A model LP resolution on foreign intervention

A Resolution Affirming the Libertarian Party's Traditional Position Concerning Foreign Intervention.

Whereas, the original Libertarian Party Platform of 1972 warned that the United States should not "act as policeman of the world" while asserting that any legitimate government "must protect itself and its citizens against the initiation of force from other nations";

Whereas, the Libertarian Party Platform of 1976 held that "the principle of non-initiation of force should guide the relationships between governments";

Whereas, the Libertarian Party Platform has held since at least 1980 that "American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world and the defense -- against attack from abroad -- of the lives, liberty, and property of the American people on American soil";

Whereas, President Bush's claim that "the Iraqi regime possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons" was at best recklessly and negligently false;

Whereas, President Bush invaded Iraq without a declaration of war;

Whereas, the civil war in Iraq has demonstrated the wisdom of the Libertarian Party's traditional opposition to military adventures;

Whereas, the United States government long ago achieved its purported primary war aims of 1) eliminating any WMD capability or international terrorist infrastructure, and 2) deposing Saddam's regime in favor of a federal democratic constitutional framework (naively) intended to protect minorities and fundamental human rights;

Therefore, be it resolved that the Libertarian Party calls on the United States government to

• withdraw its armed forces from Iraq, without delay or preconditions;
• cease all efforts at nation-building in Afghanistan;
• desist from any further attempts to spread democracy in the Middle East or around the world through military force; and
• follow its historic libertarian tradition of avoiding entangling alliances, foreign quarrels, and military adventures while protecting America from the initiation of force launched from outside its borders.