Clinton turning US into international bully Print
FOR RELEASE: March 23, 1999

Clinton turning US into international bully Paul says hostile policies in Kosovo, elsewhere, are harmful to US standing, security

WASHINGTON, DC -- With the President Clinton and NATO making "final threats" -- again -- against Serbia and Kosovo, demanding them to make peace with each other or face bombings, Rep. Ron Paul (R, Texas) said Monday that the Administration's policies seem geared to turning the US from a "superpower" to a "super-bully."
"What many people do not realize is that for almost eighty years there was a kind of peace between the Serbs and the Kosovars; it is a 'peace' brought by the iron fist of Soviet totalitarianism," said Dr. Paul. "I do not believe that the United States' first action in this region following the collapse of the Soviet Union and its puppet governments of Eastern Europe should be to adopt the same bully-thug tactics of the Stalinist communists."
Rep. Paul introduced legislation in February that would prohibit President Clinton from initiating military action in Kosovo without an Act of Congress. He recently voted against a non-binding resolution of endorsement of the president's activities.
"This president, like his Republican and Democratic predecessors of the last 50 years, has engaged in reckless interventionism that is completely contrary to the principles outlined by our Founding Fathers."
It is Congress, not the presidency, the Constitution empowers to declare war, which is what an initiation of force is, said Dr. Paul, a former Air Force flight surgeon.
"When we initiate force by sending our troops into hostile situations where there are no pressing American security interests, we risk retaliation against our forces on the ground and Americans everywhere. Our troops are at risk and our nation is less secure," he said.
"The United States has gone from a nation which tried very hard -- in the words of George Washington -- to be friends with all and enemies with none, to an international cop seeking to right wrongs in every corner of the globe, to now mindlessly poking its nose into every situation. No longer content with simply trying to overwhelm American citizens with intrusive federal bureaucracies, President Clinton is now shaping foreign policy into one which the entire world must bow to US demands, or face its wrath."