‘War should be last resort,’ Paul says

DES MOINES - When an Iowa veteran suggested to Rand Paul that the presidential candidate's libertarian bent could suggest he is a foreign policy isolationist, Paul defended his aversion to the use of military force.

'I'm for preventing terrorists. I'm for being proactively involved with those who may come and attack us. But war should be a last resort, not a first resort,” Paul told a gathering of roughly 80 people, many of them military veterans, on Wednesday night in Des Moines.

Paul's campaign announced the support of 40 Iowa veterans at the event, which came on the heels of Tuesday night's Republican debate in Milwaukee, where he had a back-and-forth discussion with fellow GOP candidate Marco Rubio over defense spending.

During the debate, Paul accused Rubio of not being fiscally conservative because of the fellow U.S. senator's desire to bolster defense spending. Rubio countered by saying the American economy is in danger if the country is not safe from military attacks.

Paul pushed back on that line of thinking Wednesday night.

'I think, right now, most people don't think that we're going to be invaded by Germany or invaded by Iran. Most people do think we have a pretty strong national defense,” Paul told reporters. 'It's not perfect. We do have to be vigilant. We do have to try to stop the bombing attacks from coming to us.

'But we spend more on our national defense, more on our military than the next 10 countries combined. So the question is, are we stronger if we borrow our way? Are we going to be able to project power from bankruptcy court? And I think many people are beginning to ask that question.”

Paul said he thinks the federal government should 'hold the line” on all spending, and that includes defense.

'That doesn't mean we won't spend money on defense. We still spend a considerable amount of money on defense,” Paul said.

Paul said he thinks his message can resonate with Iowa voters, who he said are split on whether the U.S. should be militarily involved in other nations' conflicts.

Gabe Lanz, a former U.S. Army soldier from Des Moines who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and one of the veterans supporting Paul's candidacy, said he supports Paul's position of limited intervention.

'He's a lonely voice of sanity among the war drones in D.C.,” Lanz said of Paul.