Laughing with a mouth of blood

Why Libertarians Should Make Ending Occupation of, Aid to and Alliance with Middle East Nations A Top Issue

thevocalibertarian:

By Carol Moore

There are some very good reasons that a few intrepid libertarians keep up criticism of Israel and its lobbies in America.  And they are the same reasons libertarians should consider making getting the United States out of the Middle East our highest priority.  (And by this I include the whole area surrounding Russia’s southern flank, another possible flash point for future wars!)

1. To Maintain the Integrity of the Libertarian Movement  

To quote libertarian truisms, “eternal vigilance is the price of freedom” and  “extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.”  The libertarian movement cannot allow itself to be intimidated by any special interest, domestic or foreign, to the point that it silences itself, changes its positions, or strangles an important strategy.  Such intimidation on the Israel issue only can lead to internal discord and demoralization and, as mentioned above, an increase in dislike not just for the culpable intimidators but for Jews in general, i.e., anti-Semitism.

Israel supporters have to face choices.  Do they owe a greater allegiance to the state of Israel or to the concept of liberty?  To Israel or America? To free speech or to silencing critics of Israel?

Libertarians not preoccupied with the welfare of the state of Israel also face choices.  Can they continue to call themselves libertarians if they do not support an assertive non-interventionist stance? Can they call themselves Patriots if they are not willing to look at all the threats to America, including those from the state of Israel?  And can they call themselves individuals of principle and courage if they are afraid to criticize Israel or even consider making getting the United States out of the Middle East a high priority?

2. To Convince the Growing Libertarian Minority in America We Are Serious About Liberty 

Other than promoting the right of individual and community secession, I believe no other issue would convince Americans that we are serious about liberty. (See my article published previously in LiberyforAll.Net “Why Libertarians Should Emphasize Secession and Community Autonomy”)

Let’s face it, 30 years of promoting legalized drugs, income tax abolition and general deregulation, with a little foreign non-interventionism thrown in for flavoring, have led to the big ho hum. Any one who noticed we have taken on special interests knows we have made little real progress. Look at the massive budget deficits and imperialist warmongering under a “conservative” president and congress.

If the libertarian movement made critiques of U.S. and Israeli imperialism in the Middle East a major focus as well, it would impress and energize millions of cynical independents and non-voters fed up with AIPAC-intimidated politicians who refuse to address the issue.  (We could promise big energy tax breaks from the military budget savings to assuage those who fear loss of Middle East oil.)  And publicity would be guaranteed because the Israel Lobby and its many friends in media would go ballistic.

Of course, if libertarians do not want to take on the issue, they can join me in building the libertarian secession movement, starting with promoting an educational  “right to secede” amendment to the U.S. constitution.  That is one way to promote positive alternatives to our failed constitutional system.

3. World Nuclear War is Inevitable if We Do Not Get Out Now – i.e., Save America

I have just completed a web page article entitled Is World Nuclear War Inevitable?  It includes six scenarios by which malfunction, terrorism, or preemption by small nuclear states and/or the United States or Russia could spiral out of control into a devastating world nuclear war. Four of the six scenarios center around the Middle East and Eurasia.

Such a war would kill probably ninety percent of Americans, and eighty percent of the world’s population.  It would mean misery, illness and early death for the survivors – the end of the American Dream.

My site includes a separate page on “Israeli Nuclear Threats and Blackmail” which illustrates how Israeli nuclear bullying is targeted not just at Arabs and Muslims but at Europeans, Russians and inevitably Americans.  One possible trigger of a world nuclear would be an Israel devastated by nuclear or other terrorism lashing out in the “Samson Option” – nuclear revenge not just against Arab capitals but all those “anti-Semites” in Europe, including in Moscow.  And when Israel nukes Moscow, Moscow nukes its closest ally - the United States.

The solution is clearly pointed out in the current Libertarian Party platform and in various libertarian prescriptions across the Internet: Get Out of the Middle East Now! Get out of the rest of the world soon after. Begin unilateral steps to nuclear and conventional disarmament. Empower and encourage the people of the world to disarm their own authoritarian governments.  Make the libertarian movement a true peoples’ liberation movement, not one more movement – and party – manipulated by special interests wanting to protect their government privileges or repeal only the laws that hurt them.  

I think it is time libertarians prove to themselves, each other and all America they care more about saving America and its liberty than protecting their own reputations from outrageous and specious charges, whatever they may be.

   

Carol Moore is a 25 year member of the Libertarian Party, a long-time peace activist, and founder of several sites includingSecession.Net, WhatWouldGandhiDo.Net, Non-Intervention.Net.  She is also webmaster for Libertarians for Peace and Pro-Choice Libertarians.  See her other web sites, published and online articles, photographs, etc. at CarolMoore.Net.