Nathan Cox

I joined the Army in March of 2006; I was politically apathetic preceding that. In October of 2007 my Brigade deployed to Iraq for a scheduled 15 month tour. Right around the time I deployed a friend of mine told me to check out a guy named Ron Paul. By this time Presidential debates within each party, were under way, and aggressive campaigning nation wide was taking place. I honestly can't recall if I immediately check out Dr Paul, but if it wasn't immediate, it was very soon after I got into Iraq. I remember googling "Ron Paul" and YouTubing his name also. I began to watch all the of Republican Presidential Debates that had ensued up until then. I found and watched compilation videos that supporters had made of him. I found speeches he had recently given. I found a few interviews he was given by the media. I even found YouTube videos of when he ran as a Libertarian in the early 80's. Everything I heard this man say - blew me away. He CLEARLY stood out amongst the rest of the candidates on the stage. His voting record was clear and present proof that he is like no other politician on Capitol Hill. Ron Paul is a Congressman from Texas, but above that he is a statesman; and not only that he's a gynecologist, who's delivered over 4000 babies. He spent a handful of years in the Air Force as a Flight Surgeon. I also learned he didn't take part of Congress's lucrative pension program. I learned this guy was a FIGHTER, and non-compromiser of/ for the U.S Constitution. HE was, and still is, a champion of the Constitution. So I heard everything Dr. Paul was saying, in the debates etc. and it just made absolute sense. The message of individual liberty, freedom of choice, his message to abolish all sorts of federal departments, to include the Department of Education, Federal Reserve, Internal Revenue Service, and Homeland Security, just to name a few. I heard him proclaim why he was against the war in Iraq. His monetary policy was dead on... EVERYTHING this man was saying made sense, and was in accordance to the Constitution. So I was hooked, I bought about a half dozen books, two that really made a huge impact were, "Revolution: A Manifesto" by Ron Paul & "Blowback" by Chalmers Johnson. I dove into those books as soon as I got them. I soon realized that our U.S Foreign Policy was severly maligned, and was a huge contributing factor, as to why we were attacked on September 11, 2001. I began talking to my peers about what I was learning. I shared my books, started a blog and began writing articles. I would post them on the internet as well as print them out and post them around where we stayed so people could read them. I even talked to many of my supervisors about Ron Paul, and everything I was learning about the Constitution, limited government, non-interventionist foreign policy, and a Austrian Economics. Although I did find disagreement, I never was persecuted for being outspoken about my new found beliefs. I did meet quite a few of other Ron Paul supporters in various companies within my battallion. So after hearing, understanding and believing all this I was certainly no longer hard pressed to "see some action". I just wanted to do whatever it took to survive, and to try and make some sort of positive experience while I was there. I joined IVAW because I am totally against the wars, totally against occupying the 120+ Nations we currently occupy. End the Wars!