Rand Paul made a passionate lengthy speech on the Senate Floor Thursday in an effort to hold up a defense bill that could prevent troops from being withdrawn from Afghanistan at President Trump’s behest, accusing Liz Cheney of wanting the war to carry on forever.
“The neoconservative philosophy isn’t so much about a unity executive, isn’t so much about an all-powerful commander-in-chief,” Paul noted during the speech.
“The philosophy of these people is about war and substantiating war and making sure that it becomes and is perpetual war,” the Senator urged.
.@RandPaul is GOING OFF on the Senate floor in opposition to the NDAA right now:
— Young Americans for Liberty (@YALiberty) December 10, 2020
"These neocons put forth a belief that the commander in chief has virtually unlimited power to initiate war, but they are just fine with…preventing the commander in chief from ending a war."
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Paul’s powerful speech was adapted and published here.
Because of Paul’s opposition, the Senate adjourned on Thursday night without a resolution.
Earlier, Paul described it as ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘rank demagoguery’ that neocons such as Cheney want the president to have the power to initiate war without constraint but also want to prevent Trump from drawing down troops simultaneously.
While Paul fought to bring the issue to light and prevent neocons from being able to send US troops to wage more forever wars, and keep them there without authorisation from Congress, Liz Cheney, one of the primary figures pushing such proposals, responded by making fun of Paul’s height:
These people repeatedly laugh in the face of all Americans who oppose death, destruction and endless empire building abroad to the detriment of the nation and in violation of everything the Constitution represents.
