For Immediate Release Monday, December 22, 2008
Party Says Obama Following Missteps of Bush Administration
America’s largest third-party is accusing Barack Obama of pursuing the same “hawkish” foreign policy of his predecessor George Bush. “What we hoped to see with the incoming Obama administration were plans for a total withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq,” says William Redpath, national chairman of the Libertarian Party. “Instead, we’re seeing the same missteps of the Bush administration that have kept our troops in the Middle East since 2001.”
This past September, the Libertarian National Committee passed a resolution calling for the withdraw of U.S. troops from Afghanistan “without undue delay.” However, current Pentagon plans call for potentially doubling the size of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan to 60,000 troops.
“Shifting troops from one front to another is not ‘bringing them home,’ as Democrats promised to do in 2006,” says Redpath. “Obama is pursuing a hawkish foreign policy that should worry any advocates of non-intervention. He’ll keep us in that region for his entire presidency.”
“The United States should both abandon its attempts to act as policeman for the world and avoid entangling alliances,” reads the Libertarian Party’s platform. “American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world and its defense against attack from abroad. We would end the current U.S. government policy of foreign intervention, including military and economic aid.”
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please email Andrew Davis at andrew.davis@lp.org , or call (202) 731-0002.
The Libertarian Party is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting www.LP.org . The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
