Rand Paul: Taking Saddam Hussein Out Was A ‘Mistake’

04.28.2015 | News | Alicia Powe |

Republican presidential hopeful Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made his foreign policy stance clear on Monday: America’s interventionism has gone too far.

Paul thinks it is better to keep tyrannical regimes in power, even if they are brutal, because they at least keep Islamic extremism at bay.

He said during a meeting with the Jewish community in New York that it was a “mistake” for the American military to push Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq in 2003 and that Iran is subsequently twice as strong without Saddam’s tyranny.

“All the way back to the Iraq War, I think it was a mistake to topple Hussein. Hussein was the bulwark against Iran,” Paul said during a meeting with Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, New York. “The Sunnis didn’t like the Shiites, now Iraq is a vassal state for Iran.”

The Republican presidential candidate also criticized the U.S.-led campaign that ousted Muammar Gaddafi from power in Libya.

“Gaddafi wasn’t a good guy but he suppressed radical Islam,” the Kentucky senator said. “Now that Gaddafi is gone, the country is in civil war, the ambassador was killed, our embassy fled … the country is divided and a third of the country supports ISIS.”

The U.S. shouldn’t try to dethrone Syrian President Bashar al-Assad even if Assad used chemical weapons on his own citizens, because “each time we topple a secular dictator, I think we wind up with chaos and radical Islam seems to rise,” he said.

Paul attended the meeting in an attempt to make inroads with the Jewish community as he’s been questioned at times over his support for Israel. He has called to end U.S. foreign aid, including to Israel–as a way to strengthen Israel’s independence. Jewish groups, however, view the assistance as a demonstration as a financial boon and vital for security and symbolic of the ties between the two countries.

Alicia Powe

Staff Writer

Alicia Powe is a staff writer for Daily Surge. She worked in the War Room of the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee and served as a White House Intern during the George W. Bush administration. Alicia has written for numerous outlets, including Human Events, Media Research Center and Townhall.com.

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