Conservatives' core duty on WMD

CS Monitor ^ | July 08, 2003 edition | Doug Bandow

[JohnGalt]

Cato is heavily financed by neoconservatives. Can you paint a picture of neoconservatives for me and compare it to your view of the 'Libertarian'?

[ex-snook]

Clinton bombed Aspirin factory on false intelligence

Bush did not swallow the 'intelligence' hook, line, and sinker. He was a willing participant just like Clinton.

another permutation. Currently, according to White House terrorism czar Richard Clarke, the U.S. is "sure" that the Iraqis were the sinister force behind Al Shifa, producing what the Post characterized as "powdered VX-like substance at the plant that, when mixed with bleach and water, would have become fully active nerve gas." This, says Professor Tullius, strains credulity: "Bleach is often used to detoxify nerve agents," he says. "Using bleach to activate an agent makes no sense." While the Iraqi and Sudanese militaries are known to have collaborated on limited munitions projects, says investigative reporter Frank Smyth, there is nothing linking these endeavors to Al Shifa or Bin Laden. "It looks like the administration acted based on inferences drawn from pieces of intelligence they presumed were connected," he says.

[Pahuanui]

Libertarians have very little in common with conservative Republicans, except an afinity for small gov't.

Ah, I see. So may one understand correctly then that you consider GWB to be a conservative republican?

Their love of drug use and laissez faire attitude toward national security and border control puts them squarely in the Democrat camp. They are positioning themselves to be the Ross Perot of the new millenium.

Quite frankly, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Libertarians have a love of drug use? Kindly elaborate on that utter mischaracterization.

[MEGoody]

"They now advocate autocratic executive rule, largely unconstrained by constitutional procedures or popular opinions."

Sounds like he has conservatives and liberals mixed up.

[Eva]

Legalized drugs is the only issue that the Libertarians in the Northwest care about.

[Protagoras]

You have a distinctly liberal view of free trade. You are opposed to laissez faire and I am not.

Corporate welfare is not free trade. It is subsidies and tax breaks and protective tarrifs. (which you advocate)

Hiring whomever you want and selling products to whomever will buy them at whatever price arrived upon without coersion is free trade. It works better than any other system. Certainly better than your view, which has been a dismal failure (and is immoral) where ever it has been used.

I love debating so called conservatives who love command policies and big government interference in private transactions. It exposes them for what they truly are. In the "big government know best" and Union thug camp.

[huck von finn]

What if the article had substituted "Americans" for "conservatives"? Would the authors then be considered somehow not American?

[Protagoras]

Legalized drugs is the only issue that the Libertarians in the Northwest care about.

Your slanted view exposes you as incredibly ignorant or deliberately obtuse.

[Eva]

All you have to do is listen to them at election time, that's all you hear about.

[Pahuanui]

Legalized drugs is the only issue that the Libertarians in the Northwest care about.

First you stated that they (all L/libertarians) have a love of drug use.

Then, when called on it, suddenly it's legalization, not actual use, and it's only the Libertarians in the Northwest who you've been exposed to.

Care to amend it any further?

[Eva]

No

[leftiesareloonie]

Only god is INCAPABLE of lying, since his very word is truth.

But BUSH? INCAPBLE of lying?

Besides,who would WANT a president that couldn't tell a lie when needed???

[JohnGalt]

The nationalists are deep conflict with the patriots right now.

The patriot believes in their country, right or wrong, thus conceding its possible their country is capable of being wrong.

The nationalist believes their country is always right.

[Protagoras]

You are spinning, using circle reasoning. The Cato Institute presumes to speak for Libertarians.

You are delusional. The Cato Institute does not presume to speak for the Libertarian Party, much less libertarians in general.

Why not go educate yourself instead of saying all these incorrect and crazy things which make you look goofy.

[leftiesareloonie]

Sounds like the ends justifies the means.

Is that what you are saying? Do you really mean you don't care if the president lied or exaggerated or was merely trying to stage-manage us into a war that he had antecedently cared about?

Sounds like you may value Bush more than you value the institutions of democracy. Sort of a soviet-style cult of personality but on the right.

[Pahuanui]

No

Indeed.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

It works better than any other system. Certainly better than your view, which has been a dismal failure (and is immoral) where ever it has been used.

So for the last 200 years our beloved USA was just a third world garbage dump? Free trade with third world countries is recent policy, prior to that we traded with those on economic par with us only, as in Japan and Europe and Canada. That was called "fair trade".

For those that tried to dump their cheap labor products on us they were slapped with tariffs, that policy was in the Republican platform into the seventies. The Founding Fathers supported protectionism, and we became the richest, most powerful nation due to it. To suggest it was a "dismal failure" totally ignores the reality of history.

[Protagoras]

Bandow is abusing his essence.

Your viewpoint is skewed as far as I'm concerned. If he was talking about Clinton you would be cheering. It all depends on whose ox is being gored. (no pun intended)

[dljordan]

I little confused by the logic here. Clinton lied and was bad. Bush lies and is good. A lie is a lie and is a betrayal of the trust we placed in him. Are we to overlook this because he's a Republican? I don't know where to turn for the truth.

[snooker]

The capabiltiy for WMD is further backed up by the finding of a 'clean' chemical production factory being gaurded by the Iraqi Army within a fenced enclosed area. I don't think you need this kind of protection for fertilizer.

Maybe we should backtrack and find out what this 'chemical factory' really was. Sometimes you overlook the obvious.

Remember the UN inspectors didn't even know about it.