Fox News "The Story" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Rand Paul

Interview

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SEN. RAND PAUL, R-KY: Well, I think where I would differ is that after 9/11, I actually was in favor of going to war in Afghanistan. I would have voted for the proclamation of war in 2001 because I think we can't let people willy-nilly come and attack and kill 3,000 of our citizens.

Now, as the war has dragged on for the last who knows five or ten years, I think we've lost our mission. I think the mission is creped. I think that now there really is no military solution in Afghanistan, it's become more of a nation-building enterprise.

So I would say now that most generals, most Republicans, Democrats, Independents, actually most people you ask say there is no longer a military solution to the Afghan war. And that's why today you know, I introduced legislation to end the war and give every one of our veterans over there who have served in that theater $2,500 apiece but declare victory and come home.

MACCALLUM: How did you arrive at the $2,500 number?

PAUL: Well, we looked at what we were spending, and we spend about $51 billion over there every year on luxury hotels, gas stations, you name it, on a lot of wasted projects over there. I've talked to the President many times on this and he says he's ready to start saving that money. And I thought what better way to spend some of it in the very beginning with a one-time bonus.

It eats up about $8 billion but it's a one-time bonus and we would still save over $40 billion in the first year the war ends. But then every year after that, it's $50 billion savings a year. So that could go towards the deficit or towards things that we need to do here at home.

MACCALLUM: I mean, it's a mind-boggling amount of money that has been spent and I think you know, most people as you say understand the question of whether or not we're getting anywhere after 17 years. But it's interesting because the President you know, seems to have gone back and forth on this issue over the course of his presidency.

And then there was this letter from 22 bipartisan members of Congress that said like you, we seek to ensure that all the gains made in Syria are not lost, that ISIS never returns, that Iran is not emboldened, and that we consolidate our gains and ensure the best outcome in Geneva for American interest.

And the President to that with regard to removing troops from Syria said I agree 100 percent all is being done. Do you agree that they need to stay there or is your policy about Afghanistan also stretch over to Syria?

PAUL: Well, you know, the President said when we went into Syria, our goal was to defeat ISIS. And I think we largely did. We took back 99 percent of their land. There might be a few of them running around scared but we basically wiped out and took their land from them. And that was the President's mission. That we've accomplished.

But now there are people around the President trying to change the mission. There are people -- these are the stay forever crowd. They want to stay forever in Afghanistan, they want to stay forever in Syria, they want to stay forever in Iraq. But now they've changed the mission to say oh, we have to stay until Iran is no longer a problem.

Well, Iran has got a long-standing relationship, so does Russia with Syria. If we're going to stay till there's no Russian or Iranian influence and everybody's holding hands and singing Kumbaya, we're going to be there a long time and I think it drains us of money and treasure. And when you have only a couple of hundred troops on the ground, I think they become a trip wire to something even worse or the potential for a disaster.

What happens if there's a massacre of 200 people together in a barrack? So I think it's a mistake to have a real small force. It's actually worse than having a big force.

MACCALLUM: Have you told the president that, you know, and are you concerned that he sort of is going back and forth on this issue?

PAUL: The interesting thing is I've talked to the President dozens of times. I've talked to him two days ago and he says the exact same thing. He's consistent with me every time that he is going to be the President that's going to end these wars. And then I hear in the media that somebody else is trying to change or modify what he said. But he's always consistent with me.

He thinks we've been at war too long in Afghanistan and that we need to maintain a presence where if enemy's crop up, we could defeat them again. But that we shouldn't be doing nation-building and he gets as annoyed as I do with all the money we spend over there on hotels and gas stations and roads, bridges, schools, everything we're doing for them that we can't do for our own people here. I think the President would rather spend that money here at home.

MACCALLUM: Well, we'll see if there's a long-term risk to that. As you know, some generals feel that there absolutely would be. But you're on the record as being in favor of this pullout. Senator Rand Paul, thank you very much, sir. Good to see you tonight.

PAUL: Thank you.

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