WATCH: Rand Paul’s Big Flip-Flop on Russia
In April 2009, Paul, on the cusp of launching his Senate campaign, gave a talk to the College Republicans group at Western Kentucky University. He was asked about the large number of US troops stationed overseas by an audience member who said it was “ridiculous” for the United States to maintain permanent military bases in Europe and elsewhere around the world. Paul responded sympathetically: “We’re now 60 years in Germany, 60 years in Japan, 50 years in Korea.” He defended his father, Ron Paul, for having noted during the 2008 presidential race that there were foreign policy causes for 9/11: “We have to understand there is blowback from our foreign policy.”
Arguing for a restrained foreign policy (and smaller military establishment), Paul immediately turned to the subject of Russia’s invasion of Georgia the previous year (which these days has often been cited as analogous to the Ukraine crisis).
For example, we have to ask ourselves, “Who needs to be part of NATO? What does NATO need to be at this point?” One of the big things [for] the neocons—the people in the Republican Party sort of on the other side from where I come from—is they want Georgia to be part of NATO. Well, Georgia sits right on the border of Russia. Do you think that might be provocative to put them in NATO?