Rand Paul Disappoints

Rand Paul is good on some things, and not so good on others.

Earlier this week, Paul was detained in Nashville for refusing a pat down after an “anomaly” was spotted during his full body scan. The T.S.A. denies that he was detained citing some Orwellian semantics. His refusal was noble and deserves applause, especially when considering his standing as an American Senator.

But just because Rand is good on some issues of the warfare-police state should not give him a free pass from scrutiny. Case in point: Rand Paul voted for the Kirk-Menendez amendment on December 1, 2011. Equally disappointing is that his vote flew straight under the radar. Whether unnoticed or ignored, antiwar vigilantes failed on this one.

The Kirk-Menendez amendment (#1414) seeks “To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to the financial sector of  Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran.” The amendment’s main focus is on Iran’s oil industry: “Sanctions imposed…shall apply with respect to a foreign financial institution owned or controlled by the government of a foreign country including a central bank of a foreign country, only insofar as it engages in transactions for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran.”

From Libya to Iran

Since it appears that Moammar Gaddafi is on the run and the NATO mission has been "successful," there are numerous consequences to consider for both the future of Libya and the United States. 

Who will comprise the leadership of the new government? Will the different tribes that were unified in rebellion continue to work together or will a new civil war erupt over control of the country? Will there be a strong central government that will have to be propped up by the West? Will Libya partition itself into its traditional provinces based on tribal loyalty?

The truth is that the end of Gaddafi’s reign in Libya marks both the end and the beginning. It’s the end for the former “Mad Dog of the Middle East,” the beginning of what will inevitably become another nation-building effort, and the "success" of Libya portends a tense future for the United States.

When American intervention began in March, I wrote on my personal blog:

[t]he UN Security Council resolution only authorizes that there may be ‘all necessary measures’ to ‘protect Libyan citizens.’ If the Authorization for Use of Military Force legislation of 2001 was a blank check for President Bush, then what is this? Just what does ‘all necessary measures’ to ‘protect Libyan citizens’ mean? . . .

By intervening in the first place, Obama has assured that the only possible outcome of this conflict means Gaddafi is dethroned. . . .

US and Israel [Cyber] Attack Iran

From VOA News, an agency of the US government, comes a story titled, "US, Israeli Computer Program Slows Iran's Nuclear Ambitions."  It reports:

A published report says a joint U.S.-Israeli project designed to sabotage Iran's nuclear program has apparently shut down a fifth of that country's nuclear centrifuges.

The report in The New York Times quotes unidentified intelligence and military experts as saying the project has helped delay, though not destroy, Iran's ability to make nuclear weapons.

According to the newspaper, the experts from both the United States and Israel have been able over the past two years to develop a destructive computer worm that has attacked computers in Iran.

And so we continue our newest march toward war with an unprovoked attack on a country on the other side of the globe.

Originally published here.

Iran Propaganda Debunked in Under 7 Minutes

(h/t Tom Woods)