Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) spoke on Friday in opposition to a non-binding House resolution (pdf) expressing “strong support for Israel” in its invasion of Gaza and decrying Hamas as a terrorist organization that has put “hundreds of thousands of Israelis in danger.”

“I rise in opposition to this resolution, not because I am taking sides and picking who the bad guys are and who the good guys are.” Paul stated. “I’m looking at this more from the angle of being a United States citizen, an American, and I think resolutions like this really do us great harm.”

“The weapons being used to kill so many Palestinians are American weapons, and American funds, essentially, are being used for this,” continued Paul. “There’s a political liability, which I think is something that we fail to look at, because too often there’s so much blowback from our intervention in areas that we shouldn’t be involved in.”

Paul pointed out that if Hamas now has too much power, it is the fault of past actions by Israel and the United States. “We first, indirectly and directly through Israel, help establish Hamas,” he noted, “then we have an election [in Gaza], then Hamas becomes dominant — so we have to kill them. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“There’s a lot of reasons why we should oppose this resolution,” Paul concluded emphatically. “It is not in the interests of the United States. It’s not in the interests of Israel, either.”

Paul’s statement was consistent with his past positions. Last March, he was the sole member of Congress to vote against a one-sided condemnation of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.

Paul stated on that occasion, “I believe it is appalling that Palestinians are firing rockets that harm innocent Israelis, just as I believe it is appalling that Israel fires missiles into Palestinian areas where children and other non-combatants are killed and injured. Unfortunately, legislation such as this is more likely to perpetuate violence in the Middle East than contribute to its abatement. … I strongly believe that we must cease making proclamations involving conflicts that have nothing to do with the United States. We incur the wrath of those who feel slighted while doing very little to slow or stop the violence.”

This video is from C-SPAN, broadcast Jan. 9, 2009.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUHy05Ajtbw