{"id":26867,"date":"2015-04-09T18:18:53","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T18:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/04\/09\/paul-vows-robust-yet-restrained-defense\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:19:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:19:59","slug":"paul-vows-robust-yet-restrained-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2015\/04\/09\/paul-vows-robust-yet-restrained-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Vows &#8216;Robust&#8217; Yet Restrained Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 GOP presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday laid out a foreign policy vision built both on a &#8220;robust&#8221; US military and a commitment to use it sparingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Kentucky Republican, known mostly for his libertarian philosophy, used rhetorical flourishes and jabs at both political parties to lay out his foreign policy and national security approach during a speech in Charleston, S.C. His pitch, delivered with the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier as his backdrop, was a return to the approach employed by <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">for <\/span>President Ronald Reagan, which Paul described as &#8220;peace through strength.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul&#8217;s campaign-trail description of how he would run America&#8217;s foreign policy and national security was perhaps best summed up by a line from late in the speech when the candidate described a United States &#8220;strong enough to deter foreign aggression but wise enough to to avoid unnecessary intervention.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since emerging on the national scene, Paul has been a major critic of the George W. Bush and Obama administration&#8217;s post-9\/11 military operations in the Middle East. He continued that line of criticism in his first major foreign policy policy and national security address since announcing his candidacy earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he did so while walking a tightrope. During his political career, Paul has at times called for smaller annual Defense Department budgets. Though he since has altered those calls, Paul clearly wants GOP primary voters to know he believes in a lethal US military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He called for &#8220;a national defense <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">defend <\/span>robust enough to deter&#8221; and &#8220;nimble enough to defend our vital interests.&#8221; That would be paired under C<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">c<\/span>ommander in C<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">c<\/span>hief Paul with a foreign policy &#8220;that encourages stability, not chaos.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of Paul&#8217;s critics and opponents, including some of his more interventionist Senate Republican colleagues, have said he is too much of an isolationist to be commander in chief as the US faces the Islamic State, al-Qaida, a resurgent Russia, China and other threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul&#8217;s message Thursday for those critics was to declare under his presidency, &#8220;if war unavoidable, America will fight with overwhelming force and we will not relent until victory is ours.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;As commander in chief our objective is peace,&#8221; Paul said, but warned the world to not &#8220;mistake our desire for peace with passivity.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, at several points, he hammered home his aversion to large-scale ground operations like those that Iraq and Afghanistan became in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I envision a national defense unparalleled, undefeatable and unencumbered by overseas nation building,&#8221; Paul said, adding elected officials owe it to military members to &#8220;know when war is necessary and when it isn&#8217;t.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/budget-policy\/congresswatch\/\" style=\"color: #1990e5; background-color: #ffffff;\"><b>For the latest national security news from Capitol Hill, stick with CongressWatch<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He vowed to mull &#8220;questions of war with a profound deliberation,&#8221; then took a swipe at Obama&#8217;s ISIS fight by promising he would &#8220;never take the nation to war without the c<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">C<\/span>onstitutional approval of congress.&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Candidate Paul&#8217;s campaign slogan is &#8220;defeat the Washington machine.&#8221; And he took plenty of swings at the nation&#8217;s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He criticized politicians who &#8220;frivolously&#8221; and &#8220;cavalierly&#8221; call for the United States to go to war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;War is not a game and should not be used for political advantage,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Too many in Washington haven&#8217;t learned that lesson.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like most presidential candidates of any party in the early weeks and months of a campaign, Paul&#8217;s remarks were shy on specifics. For instance, he talked only about a &#8220;robust&#8221; military and did not call for larger annual Defense Department budgets nor mention a specific funding level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he was clear about thing: &#8220;The enemy is radical Islam.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such groups lie squarely in the category of threats against which Paul said he would not hesitate to use military force: &#8220;enemies dead-set on hitting America.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The middle portion of the speech veered away from foreign policy and national security and toward his domestic-focused stump speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4743\" height=\"2951\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635887942781618330-january-19-frontlines-8jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635887942781618330-january-19-frontlines-8jpg.jpg 4743w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635887942781618330-january-19-frontlines-8jpg.jpg?resize=300,187 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635887942781618330-january-19-frontlines-8jpg.jpg?resize=768,478 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635887942781618330-january-19-frontlines-8jpg.jpg?resize=1024,637 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635887942781618330-january-19-frontlines-8jpg.jpg?resize=1536,956 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635887942781618330-january-19-frontlines-8jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1274 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4743px) 100vw, 4743px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CHANGI, Singapore (Jan. 15, 2016) Naval Aircrewman-Tactical Helicopter 2nd Class Jordan Kowalski, a rescue swimmer with Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM-35) attached to USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), practices a buddy tow rescue maneuver. Currently on a rotational deployment in support of the Asia-Pacific Rebalance, Fort Worth is a fast and agile warship tailor-made to patrol the region\u2019s littorals and work hull-to-hull with partner navies, providing 7th Fleet with the flexible capabilities it needs now and in the future. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Antonio Turretto Ramos\/Released)160115-N-DC018-002\rJoin the conversation:\rhttp:\/\/www.navy.mil\/viewGallery.asp\rhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/USNavy\rhttp:\/\/www.twitter.com\/USNavy\rhttp:\/\/navylive.dodlive.mil\rhttp:\/\/pinterest.com\rhttps:\/\/plus.google.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The candidate told a supportive crowd that &#8220;we sit on a powder keg&#8221; of an $18 trillion debt. He hit Republican and Democratic presidents for spending and borrowing too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We borrow $1 million every minute,&#8221; he said, declaring that rate &#8220;threatens not just our economy but our security.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one of many applause lines, Paul then said: &#8220;We need to stop spending money that we don&#8217;t have.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Kentucky eye doctor also called for a c<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">C<\/span>onstitutional amendment that would require a balanced federal budget each year. And he warned against borrowing so much from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We cannot project strength by borrowing money from China to send it to Pakistan,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul also wants to slash US aid to countries where people chant &#8220;death to America.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I say it must end,&#8221; Paul said. &#8220;I say not one penny more to these haters of America.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i><span style=\"background: white;\">email: <\/span><\/i><a href=\"mailto:jbennett@defensenews.com\"><i><span style=\"background: white;\">jbennett@defensenews.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background: white;\">Twitter:<\/span><span style=\"color: #5b9bd5; background: white;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BennettJohnT\">@bennettjohnt<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GOP presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday laid out a foreign policy vision built both on a &#8220;robust&#8221; US military and a commitment to use it sparingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":59023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[33,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1090],"class_list":["post-26867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JHEECLWCQBE3TO74VUP6GO6BBQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/pentagon\/2015\/04\/09\/paul-vows-robust-yet-restrained-defense\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Paul Vows &#039;Robust&#039; Yet Restrained Defense - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"GOP presidential candidate Sen. 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