Sen. Rand Paul called for temperance in the United States’s approach to the war in Ukraine, particularly among members of his own party.
The Kentucky Republican criticized fellow Sen. Lindsey Graham’s “bellicose” statements and “neocon” position supporting Vladimir Putin’s assassination or regime change in Russia during remarks at a Washington, D.C., foreign policy conference Thursday.
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“Nobody’s justifying the invasion, but we still should look for cause and effect and try to determine if there’s a way out of this,” Paul said. “It’s one of the reasons I objected to, and I won’t name any names — Lindsey Graham — intemperate remarks about assassination … or even President Biden saying we’re gonna have regime change over there. The problem with it is I think people do need to be thoughtful about what they say because the other side hears this as well.”
Paul advocated Congress to back down from warmongering but also noted that war seems to have lost its appeal in the post-9/11 era.
“I would argue that there are some things that have gotten better. What has happened is when you hear of Ukraine and … there’s a 24-hour furor on TV about the war, but how many voices in Congress are calling for sending troops into Ukraine, right? Very few,” he said. “Crazy [Adam] Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, maybe, and a few people wanted a no-fly-zone … but really, the vast majority, even the neocons, the leaders of the neocons, we won’t mention their names — Lindsey Graham — they’re not really calling for putting troops in Ukraine. So I think we’ve had some success.”
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Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Graham tweeted that the Russian people should “step up to the plate” to assassinate their leader.
“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out,” he said.
Graham stood by his statement amid widespread criticism.
“I think the world is better off without Putin,” Graham said. “The sooner, the better. And I don’t care how we do it.”
