Bob Barr on the Military

From the Barr 2008 Presidential Campaign:

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have been trading charges over whether talking to Iran would be appeasement, notes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. But “the issue is not talking, but talking from a position of strength and not expecting too much in return,” he says. Even Sen. McCain, in his recent speech on nuclear disarmament, called for negotiations with Russia, despite that government’s turn to authoritarianism. “By his own reasoning, shouldn’t that be considered appeasement,” asked Barr.

The fundamental challenge facing American foreign policy is not whether the U.S. talks to repressive regimes. The question, insists Barr, “is whether America will adopt a more restrained foreign policy, focused on protecting the core interests of the United States and the American people.”

“What reason is there to defend Europe, which has a larger population and economy than America,” he asked. “There is no need for an American military garrison in Japan, which enjoys the world’s second biggest economy, six decades after the end of World War II.” And certainly it is “not the American purpose to occupy failed states, take sides in conflicts among rival religious factions, and attempt to impose liberal democracy on other societies,” he added.

The American people deserve a far-reaching debate over foreign policy, said Barr. “For too long the U.S. has been coddling what amount to international welfare queens while playing global nanny to the Third World. We must develop a defense policy that defends America instead of everyone else.”

Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, where he served as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. Prior to his congressional career, Barr was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and also served as an official with the CIA.

Since leaving Congress, Barr has been practicing law and actively advocating American citizens’ right to privacy and other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Along with this, Bob is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom