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Ending the Yemen War

by | Jun 27, 2022 |

There’s a Resolution in the House, HJ Res 87, a War Powers Resolution demanding an end to all support for Saudi and UAE’s war in Yemen. The new Libertarian Party is working with all the great Yemen war activists to do a pressure campaign on Congress to support it. Massie and a few other GOPs support it.

We’re also pushing the persuade the right from the right and the left from the left strategy to influence them.

I believe that this really could be the margin to pass the resolution, that it could be the margin to get Biden to quit it, that that could be what it takes to truly end the war. And that we have to try. And also that how do you like the new Libertarian Party? (The Libertarian Institute is not affiliated with the LP in any way.)

The backstory:

1: Obama started the CIA drone war against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) back in 2009. They are real-ass anti-American terrorists. Bombed the Cole. Tried to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This only made the problem worse.

2: Obama bribed the dictator with guns and money to let him do it.

3: The dictator, Abdullah Saleh, spent the money and weapons attacking his enemies, the Houthis, a group of Zaidi Shi’ites from up in the north. They kept winning.

4: Arab Spring breaks out in 2011. Everyone wants his regime gone. Someone tries to kill him. He’s wounded so goes to Saudi to heal up.

5: Hillary swoops in and thwarts the popular will by pushing the vice president Mansour Hadi into power. Saleh goes away mad and takes the army with him. Then he goes up north and joins in alliance with the Houthis! He’s a Zaidi Shia like them, it turns out.

6: Hadi sucks at being a dictator. Everyone hates him. He provokes the Houthis with a new strong federalism program that would cut them off from the Red Sea. They march on the capital and get rid of Hadi in December 2014.

7: USA works with them to target AQAP for a few months before Obama stabs them in the back and switches sides in the war in March 2015.

8: The Saudis-UAE got the green light from Obama to “placate” them during the Iran nuke deal.

9: US support includes planes, bombs, all spare parts, plane tires etc., all the maintenance, logistics, air traffic control etc., intelligence for picking targets and naval support for the blockade.

10: AQAP has benefited all along, first independently, then under the cover of the UAE’s militia.

11: Trump tore up the Iran nuke deal, but kept the war. All to make Raytheon happy. Literally, not just figuratively.

12: The war has failed to oust the Houthis.

13: More than 100,000 people have been bombed to death. More than half a million have died of deprivation who otherwise would not have. I bet you it’s a million when they add it all up later. Cholera outbreaks and all this.

14: They’ve waged a war against the civilian infrastructure all along.

15: Obama and Trump era State Department lawyers worried they could all go to prison for war crimes.

16: They should.

17: There is currently a cease-fire and the Saudis have dropped their major goal of reinstalling Hadi, which is a huge climbdown.

18: So now is our chance to press this advantage and try to get tens of thousands of calls in to Congress about this.

It’s 1-833 STOP WAR. They’ll connect you right to your Congressman.

Some advice about what to say to them can be found in this thread. And thank you!:

The Libertarian Party is Beating the Drums for Peace

by | Jun 27, 2022 |

For the people turning 21 this fall, America has been at war their entire lives.

The Global War on Terror has reached its second generation of soldiers. Defense spending and the global presence of the U.S. military and armaments continue to proliferate. The Libertarian Party and its Veterans Caucus are fighting to bring this era of U.S. intervention to a close by bringing peace to the forefront of political discussion while providing a mechanism for other disillusioned service members and civilian antiwar activists to stop the wars.

Ron Paul famously received more campaign donations from military members than any other candidate in 2012 by running on the message of ending the wars. Ten years later the U.S. is still entrenched in conflict and members of the LP Vet Caucus are backing Defend the Guard legislation as the way to finally start to end the American empire, which has gained tremendous support from across the Libertarian Party.

The new Libertarian National Committee announced their support in a resolution mirroring the one passed in Texas in April, and North Carolina, Massachusetts, and California have also adopted resolutions backing Defend the Guard since then. The concept is simple and combines key traditional American ideals: the separation and nullification of federal powers. By requiring Congress to make an official declaration of war, states will begin to regain their control of National Guard troops, and finally begin to bring them home.

The Libertarian Party has also begun a “Week of Action” regarding the ongoing conflict in Yemen, urging members of the public to call Congress in support of HJ Res 87. The War Powers Resolution on Yemen is the first major national campaign to stop aiding and funding ongoing genocide in the poorest country in the Middle East. You can voice your support by dialing 1-833-Stop War where you will be connected to your Representative.

Together, veteran, civilian, Libertarian, or otherwise, we can fundamentally change the direction of our country and our world.

Privacy and the Constitution

by | Jun 27, 2022 | , ,

“[B]oth the [‘]liberals[‘] and the conservatives misunderstand privacy. The conservatives engage in a narrow and unnatural reading of the Constitution in order to avoid seeing what they do not wish to see, while the [‘]liberals[‘] find in the Constitution not penumbras but a Rorschach test that reveals only what they wish to see. In both cases it comes down to an inkblot. Both approaches allow their adherents to disparage most freedoms and exalt the few freedoms allowed by their respective moral and political philosophies.”

“Dissolving the Inkblot: Privacy as Property Right,”
Cato Policy Report, Jan-Feb 1993

Week of Action on Yemen

Week of Action on Yemen

by | Jun 21, 2022 |

Scott Horton and the Libertarian Party, among others, are whipping up support for a week of action to end US involvement in the Yemen War.

And you can help.

H.J. Res. 87 was introduced on May 31. The bill would “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress.”

The Bill defines the term “hostilities” to include “sharing intelligence for the purposes of enabling offensive coalition strikes; and providing logistical support for offensive coalition strikes, including by providing maintenance or transferring spare parts to coalition members flying warplanes engaged in anti-Houthi bombings in Yemen.”

It would also prohibit “the assignment of United States Armed Forces, including any including any civilian or military personnel of the Department of Defense, to command, coordinate, participate in the movement of, or accompany the regular or irregular military forces of the Saudi-led coalition forces in hostilities against the Houthis in Yemen or in situations in which there exists an imminent threat that such coalition forces become engaged in such hostilities, unless and until the President has obtained specific statutory authorization, in accordance with section 8(a) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)).”

It is incredibly important that every American take five minutes to pick up the phone to urge their representatives to support this Bill.

Unsure of what to say? Navigate to 1833stopwar.com and follow the on-screen prompts. Operators are standing by to connect you with your representatives.

If you have ever–ever–professed contempt for the war in Yemen, you must call.

1-833-STOP-WAR

 

Actually, Socialism IS When The Government Does Stuff

Actually, Socialism IS When The Government Does Stuff

by | Jun 17, 2022 |

How is something to be owned by “the community as a whole?” Ownership means that you get to decide what is done with something. If you and I disagree on who gets to eat your apple, then whatever you decide will take precedence, because it is your apple. If a “community as a whole” owns something, and two people within that community disagree on what should be done with something, who takes precedence? Whoever it is, he is the real owner of that thing, not the “community as a whole.”

– Danny Duchamp, Actually Socialism IS When the Government Does Stuff

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