Vote for Harry Browne Against the Empire
by Gene Berkman
November 6, 2000

Al Gore is known as author of the book Earth in the Balance, in which he expresses his concern for the environment, and suggests policies which might protect the earth. Since taking office as Vice-President, Mr. Gore has not always shown a concern for the environment. A little more than a year ago, smoke from NATO bombs polluted the skies of Yugoslavia, and debris filled the Danube river. Al Gore loyally supported the bombing initiated by President Clinton, heedless to the damage inflected on the environment of southeast Europe.

Al Gore says that prescription drugs cost Americans too much. How much more they must cost the impoverished people of the Sudan. Now drugs must cost even more in the Sudan since President Clinton ordered American planes to bomb a pharmaceutical factory in that poor country.

The Vice-president has not mentioned the bombing of Yugoslavia or of the Sudan during his campaign. It would be too much to hope that his silence reflects a sense of shame. More likely, Al Gore does not want to remind voters of his ties to President Clinton.

Al Gore has instead stressed that he "crossed party lines" to support President George Bush and the Gulf War in 1991. Senator Joseph Lieberman was a co-sponsor of the resolution to use force against Iraq; Gore and Lieberman were part of the margin of victory for the Bush policy in the Senate. In stressing their support "across party lines" for George Bush’s war against Iraq, Al Gore and Joseph Lieberman remind the observant that they continue Bill Clinton’s support for the same war policy.

A Vote for Bush is a Vote for Gore

Governor George W Bush has clearly stated his support for President Clinton’s bombing of Yugoslavia. He says that America is a "great power" and has to exercise that power.

His willingness to praise the foreign policy of President Clinton is perhaps the only difference that separates Governor Bush from Vice-president Gore. George W Bush certainly agreed with Al Gore’s support for the Gulf War – America was a "great power" in 1991 also.

George W Bush and Al Gore agree that America’s War on Drugs should also extend beyond our borders, into Colombia. Al Gore wants to protect the value of his Occidental Petroleum stock; George W Bush wants to maintain America’s image as a "great power."

George W Bush and Al Gore both support continued American participation in NATO, the United Nations and the other intergovernmental organizations. Bush and Gore are committed to America as a Great Power in an open-ended manner, that makes it impossible to predict just where they will decide to use deadly force in the pursuit of world order – or in pursuit of the New World Order.

A Great Country – Or a Great Power

George W Bush and Al Gore mistake power for greatness. America is a great country, made great by its freedom, tolerance, and the productivity of our people. The Bush/Gore version of greatness is power – the power to kill people and destroy property and, they think, the power to make other countries act as the U.S. government wants them to act.

The US government has shown that it has a great power to kill, but much less power to solve the world’s problems. The US/NATO bombing of Yugoslavia killed more Kosovar Albanians than the Yugoslav government. Saddam Hussein continues in power in Iraq, oppressing the people he governs, years after George Herbert Walker Bush was retired from office.

Since the end of World War II, literally millions of people have died as a result of action by the US military – in Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq, Yugoslavia, and other countries. It would be hard to prove that the result of these military actions has been an increased measure of freedom or prosperity for those who survived. Nor can it be shown that Vietnam, Iraq or Yugoslavia posed a military threat to the people of the United States.

The US government’s policy of international intervention has also victimized the American people. Young men have been drafted to fight in unconstitutional wars. The costs of the military establishment have imposed a tax burden on American workers and businesses. Foreign policy considerations have inspired anti-terrorist laws that limit the freedom of every American.

America is a great country to the degree that it is a free country. America cannot be a great country and also a great power.

End the Income Tax: Bring the Troops Home

A new antiwar movement has emerged in response to George Bush’s Gulf War and the Clinton/Gore attack on Yugoslavia. Libertarians are a key element of the new antiwar movement, in permanent opposition to domestic statism and international intervention.

The Libertarian Party was founded in 1972, and made opposition to the Vietnam War a campaign issue. Since then, Libertarians have opposed the Gulf War and the bombing of Yugoslavia. Libertarians would end the New World Order, and restore America’s constitutional Republic. The Libertarian Party calls for an end to American involvement in the United Nations, NATO and other international military alliances. Libertarians applaud efforts by Rep. Tom Campbell and Rep. Ron Paul to limit the President’s power to undertake military action without the approval of Congress.

The Libertarian Party offers a chance to vote against statism and militarism. A vote for Harry Browne is a vote to bring the troops home, and make America a normal country again. A vote for Harry Browne is a vote to rescue our constitutional Republic from the "great power" America has become.

Harry Browne has focused his campaign on domestic issues, because for most Americans, big government is a threat to their personal freedom and their economic well-being. Browne has campaigned for an end to the income tax, to restore economic liberty and financial privacy to working Americans.

Ending the income tax would cut funding for federal government activities. An end to the income tax will make it impossible to fund international intervention and the bloated military needed for such intervention. The Libertarian campaign slogan could well be: End the Income Tax, Bring the Troops Home.

Congress Is the Key

Vote for Harry Browne to show your opposition to Bipartisan militarism and interventionism. An effective strategy of opposition must center on electing antiwar candidates to Congress. The Libertarian Party is running 255 candidates for US House of Representatives, and in many districts the Libertarian is the only candidate opposed to the warfare state.

Your vote for Harry Browne, and for a Libertarian candidate for Congress, is a clear message that you reject statism, militarism and the Bipartisan war machine. It is not a wasted vote. Every innocent killed by American bombs – in Iraq, in Yugoslavia, in Columbia – is a wasted human life. Let’s end the tragic waste. Vote Libertarian, for peace, on November 7.

Gene Berkman is owner of Renaissance Bookservice, and founder of Libertarians for Tom Campbell for U.S. Senate.