On Friday conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh had sharp words for GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul, saying the Texas Congressman's foreign policy is disastrous.
He also took Paul to task for saying the Bush administration gleefully went to war after the Sept 11, 2001 terror attack, calling Paul's rhetoric "Democrat talk."
"Just think of what happened after 9/11. Immediately before there was any assessment there was glee in the administration because now we can invade Iraq," Paul told a large group of mostly young supporters in Iowa Thursday.
"That's exactly what [the Obama administration is] doing now with Iran," Paul added.
Limbaugh minced no words:
I know a lot of people like Ron Paul's domestic policy. He's very tough talking on budget cuts and shrinking government and individual liberty, and that's attractive. But, folks, this foreign policy is disastrous -- and to sit there, to attack the country this way, to say that the Bush administration was in "glee," the Bush administration was happy? This is Democrat talk, to say that George W. Bush was happy, that Cheney was happy after 9/11 because, "A-ha, there's our excuse to attack Iraq!"
Paul's rhetoric also drew criticism from at least one Bush Administration official.
"The man is nuts..." tweeted Ari Fleischer.
On Friday, Paul appeared to backtrack on his "glee" comment while speaking with Fox News' Megyn Kelly, but maintained his position that the Bush Administration was happy to go to war in Iraq.
Mediaite posted his response to Kelly:
“So, yes, the Neo-Conservatives, even years before [9/11], were looking for an opportunity. This doesn’t mean they had glee about 9/11. That’s a total misinterpretation. They had pleasure in knowing that they had an excuse now to do what they wanted to do for so long. And what did they do? They marched into Iraq based on lies – there was no al Qaeda, no weapons of mass destruction – and look at the tragic outcomes of that effort.”
CBS News reported:
Paul's libertarian views - on the foreign policy front, he wants to dramatically reduce the U.S. military presence abroad and end all foreign aid - put him at odds with many Republican voters. A poll from Gallup this week found that 62 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters see Paul as an unacceptable nominee.
His statements on foreign policy also got him expelled from the Advisory Board of the conservative Young Americans for Freedom.
Not only has Paul blamed American foreign policy for the 9/11 terror attacks, he was soundly booed at the Tea Party debate when he claimed the attack was in response to U.S. military occupation of Muslim holy land in Saudi Arabia and unfair treatment of Palestinians.
Recently, he has suggested that the United States extend friendship to Iran instead of sanctions.
At the Ames debate in Iowa, he said that he was comfortable with Iran getting a nuclear bomb because "everyone else already has one."
“That’s not the kind of guy you need to be sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave,” said Rep. Allen West (R-FL).
More on Ron Paul at Examiner.com can be found here.
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