Senator Rand Paul’s (R-Kentucky) fight to repeal post-9/11 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) went better than anticipated, considering the tight grip “pro-war” interests have on Congress, former Congressman Ron Paul told RT.
Dr. Ron Paul, a 12-term ex-congressman from Texas and three-time presidential candidate, supported his son’s proposal that would have ended the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs for Afghanistan and Iraq.
Senator Paul argued that the authorizations were being used by presidents to wage endless wars overseas. On Wednesday, the Senate voted 61-36 to kill the amendment.
Despite the loss, Ron Paul told RT he was pleased by the support of even 36 senators, many of whom may have felt “pressure from [their constituents] back home,” adding “that’s why I think we did better than we had anticipated.”
The pro-war group is solidified in Congress,” Paul said. “We Constitutionalists and Libertarians are a minority.”
Rand Paul and his father cite Article I of the US Constitution, which grants Congress the power to declare war.
“The media is entirely on the side of neoconservatives, and they represent the military industries. They make money off of war. And sometimes, they say we’ll have a little war, we’ll have a little cold war, and this will help our profits and they don’t intend it to go much further. But so often it gets out of control. And actually the policy is totally out of control,” Paul said.