Ashton Carter is a career Department of Defense man and spent at least five years holding the number two and three positions. Carter also has an academic background as a Rhodes Scholar and a Harvard professor who headed a program called the Preventative Defense Project, but Paul says his appointment would be a sign the Obama administration has no effective foreign policy strategy.

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During an interview with RT, Paul criticized the nomination as nonsensical, saying the White House’s foreign policy “doesn’t make any sense.”

“That is why he [Obama] is having trouble finding someone,” he added. “So how do you manage a policy that no one can clearly define, and nobody knows what can you expect, and why he is looking for the number four man to run the Department?”

Paul told RT the problem is that America has taken it upon itself to be involved around the world for the last 13 years, but that “we don’t know when we start, where we start, where we end, how long it will last.” He said when the US previously declared war, it knew who the enemy was and determined an end point. Now, however, Paul claims Americans are told they are in an “endless” war.

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Regarding the candidates that have been suggested to head the Pentagon, Paul said they are establishment people who know about government intervention and endorse the idea of being involved overseas.

“They don’t agree with me on the policy that non-intervention – minding our own business would be best for America – and that’s so clearly understood there’s nobody that would question the lack of understanding of that type of policy. I would expect they are not going to find anybody who can carry out a policy that nobody understands.”

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Asked about the fact that Carter has never served in the armed forces, Paul said there is an advantage to serving in the military but that it is more important to understand policy, the differences between intervention and non-intervention, and how the US should work with people around the world.

“Matter-of-fact, if they’ve spent too much time in the military and loved it, and got to the point that they accepted everything that the military does, I think then it would be a negative,” he added.

The outgoing Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, was moving towards preventative warfare tactics in Syria – not just against ISIS but regime change against Syrian President Bashar Assad – before being forced to resign. Paul wouldn’t say that Carter’s nomination points to continued escalation in the Middle East, but he noted the likelihood of shrinking the conflict was low.

“I sure don’t see it de-escalating because the pressure is being put on the administration, hawks are growing in number, and I think they are going to keep escalating the war. But the American government is in a bind because the want to get rid of Assad and Assad is fighting our enemies, ISIS. So it makes no sense. The policy is so ridiculous. Carter is not going to straighten this out.”