Ron Paul warns war with Iran 'inevitable'

Presidential candidate Ron Paul says unless U.S. policies are changed, a conflict with Iran is "about as inevitable as you can expect."

Paul, a Texas Republican congressman who espouses libertarian ideals, told WND in an exclusive question-and-answer session that people need to understand that such a conflict would be just one more result of a long history of U.S. intervention in actions in the Middle East.

"I think if our policies don't change it's about as inevitable as you can expect because we're unwilling to talk to them and every week we're passing more sanctions and rules and intimidations and accusations and provocations," he said.

"We're surrounding Iran and there's very, very little understanding of that history, the American people don't know how we have been involved since 1953 in interfering with their government and it has hurt us," Paul said. "We're failing in Iraq and our government would like to have a distraction from that so they are blaming the Iranians."

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He said that's why "the war propaganda is building."

"I don't think we'll have an old-fashioned invasion but, you know, when you put blockades around a country and people suffer from it and you try to starve people and humiliate them and take away their source of energy those are acts of war.

"Then if you start bombing them, others are going to come in. By that time maybe the Chinese will find out it's in their interests to defend the Iranians, and who knows what kind of financial attacks they can place against us, against the dollar. Yes, I think our policies if not changed will end up with a war against Iran," Paul said.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., has gone so far as to say the Iranian government already has declared war against the United States, "by its actions." He said the U.S. has a responsibility to stop attacks against its soldiers, and he includes "the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran."

His comments had been prompted by confirmation from the military of the funding, training and arming of militia extremists in Iraq "by Iranian Revolutionary Guard … operatives."

Lieberman has said in the past that the U.S. should be ready to pursue a military resolution with Iran if it continues helping those who are battling U.S. forces in Iraq.