Rand Paul: 'Armchair Generals Want to Keep Us At War Forever'

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Sunday praised President Donald Trump for doing “exactly what he promised” by withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria — and derided the “armchair generals” in Washington who “want to keep us at war forever.”

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Paul said he’s “very proud” of Trump’s determination to get troops out of the Middle East.

“This is exactly what he promised ... I think people believe that we’ve been at war too long and too many places and that we do need to turn attention to problems we have at home,” he said.

In a separate interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Paul also lauded the drawdown in Afghanistan — saying savings from that could be the source of wall funding that’s stymied Congress, and triggered a partial government shutdown.

"It's only the people in Washington, the arm chair generals, that want to keep us at war forever and Americans are tired of it,” Paul asserted. “We want that money here at home and we want to create jobs, roads, bridges here at home, not in Afghanistan." 

Paul said he won’t vote for funding for building a wall on the southern border unless there’s “cuts somewhere,” but that an easier solution would be to use what he said would be $50 billion in savings by bringing home U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“I think we should have declared victory [in Afghanistan] years ago, I think we should come home and of that $50 billion in savings we would have enough for a border wall and security,” he said. 

“The Taliban are going to wait us out they know we will eventually leave and leave we must,” he added. “I don't think we have enough money to be paying to build and rebuild Afghanistan. The president's right, I think the people agree with him, let's rebuild America. Let's spend that money here at home.”

• Afghan President Appoints Pakistan Critics to 2 Top Posts
• US General to Congress: War in Afghanistan Is at Stalemate