It’s Iraq All Over Again

In 2000, Bush ran for president promising a “humbler foreign policy.” He gave us the Iraq War. Trump ran as the “peace president.” Now he’s given us the Iran War.

At the 2007 Libertarian Party of California state convention, Wayne Allen Root was among the candidates running for the LP presidential nomination. By then most Libertarians had soured on the Iraq War. Some had opposed it from the start, but the war did have its “libertarian” supporters.

Root was aware of this anti-Iraq War sentiment, and so he said, “Iraq was the wrong war. Iran is the right war.” That didn’t go over well, and so he muted his “pro-Iran War” statements as we entered 2008.

Root is still out there, writing, and podcasting, and making media appearances. I hear he’s quite ecstatic about Trump’s war. Root finally got the war he wanted.

And once again, some conservatives have turned a Republican president into a religious idol. They’re saying that God has guided Trump into war. They said it about Bush, who was supposedly “God’s anointed.” But now it’s Trump who is “God’s anointed.”

After Bush took us to war, I remember Dennis Prager saying, in reference to the controversial 2000 election ballot count, that “It’s hard not to believe that God intervened to prevent Gore from becoming President. In making Bush president, God has given America one last chance.”

That’s pretty much what I remember Prager saying.

Ironically, all the conservatives I hear praising Trump’s Iran War have also long denounced Bush’s Iraq War (not at the time, but a least since 2016). That’s why they voted for Trump. Because they hate Bush and “the Neocons.” According to them, the Iraq War is Neocon. But the Iran War is MAGA and America First because reasons.

If you disagree, if you express doubts about Trump’s wisdom or good intentions, these conservatives become gripped with hysteria, and accuse you of TDS. Even as they hyperventilate and foam at the mouth, they accuse you of TDS.

And so I no longer argue with them. I did my part in opposing the Iraq War for much of the 2000s, even joining the big international antiwar protest in February 2003, before the first shot was fired. I have no illusions about being able to change anything at this point.

As for the Libertarian Party, it appears to be in greater disarray than it was 20 years ago, but perhaps it will be able to provide an alternative for those seeking peace. A recent statement from its national HQ is a good sign.

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José Castañeda Remembers Ed Clark (1930 - 2025)

Ed Clark, the 1980 Libertarian Party presidential candidate, died last June 18th.

Los Angeles libertarian José Castañeda shares his thoughts: 

This is my Ed Clark story. In 1980, I and my brothers were on a trip to Disney World. We were staying at a nice fancy old fashioned hotel in Texas. It was July or August (I think it was August).

I was chilling out in the lobby watching television when an Ed Clark Libertarian Party candidate for President advertisement aired on one of the three major networks. I was impressed because only one other time in 1976 did I ever see an alternative candidate presidential candidate advertisement on television.

I of course am discounting independent John Anderson as he was a Republican.

Over the coming months I saw many Ed Clark for president advertisements. Ed Clark as a candidate seemed okay and I agreed with some of his views: Support for the ERA (I was and am a big supporter of the ERA), being against the draft, being against an interventionist foreign policy (I was against the Vietnam War), in support of tax cuts (I supported Proposition 13), and was for the free market.

My favorite advertisement was the politics of hope ad, and the one where the "voice" asks Ed Clark if he is going to be elected president. He responds it is not about that. He added, if you like what I am saying (and then lists some of his views) you should consider that (and vote for me).

I liked that he was on the ballot in 50 states. Which alternative party presidential candidate does that? Up to that time, none in my lifetime.
 
I was also impressed that there was another alternative party candidate (Barry Commoner of the Citizens Party) for president that was getting some notice. I thought, this is how bad things are in America that we have two alternative presidential candidates getting notice by the media, voters, etc.

I subscribed to the magazine Libertarian Review. I knew after reading the first issue I received I was a Libertarian. I changed my registration to Libertarian and I joined the Party in 1982. 
 
A few years later, I was talking to a therapist who asked me what meetings (supper clubs) I was attending, and I mentioned Libertarian ones, and she knew from the Ed Clark advertisements (she mentioned Ed Clark) what I was taking about.

I used to attend libertarian supper clubs being held in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. This is when there were three non-Party supper clubs in Los Angeles County and one in Orange County. Speakers were libertarian VIPs such as Ed Clark, David Bergland, and Dagny Sharon.

Those were the days.
 
This is my Ed Clark story. RIP.
 
Sincerely,
 
José Castañeda, CAP
 
Secretary - Treasurer,
Representative Executive Committee South East Region 65
Libertarian Party of Los Angeles County

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New Jersey Libertarian Party Condemns U.S. Bombing of Iran

It feels like 2003 all over again. The U.S. is once again entering into a Mideast war that is none of its business. Libertarians are once again protesting -- and, I'm sure, contentiously dividing into pro and antiwar camps.

Some good news: the New Jersey Libertarian Party issued the following press release. (The bad news, Libertarian Parties are probably even less influential than they were 20 years ago.)

 

June 21, 2025

New Jersey Libertarian Party Condemns US Bombing of Iran

On June 21, 2025 President Trump announced that the United States bombed three nuclear sites at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. This escalation of U.S. involvement in this conflict was neither necessary nor beneficial. It will lead to further U.S. involvement, further casualties and domestic hardships.

The New Jersey Libertarian Party condemns this act and our Commander-in-Chief for authorizing it. Instead of prioritizing peace, liberty, and the welfare of the American people, President Trump has thrust us into another bloody, costly, and pointless war.

During the 2024 election cycle we were promised peace. We were told that this new regime would be guided by a policy of non-intervention and domestic enrichment. Yet, 6 months later we are presented with military destabilization and global warfare. Millions of Americans voted in support of a peaceful future. One wherein the United States focused on preserving the liberties of its people. Instead, President Trump chose to fire the opening salvo in another pointless conflict. 

U.S. foreign policy has become dangerous, not only to peace abroad, but to the safety and security of the American people. President Trump, like his predecessors, has used the imagined threat of “weapons of mass destruction” to scare us into compliance. To lead us like the Pied Piper into economic quagmires and mass graves. We cannot continue to impoverish ourselves to turn countries into craters. We cannot continue to send young men and women to fight for the glory and enrichment of the elite, while their loved ones struggle to afford ballooning grocery bills. We cannot continue to champion ourselves as the leader of the free world while innocent civilians lose everything to modern American imperialism.

We call for an immediate end to all acts of aggression against the Iranian people. The United States does not belong in the Middle East and we ought not involve ourselves in any foreign war. We call on the United States congress to reclaim their war declaration authority from executive overreach. Finally, we call on the American people to join us in condemning state violence in all of its forms. 

In Liberty,

The New Jersey Libertarian Party

Bruno Pereira
Chair, New Jersey Libertarian Party

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Military Might Does Not Make a Nation Great

Neocons such as Eli David are once again promoting the idea that America is great because we can bomb the crap out of foreign nations. I recall the same nonsense from when George W. Bush was president. It's his post-9/11 war fever all over again.

 

America has serious domestic problems. Violent street crime. Domestic turmoil. Public schools that graduate illiterates ... creating an ever greater reliance on foreign workers and foreign imports ... making our supply chains ever more vulnerable ... making it harder for young people to find jobs that pay a living wage ... making it harder for them to marry and raise families ... plus our rising national debt, inflation, a looming depression ... laced with our cultural and moral decay as our social fabric comes apart, and, well, one could go on.

 

But we can still bomb the crap out of whoever we want. (Or whoever Israel wants us to bomb.)

 

And really, isn't that what makes America Great?

 

(Okay, I didn't think so either.)

 

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Greenland Rejects Trump's Neocon Bullying

Trump campaigned on America First, a term coined in 1940 and which meant that the U.S. should not aid foreign countries or enter into foreign wars. America should mind its own business. America First never meant that we should be the world's bully, taking whatever was in our "national interest."

If "national interest" were the measure of morality, then the actions of any foreign conqueror could be justified as serving that nation's "national interest." Hitler thought it was in Germany's "national interest" to annex Poland and much of the east. Stalin thought it was in Russia's "national interest" to annex Poland, the Baltic states and Finland. Mao thought it was in China's "national interest" to annex Tibet.

And perhaps it was. But it was not moral.

The Neocon expansionists, with their vaunted "moral compass," might respond, "America's better than that -- so we have a right to behave the very same way."

Well, maybe not in such blatant words. But that's their argument. We're "good" because we don't behave like bad nations, so we have a right to behave like bad nations.

Silly, isn't it?

Trump's "America First" foreign policy is hardcore Neoconservatism. In addition to blanket support for Israel, Trump has called for the annexation of the Panama Canal, Gaza, Canada, and Greenland. I doubt he expects to annex Canada, but of all those territories, he seems most determined to take Greenland.

Yet the people of Greenland bravely responded "No" in their recent elections. Jakob Wiezman of Politico reports (March 12, 2025):

 

"Greenland had a message for Donald Trump as islanders went to the polls this week: thanks, but no thanks.

"The U.S. president’s repeated noises about acquiring the vast Arctic island — not ruling out military force or economic coercion — were rejected at the ballot box, as a party that denounced Trump’s ambitions came out on top.

"The opposition center-right Democrats party grabbed the most votes in a surprising national election result that saw the country’s governing coalition parties (the left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit and center-left Siumut) edged out into third and fourth place, on a total of 28,620 votes cast (70 percent turnout).

But like the Godfather, Neocon Trump is determined to make Greenland an offer they can't refuse. Following the election, on March 13, Emily Goodin of the Daily Mail reports:

"President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated the United States 'needs' Greenland for national security purposes and indicated he's willing to send in American troops to take control of the island.

'I think it'll happen,' the president said of annexing the island during his Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

'We really needed for national security. I think that is why NATO might have to get involved anyway,' he added."

Ayn Rand famously said: "A need is not a claim."

I've met conservatives, libertarians, and Objectivists who love to cite Rand whenever an impoverished person seeks a handout. But when America (or Israel) demands or takes something because some leader says the nation "needs" it for their "national interest," these same Rand fans go silent.

I wish the people of Greenland well in their quest for independence -- from both Denmark and the United States. We demanded independence from Britain. Greenlanders are entitled to the same.

And I wish Trump would focus on putting America First (no foreign aid) but without the Neoconservatism (foreign conquests).

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Trump Joins AIPAC in Trying to Oust Thomas Massie

Thomas Massie, a Republican Congressman from Kentucky, is one of the few elected Republicans who oppose all foreign aid -- even to Israel.

AIPAC tried to punish Massie by funding his opponent in the last election. AIPAC failed. The voters once again choose Massie.

Of Massie, The Nation 's John Nichols wrote (May 28, 2024):

[O]n matters of war and peace, he often sides with progressives, positioning himself as a libertarian-leaning Republican who opposes US military interventionism and military aid packages for foreign countries, including Israel. That stance has drawn sharp criticism from neoconservatives in general, who worry about the return of the sort of old-school Republican isolationism that reflexively opposed military interventions and foreign aid packages, and in particular from AIPAC, which has objected to his many votes against aid to Israel, as well as his rejection of resolutions backing Netanyahu’s government.

Now, Andrew Solender reports for Axios that Donald Trump has vowed to "lead the charge" to unseat Massie in the next election.

Trump makes no mention of Massie's opposition to funding Israel, but that doesn't mean it's not Trump's real motive. AIPAC likes to keep a low profile. When it funds ads opposing "anti-Israel" candidates, the ads generally make no mention of Israel. 

Reporting for Common Dreams, Eli Clifton writes (August 9, 2022):

Curiously though, the ads paid for by UDP [United Democracy Project], affiliated with the largest pro-Israel group in the country [AIPAC], don't mention the groups' central issue: Israel.

Like Ron Paul, Thomas Massie has a strong record on many libertarian issues, including foreign affairs. And that, for the Israel First lobby, is the problem.

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LNC Chair Steven Nekhaila Endorses Tulsi Gabbard as DNI Chair

Back in 2019, I praised Tulsi Gabbard as the best among the Democrats for her strong antiwar statements.

Today LNC Chair Steven Nekhaila "tweeted" his approval of Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. Nekhaila said:

“I’m optimistic about Tulsi Gabbard stepping in as Director of National Intelligence. While no government position is perfect, her history of challenging the establishment and opposing endless wars gives me hope for a more restrained, accountable intelligence community. If she upholds transparency and resists the surveillance state, this could be a step toward restoring civil liberties. Time will tell, but at the very least, it’s a shake-up the deep state won’t like.”

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