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Harry Browne who speaks for the Libertarian Party.

Actually, Mr. Browne is only the party's most recent presidential candidate but he does not speak officially for the party. Here is an extract from an official statement offered by the actual chairman of the LP, Mr. James W. Lark, earlier today:

The Libertarian Party condemns the vicious and barbaric attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. There is no excuse for such savage acts. No legitimate political or religious ideology can justify the murder of thousands of innocent people. These actions, and the revulsion they cause to all decent people around the world, demonstrate in the starkest way possible that the initiation of force is never an appropriate way to settle political or social differences. The result of such violence is more hatred, more grieving relatives and friends, more tombstones -- and, ultimately, more violence. Libertarians unequivocally reject the initiation of force as a solution to the disagreements between people and between governments.

The Libertarian Party calls for justice to be meted out to the terrorists responsible for the attacks. However, we encourage the United States government to be sure that any response is appropriate and measured. Action should not be taken that will cause innocent people in other countries to be killed because of the actions of terrorists. Such a response would only continue the cycle of violence and revenge. (Emphases added. - BD)

You note that in the foregoing there is nothing that could be taken to mean we have no right to respond appropriately to Tuesday morning's act of war. Remember: the party stands officially against the initiation of force, and one would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to know who initiated the force here - and it sure as hell was not American Airlines, either. (I would quibble with calling it "terrorist" attacks - it was an act of war, in plain language.) And "appropriate and measured" does not equate to "little or nothing," after all; we have been the victims of an obscene initiation of force and are entitled to respond appropriately - but "appropriate" does not mean mere wanton assault against Afghanistan; it does mean (it ought to mean) pronounced and profound military attack against Afghanistan's military capacity, that its ability to wage war of any sort against anyone is crippled even more profoundly. That is the view from this libertarian (lower case; I am registered to the LP but have had doubts about the party itself over a few months, and this is neither the time nor place to enunciate them).

But assuming Harry Browne speaks officially for the Libertarian Party is a mistake at least as profound as that mistake (which I remember only too well and too furiously leveled at the party in question) of assuming that anything out of Richard Nixon's mouth post-Watergate was official Republican comment; or, anything out of Jimmy Carter's mouth was official Democratic comment. Let Mr. Browne rant his bloody head off. But he is only a former candidate. He holds, to my knowledge, no official LP position and cannot be deemed an official LP spokesman.