Will We Let Bush Invade Iran?
Americans Should be Wary of an Upcoming Bush Administration Pitch to Invade Iran
(Washington, D.C.) When the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq, it did so preemptively (the US homeland had not been attacked by Iraq) and unilaterally (the global community overwhelmingly opposed this invasion). Nonetheless, the members of the administration, including Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, and President George W. Bush himself, employed tactics of fear and coercion to gain the support of the American people.
Time and again, Americans were told that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had close ties with al-Qaeda, and played some role in the September 11th terrorist attacks. Additionally, the Bush administration repeatedly supported intelligence that indicated that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Now, after more than three years of fighting, and at the expense of thousands of American lives, we now know the truth; Saddam's Iraq posed no threat to our nation.
Today, it appears that a similar pattern is forming. Instead of Iraq, however, the administration has chosen Iran as its new target. In the media, and in White House press conferences, similar rhetoric is appearing.
"The American people should be wary of the Bush Administration's mounting rhetoric against Iran," stated Michael Dixon, chairman of the Libertarian Party. "If you treat someone as your enemy, they will be your enemy. It's time for the Bush administration to take a grown-up approach to foreign policy and stop playing the schoolyard bully."
The Libertarian Party understands the importance of a strong national defense; however it is rational enough to oppose preemptive warfare. This stance is clearly written within the party's platform: "The United States should not inject itself into the internal matters of other nations, unless they have declared war upon or attacked the United States, or the U.S. is already in a constitutionally declared war with them."
Chairman Dixon continued by saying, "I stand by the Libertarian Party's platform and encourage the rest of America to do the same. We need reason within our nation, not rhetoric."