Opposition to War Rises in Idaho
The Libertarian Party, from the day of its creation in 1971, has always stood strongly for peace and against the destructive habit of military adventurism abroad. Today, the Idaho Republican Party has started to catch up to the Libertarian Party. At their state convention, the following language was passed without debate or amendment by the 216 person state central committee:
“THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Idaho Republican Party urges the President to immediately withdraw all US forces from Syria and end the unauthorized military mission;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Idaho Republican Party urges our elected members of Congress to fulfill their constitutional duty to debate and vote on matters of war and to assert their authority over US military actions in Syria and other locations around the world; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Idaho Republican Party calls on Senator Jim Risch (R- ID) to use his influence as the Ranking Member of the powerful Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, to advocate and an America-First foreign policy that keeps the American military out of undeclared wars of choice waged by the Executive Branch.”
Libertarians have always played a role in the anti-war movement in the United States. No matter how outnumbered we have always played our part, whether it was Harry Browne courageously writing against interventionism on 9/12, or the Libertarian Institute’s Scott Horton urging his listeners to join call-in campaigns to oppose funding the War in Yemen.
The Syrian Civil war was a pet project of such shameless warmongers such as the late Senator John McCain and John Kerry. Even after the now-debunked “chemical weapons attacks” that were used as a pretext for invading Syria floundered and failed to whip Americans into a war frenzy, the Obama administration and every one that followed nevertheless continued to push war materiel into the conflict and quietly occupy swathes of the country.
Award winning journalist Seymour Hersh, who unveiled the horrors of the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam that helped change public opinion on the war, wrote an expose titled, “The Red Line and the Rat Line,” wherein he discusses at length how the US funneled arms from the toppled nation of Libya to the Syrian conflict. That the US has troops in Syria to cover its theft of Syrian oil is not at all a secret, former President Trump blatantly stated as much.
American veterans who were used up in the similarly senseless and lie driven war of Iraq and the corruption riddled conflict in Afghanistan are tired of seeing their brothers in arms used up for such crass purposes as these; So are their families who have seen the lingering suffering caused by the Global War on Terror. As a result, the formerly hawkish Republican Party has slowly seen a change in the attitude of some of its members. It is no longer entirely safe to be a conservative warmonger who is careless with the lives of military men, and conservatives are increasingly skeptical about foreign conflicts.
Idaho is certainly a staunchly conservative state, and for so conservative a place to unanimously demand that American soldiers be removed from its illegal and unconstitutional occupation of Syria is heartening. The cause for peace is righteous, and we welcome anyone to join us. The national Libertarian Party helped forge a coalition protest against the War in Ukraine called Rage Against the War Machine that was held in Washington DC this past February- the first major anti war protest to grace DC in years, with thousands of attendees. We are as eager to join forces with the most staunch conservative in opposing war as we are the most radical progressive. Of all the single issue coalitions we could create in the country, the coalition for peace is the most important.
For our part in the Libertarian Party of Idaho, we support hometown heroes like Dan McKnight, founder of Bring Our Troops Home, the organization behind the Defend the Guard bills that rightfully interpose the states between our National Guard soldiers and the grasping federal government that seeks to use them up in unconstitutional and immoral wars of choice. Libertarian Party members have proudly answered the call and have volunteered to phone bank for Defend the Guard no matter what state needs lobbying pressure. We encourage people of all political stripes to participate in effective actions such as these.
If an uncompromising commitment to peace and free markets appeals to you, please join us!