Good afternoon. My name is Michael Badnarik, and I'm seeking the Libertarian Party's nomination for president of the United States.
As a Libertarian candidate I feel compelled to speak to the American people in every forum where my voice can be heard. Libertarian ideas are sound and consistent, but until the American people have HEARD our ideas, they have no chance of ADOPTING them. The students of Washington University are the future leaders our country. You have the power to choose which administration will lead this country. You also have the power to prevent other administrations from destroying it. That is why it is reasonable for me to talk to you today about American foreign policy.
Before I do, I would like to give you some insight about who I am, and what my values are. Members of the Libertarian Party and I have the CRAZY IDEA that the Constitution actually MEANS something. We believe that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights establish limitations on the government's authority. I believe that these limitations were deliberately misinterpreted at first, and now they are being completely ignored.
The Bill of Rights does not GRANT you freedom of speech, or freedom of religion. The Bill of Rights simply ENUMERATES these rights, as further warnings to government agents not to infringe on these rights. Because these warnings and limitations are being ignored, your rights are being trampled on a daily basis. How can the United States be a beacon of freedom overseas, if the freedom of our own Citizens is in jeopardy here at home? How can Americans DEFEND their rights, when they have no clue what Constitution says? I doubt that one American in a thousand knows what the Sixth Amendment is about, or even knows the number of articles contained the Constitution.
Three years ago, long before I started my campaign for president, I developed an eight-hour class on the Constitution that I have been teaching ever since. The most important concept in that class is the difference between RIGHTS and PRIVILEGES.
Suppose I walk out of my house onto my land. I can walk back and forth, back and forth, across my land anytime I want without asking anyone's permission. Walking across my land is a RIGHT. Now suppose I want to walk to the store located on the other side of your land. Can I walk back and forth across your land anytime I want to? Certainly not. Not without your permission. It is a PRIVILEGE to walk across your land. Assuming that we've been neighbors for awhile, it is possible that you're response would be, "Sure you can take the shortcut, Mike. What are friends for?" So on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I walk to the store making my way across your land. Let us now assume that something unpleasant happens to you. You misplace a winning lottery ticket, or your significant other leaves you for your best friend. You wake up Thursday morning in a terrible mood, looking for an opportunity to vent your frustrations. As I begin to make my way across your land you shout, "Hey, mister! Walk around! That's what fences are for!" The important concept here is that privileges are granted, and they can be revoked at any time for any reason. Once again, RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES ARE OPPOSITES!
None the less, no single issue requires our attention more, at this particular point in time, than US foreign policy. And no political party or candidate, with the exception of the Libertarian Party and myself, has shown any inclination to address that foreign policy seriously and with reference to principle, history, and fact.
Make no mistake about it. The war on Iraq is based on lies and deception. It is a crime against another nation. I say it IS a crime because I do not live under the illusion that that war has ended, in spite of what the syndicated news agencies are reporting.
This crime continues to drain American blood into hostile sand. And, like the Republican president, the Democratic candidates seem unwilling to come to grips with the issue. Howard Dean began as a firm "anti-war" candidate. Now his position seems to be that since we're in Iraq, we have to "finish the job." I totally agree. However our job ends only when every American military man and woman in Iraq has returned safely to American soil.
It is not the job of the American soldier, sailor, airman or Marine to bleed and die in defense of a lie and a crime. It is not the job of the American warrior to dictate the political makeup of the Middle East, or to hold Europe together, or to maintain a presence on the Pacific Rim. The obligation of the American military is specified in their oath of enlistment: the DEFENSE of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Like all wars waged by the United States since 1945, the war in Iraq is being waged because of an unconstitutional abdication of responsibility by the Congress, and an unconstitutional usurpation of authority by the President. The Constitution gives CONGRESS the authority to declare war. It has not done so. Its "resolution authorizing force" specifically STATED that it was not doing so. If Congress has not DECLARED war, then it is unconstitutional for the president to WAGE war.
As a presidential candidate, I want to extricate the United States from the mess that George W. Bush created. I will do that by bringing our troops home. Not when some theoretical job is done. Not when Iraq has put together a government that is to my liking. I will bring them home IMMEDIATELY.
In 1947, the British government finally came to grips with the fact that it had failed to achieve its goals in Palestine, which it had exercised dominion over for 30 years. At that point, the British informed the United Nations that it would be leaving Palestine, permanently and completely, as of May, 1948.
What took place afterwards was the creation of Israel and 55 years of intermittent war between Israel and the Arab states. More importantly, not a single British soldier has died attempting to assert Britain's authority over Palestine since 1948. Not one. The duty of the British government is to the British people, not to the Israelis or the Palestinians. Every society has plenty of problems of its own without trying to solve the problems of others.
To many of us, the war in Viet Nam appeared that it would last forever. Eventually American soldiers abandoned our embassy in defeat. Sooner or later, the United States will leave Iraq. We have no way of knowing what will happen politically in Iraq after our troops have left the scene. It really doesn't matter. We can leave Iraq tomorrow, or several decades from now. We can leave before the next soldier dies, or after 50,000 body bags have been flown from Baghdad to Dover, carrying the bodies of our American dead. Either way, we are not responsible for what happens in other countries, and we are lying to ourselves if we believe that we can change the mindset of cultures that have developed over thousands of years.
As a candidate for the presidency, I am not willing to watch idly as the death toll climbs in Iraq. I am not willing to stand aside as young Americans die, one at a time, for no discernible purpose, and without a legitimate national interest.
If I am elected president of the United States, one of my first actions will be to announce that, immediately following my inauguration, the United States will begin evacuating its military presence from Iraq, and every OTHER country where we are currently acting as the world's policeman. Will it be easy to bring our troops home? Probably not. However it is the moral thing to do.
It is also the practical thing to do. Americans would never tolerate foreign troops marching through our cities, confiscating weapons in door to door searches. We would develop a deep hatred for any foreign country that had the audacity to influence our lives and government. Are we na•ve enough to think that the September 11th tragedy was unprovoked, when our military is based in over 130 foreign countries? Our soldiers can legitimately be used for national DEFENSE, but they are currently deployed for international OFFENSE. Any "pre-emptive" action is also an "offensive" action.
The sitting president, the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be on notice as to my intentions. It is remotely possible that they will choose to follow the mandate I was given by the American people, and they may begin bringing our service people home - but I doubt it. The current administration has gotten used to doing what it wants, using our military to influence world politics for the sole purpose of making huge profits for themselves. They will not give up that power without a fight.
To prevent entangling alliances in the future, America must terminate its unhealthy relationship with the United Nations. The collectivist world government proposed by the United Nations is not only INCONSISTENT with our Constitution, it is DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED to the principles our nation was founded on. The United Nations pretends to supercede our national sovereignty in an effort to secretly, but methodically eliminate our freedoms, and destroy our way of life.
The United Nations HAS no authority over our national sovereignty, and I would demonstrate that to the world in a dramatic and unmistakable way. The day I enter the Oval Office, I will give notice to the United Nations. Member nations would have one week to evacuate their offices in the UN building in New York. They would have seven days to box up their computers, their paper work, and family photos. At noon on the eighth day, after ensuring that the building was empty, I would personally detonate the explosive charges that would reduce the building to rubble. The same type of rubble we had to clean up after September 11th. I want to send a message around the world that United States foreign policy had changed dramatically, and unmistakably.
There are, of course, other issues wrapped up in this war, such as how we will clean up the mess that we've helpedto create. I encourage Americans to open their hearts to the Iraqi people, and to help them in their time of suffering. The only ETHICAL way to do this is through voluntary charity. I do not recognize any "right" to bind the American taxpayer to the lies and crimes of their administration. This war is a lie and a crime. The liars and criminals responsible for waging that war are the only ones who can legitimately be held legally culpable for the damage they have caused. To whom does this culpability extend? That is a question for the courts - and there will no doubt be plenty of litigation devoted to answering it.
I am prepared, as a Commander in Chief, to order the military to leave behind such material as might be useful in the country's reconstruction. Food. Medical supplies. Tools. Those goods are already paid for. We can't get the money back, and leaving them will hopefully make up, in some small measure, for the harm that we've caused. I will also act, within the scope of my legitimate authority as President, to lift any executive orders or other constraints that may prevent Americans from delivering financial and material aid to the Iraqi people. Americans are the most generous people on the face of the earth, as evidenced by the five BILLION dollars that were donated for the victims of the World Trade Center disaster. However, I will not tell the single mother, or the young college graduate, or even the billionaire CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies, that they are obligated to pick up the expense of George W. Bush's mistake on their next 1040 form.
And when the troops come home - whether they come home today, or years from now - I urge all Americans to celebrate and support our brave military men and women. We must assure them that, although they were misused, we do not hold them accountable for the crimes of their Commander in Chief. We must not repeat the mistake we made after Viet Nam, by blaming those who risked their lives to protect ours.
The Republicans have told you that we have no option other than to continue our occupation of Iraq until some unspecified time in the future. The Democrats, while arguing about details, have concurred in that assessment. I give you credit for knowing better. The details of my foreign policy proposals may change slightly as the situation changes, and as I learn more about what is really happening, however my plan for American disengagement will not change.
My plan is fully consistent with the obligations of an American president. My plan is also consistent with the advice of our founding fathers, who advised us to maintain economic trade with all nations, while avoiding entangling alliances with any one of them. My job, as a candidate, is to show you that a better future CAN come to pass· but only if you work WITH me to bring it about. I hope that you'll choose to do so.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, and expecting different results. If you continue to vote for the Republicans and Democrats, and you expect them to change our foreign policy in any significant way, then you are out of your mind. Instead of wasting your vote on the "lesser of two evils," I encourage you to cast a vote that will change the status quo. I urge you to join the Libertarian Party, and to vote for me in November of 2004.
Once again, my name is Michael Badnarik, and I'm seeking the Libertarian Party's nomination for president of the United States. I want to thank you for your attention and patience here this afternoon. At this time I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have on this, or any other issue relative to my campaign. Thank you very much.
