Rand Paul Has a Message for Countries That ‘Hate Us and Burn Our Flag’
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said Thursday it’s time to stop giving money to countries that hate the United States, and redirect the funds to rebuilding America’s infrastructure.
“I would take the money that we send to a lot of countries that aren’t necessarily our friends like Pakistan, I would redirect that money into building roads and bridges here,” Paul said on “Fox and Friends.”
“I have a bill that I will introduce next week, that will take the about $2 billion we spend in Pakistan, let’s spend it in the United States. … Let’s don’t give it to people who hate us and burn our flag and chant: ‘Death to America.’”
Paul said there were steps the government could take so there wouldn’t be an increase in national security risks for America.
“We can still have military arrangements with them, but I’d like to see somebody who actually has money to buy our stuff, rather than give it to them. We give everything to Pakistan,” he said.
“There are rumors that the Pakistani intelligence actually cooperate with Haqqani network that kills our soldiers. So I think it’s a real disservice … to give money to a government that may be cooperating with people who are killing our soldiers. So no, Pakistan at best is a frenemy.”
On Thursday, the State Department announced major cuts of security funding to Pakistan for their support of terrorist organizations.
President Donald Trump said earlier this week the money has bought America nothing but “lies and deceit.”
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump tweeted.
“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”
Paul said Pakistan knowingly harbored Osama Bin Laden, persecutes innocent Christians and cannot be trusted.
“Bin Laden lived in their country for over a decade, they did nothing about it. They have Christians they’ve incarcerated. The doctor that helped us get information to get Bin Laden — we finally captured him, he’s in jail for 33 years from the Pakistani government,” he said.
“So no, they’re not really our friend.”
A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.
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