No way could I let this idiotic statement go without mention.
Via the transcript from Meet The Press, December 23, 2007:
MR. RUSSERT: So if Iran invaded Israel, what do we do?
REP. PAUL: Well, they’re not going to. That is like saying “Iran is about to invade Mars.” I mean, they have nothing. They don’t have an army or navy or air force. And Israelis have 300 nuclear weapons. Nobody would touch them. But, no, if, if it were in our national security interests and Congress says, “You know, this is very, very important, we have to declare war.” But presidents don’t have the authority to go to war.
Unbelievably ignorant.
Inconceivably stupid.
This man wants to run our country when he isn't even capable of using a search engine to obtain facts before spewing forth such nonsense?
That statement has earned Ron Paul the Rubber Chicken Award.
That comment alone shows how ignorant Ron Paul is of reality or an extreme denial of basic factual knowledge as pointed out by Captain's Quarters, where the CIA, in their Factbook, shows that Iran not only has an army and navy but they have two of each:
Military branches:
Islamic Republic of Iran Regular Forces (Artesh): Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force of the Military of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Niru-ye Hava'i-ye Artesh-e Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran; includes air defense); Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enqelab-e Eslami, IRGC): Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Qods Force (special operations), and Basij Force (Popular Mobilization Army); Law Enforcement Forces (2007)
Bryan over at Hot Air says:
Ron Paul, quite incredibly, thinks Iran has no army, no navy and no air force at all and therefore would never attack Israel. Evidently Paul doesn’t realize the utility that ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons would offer an Iran whose president has repeatedly declared his personal desire to wipe Israel off the map. A couple of well-placed nukes could in fact do that, whether Iran has an army or not. Which, by the way, it does. Really. Iran does have an army. A navy and an air force, too, with an indigenously constructed fighter airplane leading the latter into the skies. Paul might want to bone up on that a bit. He’d do well to Google the Shahab series of missiles while he’s at it.
Michael van der Galien, from the PoliGazette:
How anyone can pretend that Iran doesn’t have an army, etc. is beyond me. People seem to forget for some reason that, until Saddam was removed from power, Iran and Iraq were the regions two superpowers, so to speak. In the 1980s the two fought a tremendously bloody war.
I would answer Michael by saying that I don't think he is pretending, I think he actually IS that stupid and simply didn't know Iran had an Army, Navy and Air Force as his comments prove without a doubt.
Don't forget to click the Hot Air link above and watch the video for yourself.
Then head over to Right Truth, Debbie has once again, put together a wonderful Sunday Reading List.
Note To Ron Paul supporters: This post is about the comment quoted above. It came out of Ron Paul's mouth and it is the topic at hand, so unless you have something that is relevant to THAT particular quote about Iran's Military, then do not bother commenting at all because it will be deleted without warning. THIS is your only warning.
No shilling, I don't want to hear about any other subject or his stands on other topics, save that for appropriate threads, and if you do decide to make comments that have nothing to do with the issue of that quote, they will be gone in a second flat.
If you cannot handle the basic fact that he made a completely false statement, then that is your problem, not mine, nor my readers.
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