There Were No Anti-Interventionist Candidates at the GOP Debate

[PAF]

[SNIP]

by Christian Britschgi
8.24.2023


Only Vivek Ramaswamy and Gov. Ron DeSantis said they wouldn't support additional aid to Ukraine. But both argued we should be more militarily engaged against China and Mexico.

The first 2024 Republican presidential debate made clear that there's no non-interventionist candidate in the race, even if there was a lot of quibbling over which specific foreign interventions the U.S. should prioritize.

When debate moderators asked the eight candidates on stage in Milwaukee who would not support additional military aid to Ukraine, only businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said they wouldn't.

Nevertheless, both candidates endorsed using America's resources and military might on other interventions abroad.

When asked whether he'd send "special forces" to the southern border and even into Mexico to combat drug cartels, DeSantis was unequivocal.

"Yes, and I will do it on day one. The cartels are killing tens of thousands of our fellow citizens," said the Florida governor, adding, "We reserve the right to operate" and promising to leave drug dealers on the border "stone-cold dead."

Ramaswamy similarly contextualized his opposition to Ukraine aid as a means of opposing China. He described the Russia-China alliance as the greatest geopolitical threat to American interests. By withdrawing U.S. support for Ukraine, Russia would have less need to lean on China for support in its war in that country, he argued.-

Furthermore, he said that he said that the U.S. should be working with Israel to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. Ramaswamy, like DeSantis, said that the resources we aren't using in Ukraine should be deployed to fight Mexican drug cartels.

No one on stage made the argument that the federal government, and the U.S. military specifically, is a poor instrument for solving our problems, foreign and domestic.

Full article:

https://reason.com/2023/08/24/there-were-no-anti-interventionist-candidates-at-the-gop-debate/
​

 

[PAF]

With regard to Ukraine, I keep hearing the words "Just Come Home". But even among the favorite(s) among the GOP audience listed in the OP, it only solidifies my position that this whole fiasco was not "humanitarian” in nature, but is indeed a Proxy War.