Ron Paul: 9/11 Caused 'Glee In The Administration'

GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul launched a harsh charge against the Bush administration Thursday night, alleging that it responded to the 9/11 attacks with "glee."

"Think of what happened after 9/11, the minute before there was any assessment, there was glee in the administration because now we can invade Iraq, and so the war drums beat," Paul told a gathering of students in Ames, Iowa, according to Politico. "That's exactly what they’re doing now with Iran."

Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary under Bush, quickly responded in a tweet:

@AriFleischer
Ari Fleischer

The man is nuts... RT @bethreinhard Paul in IA says after 9-11 there was 'glee in the admin bc now we can invade Iraq.'

December 9, 2011 1:54 am via Twitter for BlackBerry® Reply Retweet Favorite

Paul's libertarian bent has long made him something of an agitator and an outlier in the Republican party on the issues of 9/11, terrorism and war.

The Texas congressman made a stir with a blog post he wrote over the summer that argued repeated intervention by the United States was at least partially to blame for the attacks on September 11. He was targeted by rival GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum about this claim at a later debate, and was booed by the audience when he continued to make the same claim.

He furthered this argument last month on CBS' "Face the Nation," blaming a flawed U.S. foreign policy for the terrorist attacks.

During that same appearance, he also cautioned that the U.S. should not pursue extreme action toward Iran without concrete proof.

"I think the greatest danger now is for us to overreact," he said. "Iran doesn't have a bomb. There's no proof. There's no new information regardless of this recent report. And for us to overreact and talk about bombing Iran, that's much more dangerous."

Comments

[Tsar Bomba]

04:24 PM on 12/12/2011

Ron Paul is desperatly trying to carve out a niche for himself and save conservatism. The good thing is it can't be saved, as no one can believe the thin veneer of "libertarian" in the otherwise authoritarian conservative.

[abpm12]

10:32 PM on 12/12/2011

^this guy wants socialism? why upvote him?

[Molla Gonzalo]

03:17 PM on 12/12/2011

more info http://www.federaciongalactica.blogspot.com/

[westral]

09:07 AM on 12/12/2011

I'm no fan of Bush but i can't believe he reacted with anything like glee when he heard of the attacks.

[Richard Davis 1]

09:39 AM on 12/12/2011

Ron Paul is one of the VERY few people in office who can legitimately bring this charge.

[TOCB]

07:22 AM on 12/12/2011

Not only did Bush/Cheney respond with glee with the opportunity to attack Iraq, the media did as well, with their embeds and challenging anyone who disagreed with the policy. However, they did not challenge Bush's action until it was clear they lied about everything. The media also promoted the lie that Hillary Clinton voted for and supported the war, when they know she was against the war but supported the troops after the invasion began. The media was complicit in the invasion of Iraq.

[kathy smelser]

08:08 AM on 12/12/2011

i agree

[Thomas Dobbins]

01:04 PM on 12/14/2011

Amen!

[koj2hp]

05:31 AM on 12/12/2011

some of the comments seem to be saying bush knew of the attacks. that is not what Paul is saying. He thinks the administration recognized the attacks as a perfect way to forward their agenda.

there has been talk that the secret meetings Cheney had with oil big-wigs included how to get our hands on Iraqi oil. the attacks dropped the opportunity into their laps.

[Eserve1]

04:38 AM on 12/12/2011

I don't agree with Rep Ron Paul on a lot of issues, but this is one of those that I do. Ron Paul is 1 of the few in congress that are willing say what's on their mind, instead of the parties same old generic song and dance that must be adhered to at all costs. I really don't understand that why in today's world, we don't have a true 3rd party at least in the sense of votes and big elections.

[ursulasaulie]

07:54 AM on 12/12/2011

On this one I am with you

[Reality now]

12:54 AM on 12/12/2011

The American Public learned their lesson in Vietnam and didn't allow this nonsense for decades. But as with repealing Glass Steagall that had worked for decades the constant onslaught of right wing propaganda turned public opinion and did great harm to this country.

[Paul Kato]

12:43 AM on 12/12/2011

first they praise bush for osama now they eating him up. this party is tearing themself to shrades you have got to love the GOP they got that love hate relationship kinda like my wife we fight one day we hate each other i mean everything is thrown in the kitchen sink but the next day we love each other like nothing happened the GOP is that one girlfriend you cant stand to see or be around with when its that time of month but you cant do nothing without them cause thats your other half in this life we call it democracy whats a party without its other half a dictatership but democracy can be ugly sometimes and at times amusing case in point HARMAN CAIN

[Seymourhiney]

12:15 AM on 12/12/2011

5% of the time Paul is right. Problem is that 40% of the time I am right.

Sorry Ron Paul, you are a nut case.

[kanemakua]

12:00 AM on 12/12/2011

Ron Paul's comments hit too close to home. As simplistic as they are, there is truth to what Paul says.

[wforvendetta]

11:55 PM on 12/11/2011

GWB never got over the fact that Poppy loved Jeb more. Even presenting Dad with Saddam's head on a platter wasn't enough to change Poppy's mind. In fact, it probably horrified Bush Sr. at the cost (4,500 US dead, 40,000 wounded) and created a bigger wedge between them.

[wforvendetta]

11:51 PM on 12/11/2011

Paul may be a bit wacky, but he's exactly right on this one.

Richard Clarke said Bush approached him on 9/12/01 and urged him to find a way to link the terror attacks to Iraq.

[ursulasaulie]

07:55 AM on 12/12/2011

Agreed

[arun patel]

11:30 PM on 12/11/2011

I totally agree with this man. his courage is astounding.

[sinnet1954]

08:03 AM on 12/12/2011

I agree with some things he advocates but he continues to vote more than 70% of the time with Republicans. I'm not saying this is always wrong but the Republican agenda doesn't seem to fit with his ideology. If he were truly courageous he would run as the Libertarian he professes to be.

[Threepointturn]

07:58 PM on 12/11/2011

That would explain why there was no reaction when the kindygarderners were reading that book to bush in Florida, he knew about the attack before it happened.

[jaslyn]

07:42 PM on 12/11/2011

Paul is right in this instance. The Bush administration was looking for a war and they decided it would be Iraq. We all know that now.He killed thousands of innocents, and why he, Cheney and Rumsfeld aren't rotting away in jail is anyone's guess.

[Vapula]

09:58 PM on 12/11/2011

Because war crimes can only be committed by non-Americans and non - Israelis. The same as the Geneva convention doesn't apply to American/Israel.