On Iraq War Drums and the Bogus Libertarian "Party Line" Response
by Shayne Wissler
Regarding Iraq, the message liberty advocates send to the US government should not be some dogmatic "don't go, intervention[1] is bad", but rather: If you want to go, grow up first, which means, in part:1. Recognize your past incompetence. You went before and look at how it's worked out. What has changed since then? Did you learn from your mistakes? It's obvious you haven't, because if you did, then you'd:2. Stand up for authentic principles of liberty here at home, so everyone will know what you intend to do when you "liberate" people abroad. When you have tyrannies like the War on Drugs and the highest prison population per capita in the world[2], then people tend to have a negative opinion regarding what you mean by "liberate." I.e., get your priorities straight and practice what you preach.3. Go there only with an explicit, declared philosophy of liberation, agreed upon by a significant portion of the Iraqi population, with a specific political plan of how you are going to implement it. You can't free people who don't want to be free, and if you aren't actually there to free people then you're just a rogue criminal.
If you help Iraqis craft an Iraqi "Declaration of Independence"[3], fitting to this century, that inspires Iraqis to help free themselves, then maybe you have a chance and a just cause; if not then no one should trust you.4. Use volunteers. Those in the military now did so to protect the US, not Iraqis, so they should only be enlisted in this charity operation voluntarily.[1] Contrary to many libertarians, "non-interventionism" is not a principle.[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html[3] This type of approach has historic precedent, such as in the Constitution of Japan, which states "government is a sacred trust of the people, the authority for which is derived from the people, the powers of which are exercised by the representatives of the people, and the benefits of which are enjoyed by the people. ... the fundamental human rights by this Constitution guaranteed to the people of Japan are fruits of the age-old struggle of man to be free; they have survived the many exacting tests for durability and are conferred upon this and future generations in trust, to be held for all time inviolate." Contrast this with the current Constitution of Iraq, which establishes a theocracy. (This is of course not to suggest that what we did in Japan was ideal.)Shayne Wissler is the author of REASON and LIBERTY: The Foundations of Civilization and For Individual Rights: A Treatise on Human Relations
