Rudy Giuliani: US Foreign Policy Contributed to Terrorism

Many of you remember when Rudy Giuliani was outraged when Ron Paul asserted that U.S. foreign policy contributed to Al Queda targetting the United States.

Well, apparently Giuliani now agrees with Ron Paul, to a point. In his article on Foreign Policy in Foreign Affairs Magazine, Rudy Giuliani wrote:

Idealism should define our ultimate goals; realism must help us recognize the road we must travel to achieve them. The world is a dangerous place. We cannot afford to indulge any illusions about the enemies we face. The Terrorists’ War on Us was encouraged by unrealistic and inconsistent actions taken in response to terrorist attacks in the past. A realistic peace can only be achieved through strength.

In other words, while Ron Paul thinks that the U.S. government should stop hurting people if we wish them to stop hating us, Giuliani’s motto seems to be Oderint Dum Metuant, or “Let them hate so long as they fear”, which I recall was a favorite saying of the Roman emperor Caligula.

I am an anarcho-capitalist living just west of Boston Massachussetts. I am married, have two children, and am trying to start my own computer consulting company.