[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

That, and National Defense are very high on my list.

If both parties have the same planks, I will go vote Libertarian, or another third party. And stock up on hardware and ammo.

TR

Hence the problem with single-issue voting. No party, except perhaps the TR Party, will ever mirror your platform entirely in its. If you favor one party because its view on one issue, say gun control/Second Amendment rights, mirrors yours, you may find that its view on another issue may be far afield. Unless these national defense views also accord with yours:

We call for the immediate and unconditional exoneration of all who have been accused or convicted of draft evasion, desertion from the military in cases of conscription or fraud, and other acts of resistance to such transgressions as imperialistic wars and aggressive acts of the military. Members of the military should have the same right to quit their jobs as other persons.

- National Platform of the Libertarian Party, Adopted in Convention, May 2004, Atlanta, Georgia

We call for the end of the Defense Department practice of discharging armed forces personnel for homosexual conduct. We further call for retraction of all less-than-honorable discharges previously assigned for such reasons and deletion of such information from military personnel files. We recommend the repeal of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the recognition and equal protection of the rights of armed forces members. This will thereby promote morale, dignity, and a sense of justice within the military.

- National Platform of the Libertarian Party, Adopted in Convention, May 2004, Atlanta, Georgia

We call for the withdrawal of all American military personnel stationed abroad, including the countries of NATO Europe, Japan, the Philippines, Central America and South Korea. There is no current or foreseeable risk of any conventional military attack on the American people, particularly from long distances. We call for the withdrawal of the U.S. from commitments to engage in war on behalf of other governments and for abandonment of doctrines supporting military intervention such as the Monroe Doctrine.

- National Platform of the Libertarian Party, Adopted in Convention, May 2004, Atlanta, Georgia; Previous versions also cited the Reagan Doctrine.

End the incorporation of foreign nations into the U.S. defense perimeter. Cease the creation and maintenance of U.S. bases and sites for the pre-positioning of military material in other countries. End the practice of stationing American military troops overseas. We make no exceptions to the above.

- National Platform of the Libertarian Party, Adopted in Convention, May 2004, Atlanta, Georgia

The important principle in foreign policy should be the elimination of intervention by the United States government in the affairs of other nations. We favor a drastic reduction in cost and size of our total diplomatic establishment.

- National Platform of the Libertarian Party, July 2, 2000

Certainly America’s defense capability should be strong enough to defend the United States. However, the US now accounts for 37% of all the world’s military spending. Another 30% of world military spending is by countries in Western Europe along with Japan, South Korea, and Israel -- nations which pose no conceivable threat to the US. Russia, our former Cold War adversary, certainly represents no military threat. Our military budget is $260 billion; Russia’s is less than $80 billion. China spends less than $7 billion on defense. The most commonly cited rogue states -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, North Korea, and Cuba spend a combined $15 billion. Nowhere are American vital interests under attack or even seriously threatened. If the US were to pursue a policy of defending its own borders while avoiding foreign intervention, we could realistically reduce our defense budget to as little as $125 billion over the next five years.

- Libertarian Solutions; Michael Tanner on LP Web site, November 7, 2000

We oppose the incorporation of the Persian Gulf and the countries surrounding it into the U.S. defense perimeter. We oppose the creation of new U.S. bases and sites for the pre-positioning of military material in the Middle East region. We condemn the stationing of American military troops in the Sinai peninsula as a trip-wire that could easily set off a new world war.

- 1990 National Platform of the Libertarian Party, Adopted in Convention, September 1989, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

BE IT RESOLVED:
That the Libertarian Party National Committee unconditionally supports his right to resist, and will continue to support his struggle against the state in whatever form it takes consistent with libertarian values; and
That the Libertarian Party National Committee supports the right of all draft eligible youth to resist registration and the draft.

- Resolutions of the Libertarian National Committee, August 30, 1981

And in case you thought you 7th Group guys were actually up to anything good...

We oppose the current thrust by the U.S government to establish American political control over the Western Hemisphere and its growing involvement in internal conflicts in Latin America and the Caribbean. Specifically, we oppose the continuing U.S. campaigns to overthrow the government of Nicaragua; to intervene in the internal politics of Panama to overthrow its ruler; to fight "drug wars" in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and Columbia; and to prop up the government of El Salvador by sending in military personnel and foreign aid.

- 1990 National Platform of the Libertarian Party, Adopted in Convention, September 1989, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania