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Rand Paul speech at Freedom Summit C-SPAN 4/12/14
Rand Paul speech at Freedom Summit C-SPAN 4/12/14.

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Rand Paul speech at Freedom Summit C-SPAN 4/12/14 - Video

Rand Paul Wins Cpac 2014 Straw Poll For Second Year In A Row
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Rand Paul Wins Cpac 2014 Straw Poll For Second Year In A Row - Video

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md., Friday, March 7, 2014. AP

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is finding out the hard way that being a U.S. politician - and potential presidential candidate - doesn't always lend itself to expressing nuanced viewpoints.

That won't, however, stop him from trying.

In an op-ed in the Washington Post, Paul sought to clarify his position on Iran after saying in an interview on ABC's "This Week" Sunday that all options should be on the table in dealing with the nation's desire to acquire nuclear weapons. He also defended his vote against a 2012 Senate resolution that would have authorized the pursuit of a policy other than containment to prevent that goal.

"I am not for containment in Iran. Let me repeat that, since no one seems to be listening closely: I am unequivocally not for containing Iran," Paul said. But, he quickly added: "I am also not for announcing that the United States should never contain Iran. That was the choice I was given a few months ago and is the scenario being misunderstood by some in the news."

Paul argues in favor of the "strategic ambiguity" practiced by former President Ronald Reagan, which he defines as the idea that presidents should not announce to their enemies how they would handle hypothetical situations.

"It is a dumb idea to announce to Iran that you would accept and contain that country if it were to become a nuclear power. But it is equally dumb, dangerous and foolhardy to announce in advance how we would react to any nation that obtains nuclear weapons," Paul writes.

"Real foreign policy is made in the middle; with nuance; in the gray area of diplomacy, engagement and reluctantly, if necessary, military action," he continues.

Paul's attempts at articulating that nuance haven't done more to convince other lawmakers of his suitability for higher office. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who's also a possible presidential candidate, said on MSNBC Wednesday that a Paul presidency would insert a does of hysteria to foreign policy and national security discussions.

"I think his views would be disastrous," the New York congressman said. "I think he appeals to the lowest common denominator. This is an isolationist wing from the 1930s."

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Rand Paul calls for more nuance in foreign policy

Over the weekend, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul showed why his views on foreign policy are the thing most likely to trip him up in his near-certain bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. autographs a shirt for a fan after speaking at a GOP Freedom Summit, Saturday, April 12, 2014, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Here's what he said during an interview with ABC's Jon Karl about the possibility of pursuing containment as it relates to Iran's quest for nuclear weapons:

They said containment will never, ever, ever, ever be our policy. We woke up one day, and Pakistan had nuclear weapons -- if that would have been our policy with Pakistan, we would have been at war with Pakistan. We woke up one day, and China had nuclear weapons. We woke up one day, and Russia had them."The people who say, By golly, we will never stand for that, they are voting for war.

Cue furor among hawkish conservatives. Here's WaPo's Jennifer Rubin: "[Paul's]repeated refusal to rule out containment has profound implications for his presidential ambitions and may suggest he has given up on positioning himself as a mainstream conservative on national security."

On Tuesday night, Paul penned an op-ed for the Post that sought to clarify his views. He wrote, in part:

Nuance has been a bit lacking in our foreign policy of late. Whether through preemptive war or red lines that were crossed without consequence, the extremes of foreign policy have had their way, and it has not worked....It is a dumb idea to announce to Iran that you would accept and contain that country if it were to become a nuclear power. But it is equally dumb, dangerous and foolhardy to announce in advance how we would react to any nation that obtains nuclear weapons....I have often saidthat we have, for too long, had a debate between the extremes of foreign policy and that to be on either end of the extremes can have life-or-death consequences....False choices between being everywhere all of the time and nowhere any of the time are fodder for debate on Sunday morning shows or newspaper columns. Real foreign policy is made in the middle; with nuance; in the gray area of diplomacy, engagement and reluctantly, if necessary, military action.

The truth of the matter is that Paul is a different kind of Republican when it comes to foreign policy. Take Paul's history on Iran. In the spring of 2012, he worked to slow approval of a measure sanctioning Iran for their pursuit of a nuclear weapon, making clear that he didn't want the vote to be seen as a first step toward a potential war. While he eventually voted for those sanctions, he opposed an effort to put more sanctions on the country earlier this year, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "I think the bottom line is we should give negotiations a chance. My hope is that sanctions will avoid war. We've been involved in two long wars in the Middle East. And I think it would be best if we can do anything possible to try to avoid another war now." (He was one of two Senators not to sign on to the sanctions effort led by New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk.)

Here's Foreign Policy's Colin Dueck explaining the differences between Rand's foreign policy views and those of the GOP establishment -- represented, for the purposes of this conversation by Senators like John McCain, Lindsey Graham and, yes, Ted Cruz:

Consider the foreign policy address Paul delivered at the Center for the National Interest[in January]. In that speech, Paul bucked the party establishment by citing U.S. President Barack Obamas diplomatic resolution to Syrias chemical weapons program as a possible model for dealing with the nuclear weapons programs of Iran and North Korea. He also emphasized the need for a policy of containment rather than preemptive war in dealing with jihadist terrorism and declared that dialogue is nearly always preferable to war. The speech was in line with Rands previous calls for deep cuts in U.S. military spending and foreign aid, strategic disentanglement overseas, and a dramatic scaling back of the United States postwar "national security state" including its targeting and surveillance of suspected terrorists.

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Why foreign policy matters more to Rand Paul than anyone else running for president

Rand Paul #39;Goal of My Bill Is to Have 100% of American Pilots Armed #39;

By: Elizabeth Gagne

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Rand Paul 'Goal of My Bill Is to Have 100% of American Pilots Armed' - Video