Ron Paul says Pakistan protected bin Laden, calls for limited foreign aid

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) on Wednesday joined a growing group of congressional voices charging that Pakistan was sheltering Osama bin Laden for several years and said this is another reason why the U.S. should abandon wasteful foreign aid programs.

"Foreign aid to Pakistan, though bin Laden was safely protected for 10 years in Pakistan, should make us question the wisdom of robbing American citizens to support any government around the world with foreign aid," Paul said.

"Our failed foreign policy is reflected in our bizarre relationship with Pakistan," he continued. "We bomb them with our drones causing civilian casualties, we give them billions of dollars in foreign aid, and she protects America's enemy number one, bin Laden, for a decade."

Earlier in the day, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said elements of Pakistan's leadership were likely protecting bin Laden, and warned that Pakistan is a "schizophrenic nuclear power."

Paul, a longstanding critic of the U.S. military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, said narrow operations like the one that resulted in bin Laden's death are far better than long, costly wars.

"The sad tragedy is that it took 10 years, trillions of dollars, tens of thousands of American casualties and many thousands of innocent lives to achieve our mission of killing one evil person," Paul said on the House floor. "A narrow, targeted mission… is far superior to initiating wars against countries not involved in the 9//11 attacks."

He added that with bin Laden gone, the U.S. should leave Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Al Qaeda was never in Iraq, and we were supposedly in Afghanistan to get Osama bin Laden," Paul said. "With bin Laden gone there is no reason for our presence in this region, unless indeed it was about all about oil, nation-building, and remaking the Middle East and central Asia."