TheFLY

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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
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For release: October 15, 2001
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For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: [email protected]
=============================== Online survey: LP members support
military strikes against terrorists WASHINGTON, DC --Libertarian Party members and supporters believe the
U.S. government "has an obligation to bring the terrorists who are
responsible for the September 11 attacks to justice," and strongly
support military strikes against Osama bin Laden and his terrorist
network, according to a new survey. However, a strong majority agree that Congress should formally declare
war before attacking any other nation, and most agree that a non-
interventionist foreign policy is still the best defense against the
threat of terrorism. And Libertarians retain their traditional wariness about infringements
on civil liberties, with an overwhelming majority opposing all or most
of the search and surveillance provisions contained in proposed "anti-
terrorist" legislation. These are some of the results from an online poll of Libertarian Party
members and subscribers to the party's "LP.announce" e-mail list, taken
October 9-12. More than 5,000 people participated in the unscientific poll, with
83.8% of them identifying themselves as Libertarian Party members or LP
News subscribers. Another 11.3% said they were not LP members, and 4.8%
did not furnish any specific partisan affiliation. It was the first major poll of LP members taken since September 11,
when terrorists commandeered four airliners and crashed three of them
into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. More than 5,000 Americans
were killed in the attacks, which have been linked to Osama bin Laden
and his al-Qa'eda terrorist network. In retaliation, the United States began a bomb and missile assault on
suspected terrorist facilities in Afghanistan on October 7. The U.S.
also bombarded Afghanistan's Taliban government, which has been accused
of safeguarding and supporting bin Laden. Despite Libertarians' long-standing aversion to foreign military
intervention, 94.8% of survey respondents said they agree the U.S.
government "has an obligation to bring the terrorists who are
responsible for the September 11 attacks to justice." Of that number, 84.0% strongly agree, and 10.8% somewhat agree. Only
2.7% somewhat or strongly disagree, while 2.5% didn't answer or were
undecided. LP National Director Steve Dasbach said the results seem to indicate
that Libertarians see the September 11 terrorist attacks as an
"initiation of force" against the United States. "Libertarians believe that individuals and nations do not have the
right to initiate force against others, but they tend to agree that the
use of force for self-defense -- against rogue nations, criminals, or
terrorists -- is appropriate," he said. "These poll results seem to indicate that most Libertarians think the
terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC qualified as
initiation of force, and that a strong military response constitutes
legitimate self-defense by our nation." However, Libertarians also firmly believe that a non-interventionist
foreign policy makes terrorist attacks less likely, according to the
poll. In response to the statement: "If the United States had followed a
Libertarian-style policy of foreign non-interventionism over the past
several decades, it is less likely that the September 11 terrorist
attacks on the United States would have occurred," 78.6% agreed. (55.1%
strongly; 23.5% somewhat). Another 13.4% disagreed, while 10.0% were
undecided or gave no answer. When asked if a Libertarian-style policy of foreign non-interventionism
would make future terrorist attacks less likely, 69.3% agreed, while
21.6% disagreed. While the poll showed that Libertarians overwhelmingly endorse bringing
terrorists to justice, a smaller majority agrees about how to achieve
that goal. * 83.7% support bomb and missile attacks on bin Laden and his terrorist
network. (51.8% strongly; 21.9% somewhat). Another 18% oppose such
attacks. (10.1% strongly; 7.9% somewhat). * 85.8% support American special forces units operating covertly in
Afghanistan to try to capture bin Laden. (64.1% strongly; 21.7%
somewhat). Another 7.8% oppose such a strategy. (4.4% strongly; 3.4%
somewhat). * 65.1% support putting more substantial numbers of American ground
troops in Afghanistan to try to capture bin Laden. (41.5% strongly;
23.6% somewhat). Another 24.3% oppose ground troops. (13.1% strongly;
11.2% somewhat). * 66.4% support American military attacks against Afghanistan's Taliban
government and against Afghan military targets. (46.4% strongly; 22.0%
somewhat). Another 21.4% oppose such attacks. (11.3% strongly; 10.1%
somewhat). * 54.8% support American efforts to topple Afghanistan's Taliban
government and replace it with a less repressive government that
doesn't support terrorism. (33.4% strongly; 21.4% somewhat). Another
30.2% oppose such a plan. (16.7% strongly; 13.5% somewhat). * 52.9% support future U.S. military action against any nation that
supports or endorses terrorism. (28.9% strongly; 23.0% somewhat).
Another 30.5% oppose such an open-ended military policy. (16.0%
strongly; 14.5% somewhat). Fully 17.5% were undecided or gave no
answer. * 46.4% endorse American support for the Northern Alliance or other
groups that are fighting to topple the Taliban government. (20.6%
strongly; 25.8% somewhat). Another 34.2% oppose such a policy. (18.0%
strongly; 16.2% somewhat). Again, a large number -- 19.2% -- were
undecided or gave no answer. Those last three questions indicate that Libertarians are unwilling to
give the U.S. government carte blanche to engage in limitless military
action in the name of fighting terrorism, said Dasbach. "It's obvious that as military options move beyond striking back at
those terrorists directly responsible for the September 11 attacks,
Libertarians grow increasingly uncomfortable," he said. "A significant
number of Libertarians clearly perceive the danger of a War On
Terrorism turning into old-fashioned nation-building missions and
foreign interventionism. "They clearly don't want this anti-bin Laden military effort to turn
into an 'endless war for endless peace.' That's where most of the
respondents draw the line," he said. Poll-takers also strongly support the notion that the United States
should not attack any foreign nation without a declaration of war by
Congress. Fully 68.8% agreed with that statement, while only 18.1%
disagreed. When asked about the political fallout from the September 11 terrorist
attacks -- such as Congressional aid for the airline industry, proposed
self-defense measures, and anti-terrorism legislation -- respondents
overwhelmingly oppose granting new power to government, with some
exceptions. * 90.3% oppose a national ID card to fight terrorism, while 5.0%
support the proposal. * 87.8% oppose allowing law enforcement to use the Carnivore e-mail
surveillance system. Only 4.9% support it. * 78.6% oppose new laws that would make it easier for law enforcement
to get wiretap warrants, while 12.0% support such laws. * 65.6% oppose allowing the U.S. Attorney General to detain legal
immigrants for up to seven days before filing criminal charges. Another
22.6% support such a plan. * 91.8% oppose restricting the right of Americans to use strong
encryption programs that might also be used by terrorists, while 2.5%
support the idea. * 76.7% oppose the $15 billion federal bail-out of the airline
industry, while 14.7% support it. * 61.7% oppose the creation of a new Office of Homeland Security.
Another 23.7% support the agency. * 47.8% oppose any additional restrictions on immigration into the
United States, while 37.8% support such restrictions. * 84.8% support allowing commercial pilots to carry guns while flying.
Only 9.0% oppose the idea. * 54.6% support allowing passengers to carry weapons while flying.
Another 33.8% oppose the idea. The responses to those questions seem to indicate that Libertarians
are, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, unwilling to give up "a little
freedom to try to gain a little security," said Dasbach. "In most cases, by substantial majorities, poll-takers clearly refused
to give up more civil liberties so the government could fight the War
On Terrorism," he said. "However, in areas like immigration control and
detention of legal immigrants, a significant minority were apparently
willing to consider proposals they thought might prevent future
terrorist attacks." In other poll questions: * 72.5% agree there is sufficient credible evidence that Osama bin
Laden and his terrorist network are responsible for the September 11
terrorist attacks, while 5.7% disagree. Another 21.8% were undecided or
gave no answer. * 77.4% support putting an American bounty on the head of bin Laden and
his terrorist allies. Another 12.0% disagree with that proposal, while
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The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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ElvisManson

Correct me if I'm wrong but Libertarians and Liberals are a whole lot different.



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boneprone

correct.

rhizome

Indeed.

Liberal = pathetic treehugger
Libertarian = Anarchist who still believes in maintaing a police force and a military to protect the safety of the wealthy once minimum wage, equal protection and all that liberal shit is done away with.

TheFLY

weak attempt at funny topic title

jimmyf

From what I've seen there are alot of
Liberals on this board!

Some very Liberal.

There's no reason to declare war to kill.
Just go kill'm.
Jim

[This message has been edited by jimmyf (edited 10-15-2001).]