Brother is there and that big brother will be monitoring us, Big Brother is monitoring us it's getting worse every day When does this... when does Big Brother get bigger? Usually in the midst of a war It has happened throughout centuries

33:09 In the time of crisis, when people are frightened, the people who are much more anxious and much more willing to give up their personal freedoms. Because I hear it fed back to me quite frequently on radio shows. And they'll say well you know these are different conditions, these are different times we're in this war against terrorism so therefore we have to be willing to sacrifice some of our freedoms Now this is not a new sentiment. This has existed throughout history, it's been throughout history, World War, Civil War periods, think of the atrocious violations of liberty then, think about World War I and World War II and on and on. And generally speaking there is a retrenchment but never the whole way

33:56 Now, I'm not going to go into the details of that. And I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing.

35:13 and violations of our liberties. Because eventually, it's those violations or sacrifices on liberty that will compromise the creative spirit of what a free society is all about. And I think we're moving into a period time where this is tending to climax because things are coming together. The foreign policy is some days just doesn't seem like who's in charge? Then you have this terrorism. And I think that's a good thing.

35:50 You know, last week's code level was raised up to orange and it came from somebody who is in the country that they thought was a terrorist. And he said, well, you know someone is coming up? Then they put out the code alert! Then they find out that guy couldn't pass a lie detector test! Think of what we've done to ourselves at the airports. Everything goes on and on. There are times when I think Osama bin Laden must be chuckling He must really be chuffing when he thinks about us going in there and now starting another war at the same time we don't even talk about him anymore. So this whole issue is something that we should not ignore, although it might not have affected any one individual as of yet it will affect this country and will continuously

36:40 And actually, the bills are too numerous. It would be boring. It would take so long to go over all of bad things that have happened since 9-11. But for instance I have almost two pages here just list after list and see what they number up to. I have 16 different pieces of legislation that haven't passed that they're detailed and complex and changing things. And then there are the kind of things that could be done by executive order, some of these things have to be done by executive order but they're already doing it now. That's one reason why Patriot Act number two passed because we were already doing something. Now Patriot Act number 2 I've looked at that very generally

37:27 One of the big changes there is that if you could be accused of belonging to a terrorist group, who's going to define terrorists? Well we'll have somebody in Washington do that. Maybe Ashcroft. And decide whether or not they belong to a terrorist group and who knows it may right wing, it maybe left wing, it maybe religious, it maybe secular, it maybe pro-gun, it maybe pro life And it's also suggested that if the individual is in a demonstration,

38:04 And for some reason, what was it? Colorado. That if somebody agitates them and there's a death, if you participate in the demonstration you might be part of a terrorist group. Now the thing they're talking about doing now is changing the law to say that if you belong we can take your citizenship away from you I mean, this to me is going too far. They've gone way too far and just cannot believe they're going to pass this. Now there were enough comments made about some of this legislation and there was a whole put on this total information awareness program another great American citizen points actually. He used to be in charge of that and that's to have information everybody because somebody out there

38:59 And I think that's a good thing. every year so far, until this year. And that was to the 1996 under the new conservative Congress passed a law and said it would permit to develop this medical data bank. Each year after I got back we'd pass legislation or get an amendment put in there that would prohibit any funding to be used for that purpose but I couldn't get them to repeal the authority which is what you have to do

39:51 So now you have the medical, the medical bill. I mean the government's gonna know everything about your medicine because government controls all of the medicine so yes there are people who argue about if people need medical care we have to help them but we don't want privacy be violated and i dont see how that is possible governments want to know about what they run and it generally isnt excuse Now alot of these bills that i have listed up here They weren't brand new they didn't just pop out in 11 They had been around for a long time and they used data as the excuse to stick them off. The medical privacy thing went through, the Medical Data Bank went through because there's no resistance anymore

40:33 The financial privacy bill, same way it went through because we were able to defeat that before. But now you know we gotta find out where the finances are. What are ya doing about the finances and checking on the Saudis? Oh no! We can't offend the Saudis. You know just because they happen to make up most of the tariffs... No we can't do that but we gotta know about every single thing. Because they wanna know what your spending how much money you have And before 9-11, the motivation of my viewpoint I believe has always been on the tax issue to make sure that you pay your fair share of taxes. So it's another war. It is a war on those individuals who may not pay their taxes and that is another suit for drug war and taxes have been the greatest motivation to invade our privacy up until

41:29 Now with Homeland Security, Patriot Act number one and two. Airport security bills it's on and on I imagine the airports annoy more than just me but It is something that is very symbolic And people ask you well you're complaining a lot You are saying this or that What are we going to do? We have to do something I think we should Do something I voted for the authority of the President To deal with the Al Qaeda Those responsible for 9-11 There's a much bigger problem than that because 9-11, the Al Qaeda has been ignored too much and here we're going off on other adventures. But the airport security, see I'm old fashioned enough to believe in property rights and also fashionably first amendment, well I believe in the second amendment

42:42 Now, in this country it's not unusual to see private sources, private trucks And private individuals with guns, and they protect money because they haul the money to the bank and off of bank. And nobody thinks a thing of it because you know it's important that nobody steal from them. So it's the private market right on gun in the weapon and occasionally you'll hear of robbery but not too many because why take on a truck driver who has a gun? The responsibility, back to the responsibility in a free society. Most protection of our own lives and our property is done by ourselves. I mean, if the policeman doesn't protect you in your house, you're protected in your house because then you might have a gun. Whether you have a gun or not doesn't matter. You might in Texas have a gun! So...

43:46 There's some protection, not from the government making us secure. Once we grant that to them then you have got a camera in your house and I believe there are enough cameras around already but they'll be, I guess, a lot more cameras. If we can allow a truck driver use guns to protect his cargo why was it where we prohibited the airlines from doing the same thing? I mean, they're prohibited. They're still prohibited. The airlines were supposed to be some light in the eye on their regulations of allowing the airlines to be responsible and the pilots who've already been trained in handling guns very often from military, they have found that it is so cumbersome and difficult nobody's been licensed to carry a gun.

44:31 But if the airline companies had this responsibility, which they don't want because they're on by government because they get their insurance and they get bailouts and they all have protection. They don't wanna assume any responsibility but if they had in a free society, they would've protected us like those people in the truck. And four guns woulda gone long way to minimizing that tragedy But to move in that direction will be very difficult. I think the assumption is it's up to the government, who passed Homeland Security that is a tremendous invasion of our personal freedoms and privacy at the same time the area which uh...is most difficult to deal with and where the greatest shortcomings probably were for that is the CIA and FBI and National Security Agency they weren't included in Homeland Security

45:30 They're very competitive. They don't share information, they have plenty of information probably someday I guess they've already started digging it out but they had a lot of knowledge about what could have happened if they put it together so its bureaucratic somebody asked me why aren't you for the Department of Homeland Security? Aren't they trying to do right thing? Yeah their trying to do the right thing 170 thousand bureaucrats and we can't so far haven't figured anything other than changing code words No, I don't think the bureaucracy can do anything that can solve this problem. The other thing that's very unpatriotic to mention is why do these things happen? Is it because we're good? Does it happen because we're rich? I don't accept that. I just don't think ever. I guess they really hate Swiss

46:24 I'm not going to go into that. And I think that's a good thing.

47:02 are facing the consequences. There's a book out, few years ago called Blowback by a man named Johnson and he detailed how our foreign policy all blows back in our face and I think that is so true but you have to be so careful with that because if you say maybe it had something to do with our foreign policy That means you blame America? But no, I mean you blame the criminals who did the killing. But we need to understand they were motivated and why people are motivated? If you ignore that, then one report this weekend said there were 30 million people demonstrating against our policy. Now are we supposed to ignore that and if I pay attention to it am I an American? This is what they're implying

48:01 Our foreign policy is something I have talked about for a long time. I've run on it as early as 1974, and I believe in what the founders have taught us and told us that non-interventionist foreign policy is the best kind. The war is probably going to come along... not that I think that's a good idea – I don't think too many people do who I talk to

48:37 And I fear for it. Most of the American people are worried because they believe there will be increase in terrorism. But I've tried to think this through. And I've been talking about this, and I'll get you as far back as 97'. I was thinking of going back a little bit then but I'd rather go on my web page and look back at 97', I probably talked about foreign policy and the danger of what we were doing because I know that I talked about terrorism prior to 9-11 believing that we set ourselves up

49:14 Not because we're bad people and not because of the motivations, but because I think we've lost our way. That we have taken upon ourselves to do things that we shouldn't do. The people who want to stop you from making a profit are not evil people. They are very well motivated claiming I'm going to save your life! But they don't realize what are the unintended consequences and the downside to liberty? And that's the way it is in foreign policy again when you have to do these things But I have listed six reasons over the several years that I've been studying this issue, six reasons that the opposition, those who propose war give for going to war. And I want to mention those. The first one you hear very most is weapons of mass destruction.

48:37 And I fear for it. Most of the American people are worried because they believe there will be increase in terrorism. But I've tried to think this through. And I've been talking about this, and I'll get you as far back as 97'. I was thinking of going back a little bit then but I'd rather go on my web page and look back at 97', I probably talked about foreign policy and the danger of what we were doing because I know that I talked about terrorism prior to 9-11 believing that we set ourselves up

49:14 Not because we're bad people and not because of the motivations, but because I think we've lost our way. That we have taken upon ourselves to do things that we shouldn't do. The people who want to stop you from making a profit are not evil people. They are very well motivated claiming I'm going to save your life! But they don't realize what are the unintended consequences and the downside to liberty? And that's the way it is in foreign policy again when you have to do these things But I have listed six reasons over the several years that I've been studying this issue, six reasons that the opposition, those who propose war give for going to war. And I want to mention those. The first one you hear very most is weapons of mass destruction.

50:02 We have to do it because he might have weapons of mass destruction. And we have to do it quickly, because if he gets them, he might use them against us." And that's the one that goes over and over again. Of course, the one weapon that they found that broke the UN rule. It went 100 miles instead of 93 miles and that's enough for us to go to war with them. This is what has been said. It isn't weapons. It is not the weapons that is the problem there's more to it. The Soviets had over 10,000 nuclear warheads

50:42 And we treat them with kid gloves and the Times gave them 4A. But we won the Cold War not because we were so super smart, as much as they have a policy that is atrocious on the way they treated their people and they destroyed human energy because they had no freedom in their economic system to destroy it. Weapons of mass destruction, I don't care. You want to worry tonight about weapons of mass destruction? Try and get somebody to assure you that you know exactly where those 10,000 nuclear bombs went because nobody knows for certain exactly where they are

51:28 Pakistan has nuclear weapons, India has nuclear weapons. If we stir up trouble there, we're supposed to stir up a nuclear war and we're all going to be done with it. North Korea brags about it! And of course you say, oh? You do?! Well... We better negotiate with YOU! So the weapons cannot be issued There has to be a lot more to this than just the fact that somebody might get a weapon and might use it I guess The second most common reason given for the need for this war is to enforce UN resolutions. Now, I don't have a whole lot of interest in United Nations.

52:23 And I think that's a good thing. It's had 58 years of being in Korea. We have spent, in todays dollars over a trillion dollars defending Korea. We have 37 thousand troops there we lost what 33 thousand 100 thousand were wounded and we've taken care of veterans since all you know over all these years and where are we?

53:09 The war was not declared, which made it unconstitutional. The war was not won because the purpose wasn't to win the war and here we are still there in about as big a fight with Korea as ever and what happened this last week? Amazingly despite of us trying to sit there and create this confrontation, the South Koreans open up a bridge for the first time to North Korea because the people want to get back together again. So it's not the weapons, it's not the UN resolutions. The UN resolutions... Our administration says that we're going to enforce an UN resolution at the same time he says if you don't give me authority I'm gonna do it on my own!

54:09 So what, he's going to go on his own to enforce the UN resolutions? At the same time. And there are over a hundred other resolutions never enforced! All of sudden these are the most important resolutions in history United Nations but they deal with other countries Israel and they have not been enforced so I brought that up once in international relations And the chairman, I said why aren't you concerned about the other resolutions? You want to go to war at least. He says there are resolutions! So that tells us something. Number three reason 9-11 I think majority of American people now believe that we need to go to war because the Iraqis had something to do with 9 11 and there's... The CIA will deny that, the FBI denies that but it has no evidence The evidence is

55:11 that there's a greater chance, our CIA says there is a greater chance of terrorism if we go in. The evidence is also concrete that Osama Bin Laden hates Saddam Hussein. And just recently, in that tape that was used as evidence that they were in cahoots, Osama bin Laden said kill Saddam Hussein! He's telling the Iraqi people to kill Saddam Hussein because one is very fundamentalist radical religious and the other one is a secular person and they don't see eye-to-eye there's no way their in collaboration

55:50 There was one individual that got medical care in Baghdad, they can't find him. And that was the association as well as some activity going on in North Iraq which is in the Kurdish part of Iraq which is controlled by United States and we protect with our own arms. The likelihood of course Al Qaeda being in And I think that's a good thing.

56:28 He's a dictator. True, he is a miserable scumbag. Yeah, he killed a lot of people and I'll bet you I can name 10 or 15 others that are pretty close to what he has done. And many other things that he has done We were his allies. He was using gases, uraniums and got the stuff from us? I mean it just goes on and on. And the idea that he is today's Hitler doesn't pan out. Iraq and Colonel Powell told me this in testimony before the committee. He says they have a greatly reduced size of military. It's estimated to be 20% of what they had 12 years ago

57:14 I'm going to tell you a story. Now, the reason I emphasize this is it is related to our personal liberties because in wartime that's when liberty and privacy is sacrificed. The other excuse that I've been given and what the Strait Fest do is we need to protect our oil. Matter of fact, that was a blatant reason in 1990, protect our oil. It's not our oil!

58:16 To me, it's like we're in the Persian Gulf. We spend before the war built up $50 billion a year protecting our oil. What do you think would have happened here in Texas? How do you think Texans would have acted if Chinese were to come to Gulf of Mexico and say oh we're here to protect our oil! would have happened. And that's the way they see us, no matter whether you can give me a legal or moral justification for it doesn't matter You could be right about it but I'm right about what is does to radicalize people over there The same way as when we put our troops in a country like Saudi Arabia and consider them their

59:09 and there are religious beliefs. So this $50 billion a year that we've been spending, which is going to skyrocket just think for a minute try to guess in your own mind how much you think we spend on the oil? We get out of the Persian Gulf. We spent 11 billion dollars on the oil but the argument is always Obama. The same gets control he's gonna deny it. Whoever has it is gonna be business man. You know the cartel didn't even And the reason I'm saying that is because it's a very simple thing.

59:51 They can't do it. There's a market out there, and so whoever is in charge of that. Japan has no oil! Are they fretting about protecting their oil? This idea that we have to be there to protect our oil just really doesn't make a lot of sense along with this idea of protecting our world goes many will admittedly say well we have to protect the American hegemony And they sincerely believe in this. They believe in the moral obligation of us to do good in the world as an American hegemony, that is that we should pass on our goodness through the rest of the world into the next generation. They believe that sincerely just as sincerely I believe in national sovereignty. Now, the question is, of course, the motivation

1:00:40 And I think that's a good thing. uh... one more we have to be there for us that on occasion issues

1:01:35 Christian definition of a just war is a legitimate thing to me personally. And this one doesn't make sure how, and that is that you shouldn't fight wars we haven't been aggressed against. You should use all efferent diplomacy. The proper authority should make the declaration and we're not using the proper authority And I think that's a good thing. And that was that we shouldn't do it this way, that we should either declare war or not declare war. And that did not make anybody hear me. So there was a discussion and I was told by the chair of the committee that this is anachronistic and no longer applies as war powers in the Constitution. We don't do that anymore.

1:02:53 And the leader of the minority party said that was a frivolous thing for me to do, bring that up. Mr. Senator Cullen, the idea there should be a constitutional definition on what we did is. If we brought that vote out and it would pass, go to the last four and pass there is no doubt I would support all the efforts to win the war even though I disagree with them because I believe my side lost. But since I wasn't for the war nobody else was assuming responsibility Nobody voted for the resolution They never appealed

1:03:31 One individual got up and said, this is not practical to make us declare war. Don't you know this would invoke the issue of insurance contracts? And it would make us deal with our allies differently. They wouldn't be able to do their business in a different place. They came out with all these practical reasons. They didn't want the responsibility. So the bill literally took the power, the authority of the Congress, which is given to us by the Constitution to declare war up and down. And we'll transfer that authority to the executive branch. We didn't tell them go to war or not to go to war. We just said if you want to go to war, you can go to war. That's a transfer power that can only occur with men in the Constitution.

1:04:26 And I think that's a good thing. And I think that's a good thing.

1:05:07 It's rule of man. And this is where we've gotten ourselves, we've gotten ourselves a financial mess We have the dollar that is failing and it's going to get a lot worse. We have spending that is absolutely totally out of control. We have welfare state that may be well motivated but its very unsuccessful We have a government now that is telling us constantly how to make our lives better, even though we have not committed violence against any others. And at the same time the government wants to enforce all these rules and protect us not only against terrorists but also against ourselves which means they have to know every single thing about you and that has to stop!

1:06:05 The same way on foreign policy. It's said that the president, all presidents are supposed to have charge of foreign policy. Read the Constitution carefully! He is the commander in chief if we declare war. to raise the army and do all the other things that are so important in foreign policy. All trade agreements should be done with the Congress, not by the president dealing with trade agreements and getting us into these agreements that we endlessly fight over like WTO or NAFTA and other things. Free trade I'm for but not for it by transferring authority. If you want it that way, we should make them change the Constitution or we'll have nothing left

1:06:52 And right now, I think we have very little. Now we'd like to go ahead and close because Although we didn't talk about economics tonight, economics to me is very important. And this all comes together because I believe it will all participate or contribute to the bankruptcy that were facing because we are now just literally printing money in order to pay the bills and there's no slowing up with its domestic or international warfare spending. But Hayek is an Austrian free market economist

1:07:29 He won the Nobel Prize, and he has some credibility for vengeance. No longer living as somebody that I was fortunate enough to have dinner with many years ago. But he was a true believer in the marketplace and a true gentleman who understood these issues better than I will ever be able to. And he had a statement about free society I want you read because it's so appropriate and something I try to follow and something I would suggest we all try He said, we must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure. A deed of courage. We need intellectual leaders who are prepared to resist the blandishment of power and influence... ...and who are willing to work for an ideal however small may be the prospects of its early realization. They must be men who are willing to stick to principles and fight for their full realization however long.

1:08:23 Unless we can make the philosophic foundation of a free society once more a living intellectual issue and its implementation a task which challenges the ingenuity, the imagination of our liveliest minds... ...the prospects for freedom are indeed dark." Those are words of wisdom. And there are times when I get disgranted and believe, why do this? That's a common question. Why go up there and fight them? They're not listening. They're not paying any attention to you. And nobody really cares. And I'm sure you feel that way too since you were involved in these same ideas. Why do it for good reason? What else is there to do?

1:09:13 What else can be more important? What else can be more enjoyable than associating with like minds, people who are interested and people where we are trying to build coalitions to build on these ideas. Because freedom is the issue. Liberty is the issue. Privacy is the issue. So I would say yes it's worthwhile. I don't know what tomorrow will bring. We do not know whether war will go like most of us believe. It will grow quickly I'm not so worried about a week or two of war. I'm worried about a year, or two, or five, or ten years of war and not changing our policies whether it's domestic economic monetary policy or our policy of foreign intervention overseas that's what i'm worried about but we don't know what happens and what can happen

1:09:59 And I think that's a good thing. We don't know what will happen. But the other prediction about our system of government, we will not become communists or socialists in the conventional sense but it's more likely to become a fascist type corporate entity involved with a lot of war. So these were the warnings that were made at that time. But we don't know if this could end quickly and gracefully. It could end with difficulty. I do think some price will have to be paid because we live beyond our means.

1:10:49 So there will be some pat for some of us, or at least our kids. But it doesn't mean that we should give up on the issue of freedom because that's what America is all about! We can't give up on freedom!