lvc@cbscc.UUCP (Larry Cipriani) (11/10/84)
Topics: Human Rights World Government Secession Military Military Policy Presidentional War Powers Economic Policy Foreign Aid International Money Unowned Resources International Relations Colonialism The Middle East China Southern Africa Space Exploration Omissions This is the last part to the LP platform. cbscc!cbsch!lvc 3. Human Rights We condemn the violations of human rights in all nations around the world. We particularly abhor the widespread and increasing use of torture for interrogation and punishment. We call upon the world's governments to fully implement the principles and prescriptions contained in this platform and thereby usher in a new age of international harmony based upon the universal reign of liberty. Until such a global triumph for liberty, we support both political and revolutionary actions by individuals and groups against governments that violate rights. We recognize the right of all people to resist tyranny and defend themselves and their rights. We condemn, however, the use of force, and especially the use of terrorism, against the innocent, regardless of whether such acts are committed by governments or by political and revolutionary groups. The violation of rights and liberty by government can never justify foreign intervention by the United States government. Today, no government is innocent of violating human rights and liberty, and none can approach the issue with clean hands. In keeping with our goal of peaceful international relations, we call upon the United States government to cease its hypocrisy and its sullying of the good name of human rights. Only private individuals and organizations have any place speaking out on this issue. 4. World Government We support withdrawal of the United States government from, and an end to its financial support for, the United Nations. We oppose U.S. government participation in any world or international government. 5. Secession We recognize the right to political secession. This includes the right of secession by political entities, private groups, or individuals. Exercise of this right, like the exercise of all rights, does not remove legal and moral obligations not to violate the rights of others. Military 1. Military Policy We recognize the necessity for maintaining a sufficient military force to defend the United States against aggression. We should reduce the overall cost and size of our total governmental defense establishment. We call for the withdrawal of all American troops from bases abroad. In particular, we call for the removal of the U.S. Air Force as well as ground troops from the Korean peninsula. We call for withdrawal from multilateral and bilateral commitments to military intervention (such as to NATO and to South Korea) and for abandonment of interventionist doctrines (such as the Monroe Doctrine). We view the mass-destruction potential of modern warfare as the greatest threat to the lives and liberties of the American people and all the people of the globe. We favor international negotiations toward general and complete disarmament down to police levels, provided every necessary precaution is taken to effectively protect the lives and the rights of the American people. Particularly important is the mutual disarmament of nuclear weapons and missiles, and other instruments of indiscriminate mass destruction of civilians. 2. Presidential War Powers We call for the reform of the Presidential War Powers Act to end the President's power to initiate military actions, and for the abrogation of all Presidential declarations of "state's of emergency". There must be no further secret commitments and unilateral acts of military intervention by the Executive Branch. We favor a Constitutional amendment limiting the presidential role as Commander-in-Chief to its original meaning, namely that of head of the armed forces in wartime. The Commander-in-Chief role, correctly understood, confers no additional authority on the President. Economic Policy 1. Foreign Aid We support the elimination of tax-supported military, economic, technical, and scientific aid to foreign governments or other organizations. We support the abolition of government underwriting of arms sales. We further support abolition of federal agencies that make American taxpayers guarantors of export-related loans, such as the Export-Import Bank and the Commodity Credit Corporation. We also oppose the participation of the U.S. Government in international commodity cartels which restrict production, limit technological innovation, and raise price. We call for the repeal of all prohibitions on individuals or firms contributing or selling goods and services to any foreign country or organization. 2. International Money We favor the withdrawal of the United States from all international paper money and other inflationary credit schemes. We favor withdrawal from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. We strongly oppose any bailout of foreign governments or American banks by the United States, either by means of the International Monetary Fund or through any other government device. 3. Unowned Resources We oppose any recognition of fiat claims by national governments or international bodies to unclaimed territory. Individuals have the right to homestead unowned resources both within the jurisdictions of national governments and within such unclaimed territory as the ocean, Antarctica, and the volume of outer space. We urge the development of objective international standards for recognizing homesteaded claims to private ownership of such forms of property as transportation lanes, broadcast bands, mineral rights, fishing rights, and ocean farming rights. All laws, treaties, and international agreements that would prevent or restrict homesteading of unowned resources should be abolished. We specifically call for an end to U.S. participation in the current Law of the Sea treaty negotiations because these proceedings exclude private property principles. International Relations 1. Colonialism United States colonialism has left a legacy of property confiscation, economic manipulation, and over-extended defense boundaries. We favor immediate independence for all colonial dependencies, such as Samoa, Guam, Micronesia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, both to free these lands from the United States, and to free the United State from massive subsidization of them at taxpayers' expense. Land sized by the U.S. government should be returned to its rightful owner. The United States should liquidate its government-run canal operation in Panama and withdraw all U.S. troops from the Canal Zone. 2. The Middle East We call upon the United States government to cease all interventions in the Middle East, including military and economic aid, guarantees, and diplomatic meddling, and to cease limitation of private foreign aid, both military and economic. Voluntary cooperation with any economic boycott should not be treated as a crime. 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 troops in the Sinai peninsula as a trip-wire that could easily set off a new world war. We condemn the expenditure of billions of American tax dollars to buy Israeli and Egyptian participation in the Camp David Accords. 3. China We condemn the growing alliance between the United States government and the People's Republic of China, just as we condemn the previous alliance with the Republic of China on Taiwan. China should not be considered as part of America's defense perimeter, nor should the United States government pursue joint military or diplomatic policies with China in Southeast Asia or Africa. 4. Southern Africa We call upon the United States to cease all interventions in Southern Africa, including military and economic aid, guarantees, and backing of political groups, and to refrain from restricting American trade and investment in the region. 5. Space Exploration We oppose all government restrictions upon voluntary peaceful use of outer space. We condemn all international attempts to prevent or limit private exploration, industrialization, and colonization of the moon, planets, asteroids, satellite orbits, Lagrange libration points, or any other extraterrestrial resources. We specifically call for the repudiation of the U.N. Moon Treaty. We support the abolition of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the privatization of all satellites. Omissions Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edit, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval. The Libertarian Party National Headquarters 7887 Katy Freeway #385 Houston Texas 77024 (713) 686-1776