Foreign Policy

FOREIGN POLICY

TERRORISM
America is engaged in an undeclared war with an ill-defined enemy [terrorism], a war which threatens to be never ending, and which is being used to vastly expand government power, particularly that of the executive branch, at the expense of the individual liberties of the American people.

The "war on terrorism" is serving as an excuse for the government to spend beyond its income, expand the Federal bureaucracy, and socialize the nation through taxpayer bailouts of the airlines, subsidies to the giant insurance corporations, and other federal programs.

The American Independent Party is unalterably opposed to the criminal acts of terrorists, and their organizations, as well as the governments which condone them. Individuals responsible for acts of terrorism must be punished for their crimes, including the infliction of capital punishment where appropriate. In responding to terrorism, however, the United States must:

Act within the constitutional mandates which limit the power of government, not annul the Constitution, or abridge the rights of American citizens;

Avoid acts of retaliation abroad which destroy innocent human lives, creating enmity toward the United States and its people; and

In accord with the views of our Founding Fathers, disengage this nation from the international entanglements which generate foreign hatred of the United States, and are used as the excuse for terrorist attacks on America and its people. The "War on terrorism" is not a proper excuse for perpetual U.S. occupation of foreign lands, military assaults on countries which have not injured us, or perpetual commitment of taxpayer dollars to finance foreign governments.

NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
The United States is properly a free and sovereign republic which should strive to live in peace with all nations, without interfering in their internal affairs, and without permitting their interference in ours. We are, therefore, unalterably opposed to entangling alliances—via treaties, or any other form of commitment—which compromise our national sovereignty, or commit us to intervention in foreign wars.

To this end, we shall:
steadfastly oppose American participation in any form of world government organization, including any world court under United Nations auspices;

call upon the President, and Congress, to terminate United States membership in the corrupt United Nations, and its subsidiary organizations, and terminate U.S. participation in all so-called U.N. peace keeping operations;
bar the United Nations, and its subsidiaries, from further operation, including raising of funds, on United States territory; and propose that the Constitution be amended to prohibit the United States government from entering any treaty, or other agreement, which makes any commitment of American military forces or tax money, compromises the sovereignty of the United States, or accomplishes a purpose properly the subject of domestic law. All treaties must be subordinate to the Constitution, since the Constitution is the only act which empowers and limits the federal government.

American service men and women must serve only under American commanders, not those of the United Nations or foreign countries.

WORLD GOVERNMENT BY INDIRECT ACTION
Just as we are opposed to world government by direct action, so we are opposed to world government by indirect action by bestowal of statehood on remote insular territories. The present American territories should, upon qualification, be granted commonwealth status or independence—not statehood.

PACTS AND AGREEMENTS
Since World War II, the United States has increasingly played the undesirable role of an international policeman. Through our involvements abroad, our country is being changed from a republic to a world empire in which our freedoms are being sacrificed on an altar of international involvement. The United States is now committed, by treaty, to defend foreign nations in all parts of the world, and, by agreements other than treaties, to defend more. Therefore, we call upon the President, and Congress, to immediately commence a systematic withdrawal from these treaties and agreements, each of which holds the potential to plunge America into war in some far-flung corner of the earth.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL, UNDECLARED WARS
Since World War II, the United States has been involved in tragic, unconstitutional, undeclared wars which cost our country the lives of many thousands of young Americans. These wars were the direct and foreseeable result of the bi-partisan interventionist policy of both Democrat and Republican administrations.

The American Independent Party is opposed to the continuation of the same interventionist policy, with that policy's capacity to involve our country in repeated wars.

We demand that:
never again shall United States troops be employed on any foreign field of battle without a declaration of war by Congress, as required by the United States Constitution;

Congress refuse to fund unconstitutional, undeclared wars pursuant to presidential whim or international obligations under which American sovereignty has been transferred to multi-national agencies;

the War Powers Act be further strengthened to preclude American involvement in undeclared wars; and that
such other statutes be enacted as may be required to achieve these objectives.

Any war legally declared by the United States should be fought to win.

FOREIGN INVOLVEMENTS
The American Independent Party has consistently opposed American involvement in conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central and South America. The United States has no interest in these areas which would justify the sacrifice of our sons and daughters on foreign battlefields—nor is our country properly cast as a merchant of death in international arms races.

We propose that the United States:
repudiate any commitment, express or implied, to send U.S. troops to participate in foreign conflicts, whether unilaterally, under NATO auspices, or as a part of the United Nations "peace-keeping" operations; and
cease financing, or arming of belligerents in the world's troubled areas.

We support the principle of the Monroe Doctrine, which expresses U.S. opposition to European adventurism in the Western Hemisphere.

We call upon the Congress to immediately terminate American military presence in all foreign countries where such U.S. presence constitutes an invitation for this nation to become involved in, or further participate in, foreign wars.
We are opposed to the negotiation or ratification of any treaty which would deprive United States citizens of their rights under the United States Constitution, and pledge to rescind all treaties that conflict with the Constitution.

RELATIONS WITH COMMUNIST NATIONS
The United States should provide moral encouragement to the people of captive nations whose homelands are still oppressed by Communist tyranny. We specifically urge the United States to reiterate its friendship for Nationalist China, while reaffirming that the United States has no duty to go to war to defend Taiwan or any other foreign nation. We are opposed to any recognition of the Castro Communist government in Cuba.

We pledge the repudiation of any agreement to which the United States is a party which approves the Communist enslavement of people. The taxpayers of the United States have no duty to finance, aid, or subsidize the republics which comprised the former Soviet Union.

The American Independent Party notes the growing military activities and aggressiveness of the People's Republic of China (Communist China). The United States Government should prohibit all trade with Communist China which could expand China's war-making capacity, and forbid any activity by China on American soil which jeopardizes American security. American firms which violate U.S. security regulations or export controls should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

There is substantial evidence that the Government of Communist China, as well as other Asian foreign enterprises and individuals, have attempted, contrary to our laws, to influence presidential and congressional elections in the United States. All persons involved in such activities should be prosecuted, and all U.S. officials knowingly participating in such activities should be promptly removed from office.

The American Independent Party opposes all U.S. Government/State Department support for the African National Congress government of South Africa, and the tyranical regime in Zimbabwe.

FOREIGN AID
Since World War II, the United States has engaged in the greatest international giveaway program ever conceived by man, and is now spending billions of dollars each year to aid foreign nations. There is no constitutional basis for foreign aid. These expenditures have won us no friends, and constitute a major drain on the resources of our taxpayers. Therefore, we demand that:
no further funds be appropriated for any kind of foreign aid program;

United States participation in international lending institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, be ended;

the Export-Import Bank be abolished;

all government subsidies, tax preferences, and investment guarantees to encourage U.S. businesses to invest in foreign lands be immediately terminated; and

all debts owed to the United States by foreign countries, or foreign entities, be collected.

TARIFFS AND TRADE
Tariffs are not only a source of revenue but, wisely administered, an aid to preservation of the national economy. America's Founding Fathers favored a protective tariff, but since the adoption of the 1934 Trade Agreements Act, the United States Government has engaged in a selective free trade policy which has destroyed or endangered important segments of our domestic agriculture and industry, and has jeopardized the wages of our working men and women, and totally destroyed jobs for many. This free trade policy is being used to foster socialism in America through welfare and subsidy programs.

We urge that:
Congress take all necessary action to protect American workers, farmers, and businesses threatened by slave-wage foreign competition, and by imports subsidized by foreign governments;

the United States cease participation in international tariff-cutting organizations such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA);

the United States Government establish a firm policy that U.S. businesses investing abroad do so at their own risk, and that there is no obligation by our government to protect those investments with the lives of our sons, or the taxes of our citizens; and that

Congress resume its constitutional power over tariffs, utilizing a Tariff Commission responsible to Congress to set specific tariff rates on a flexible basis, with all such rates representing the difference in production costs here and abroad, thus protecting American labor, agriculture, and industry from unfair foreign competition. In computing costs of production, the cost to business of environmental laws and regulations shall be included. Domestic and hemispheric self-sufficiency must also be encouraged to assure the United States an adequate supply of critical materials and strategic commodities in time of war. To the extent that these objectives cannot be achieved by tariffs, we support the imposition of necessary import quotas or other limitations.

We strongly oppose the illegal and unconstitutional fast track procedure (now called "Trade Promotion Authority") under which NAFTA was considered by Congress, and which has now been expanded to include nations in Latin America, and is proposed by the administration to be used elsewhere.

In the name of free trade, multi-national corporations have been given tax breaks by the U.S. Government which are not available to American businesses, and the money extracted from U.S. taxpayers has been used by the Government to subsidize exports and encourage businesses to move abroad. Such improprieties must cease.

In setting tariffs on foreign goods, the Tariff Commission should consider foreign trade practices which have an adverse impact on the balance of payments of the United States. These practices include quotas and unfair inspection rules imposed on products imported from the United States, and foreign government subsidies of exports to the United States.

We support restoration of America's place as a major sea power with a far-ranging merchant fleet. We favor modernization and enlargement of our existing merchant fleet.

FISHING RIGHTS AND OTHER SEA RESOURCES
The American Independent Party supports United States territorial sovereignty over fishing rights and sea bed resources to the 200-mile limit, and calls for strengthening the U.S. Coast Guard to the extent needed for adequate control and protection of this area.

We oppose all "favored nation" or "sweetheart" agreements which would permit foreign fishing, detrimental to our own fishing industry, within the 200-mile limit.

Since the sea beds contain the world's greatest wealth in the form of food and minerals, and the waters of the ocean have always been open to all peoples of the earth, the American Independent Party believes the oceans should be kept free beyond the 200-mile limit, and not at any time be put under control of the United Nations.

IMMIGRATION
Liberalization of American immigration laws is upsetting the labor balance in our country, and having an adverse effect on our economy, and exposing our people to terrorist threats. The mass importation of people with low standards of living threatens the wage structure of American workers, and frequently, the political subversion of our American institutions. Immigration now exceeds the number of new jobs which the American economy has been able to produce.

Therefore we recommend that:
A moratorium be placed on all immigration to the United States, except in individual hardship cases or other individual special circumstances, until the laws can be revised to better protect American workers and taxpayers;

United States immigration laws be re-written to limit immigration to modest quotas of immigrants. We oppose the use of immigration laws as a device to effect major alteration of the cultural composition of the nation.

the United States discontinue all special immigration programs such as that under which refugees from various nations are being admitted to swell our welfare rolls;

every immigrant be carefully screened to guarantee the loyalty to the United States of all persons entering this country; and careful enforcement of the naturalization laws be implemented to assure that only fully qualified persons be granted citizenship;

each immigrant admitted to the United States have a sponsor who is legally, morally and financially obligated to bear full responsibility for the immigrant's economic independence, so that the burden will not be unfairly shifted to other taxpayers; and that laws be enacted and enforced to deport illegal aliens, withhold from them all unemployment, educational, welfare, and other governmental benefits, and penalize employers knowingly hiring them. We urge that all public employees, in whatever capacity, be required to cooperate and assist in the enforcement of the immigration laws.
We support the assignment of military personnel to our borders as needed to protect and preserve our country from immigrant invasion.

We oppose amnesty for illegal aliens, any new or liberalized "Guest Workers" program, and/or the extension of any law permitting the importation of foreign workers in the high tech or other industries.

We support amendment of the Constitution to preclude automatic citizenship status to children born in the United States of illegal immigrant parents.

Immigrants to the United States must live under and obey our laws, just as do our citizens. Immigrants are not entitled to raise a so-called "cultural defense" when prosecuted for violation of our criminal statutes.

The American Independent Party is opposed to the employment of aliens by tax-supported agencies, believing that tax-funded employment should be reserved for American citizens in all cases where there is a qualified citizen to fill the job.

STATE DEPARTMENT
The State Department, for more than 50 years, has been actively engaged in the promotion of internationalism contrary to the best interests of the United States, and now acts as a consistent tool of international banking interests and multi-national corporations.
Therefore, we recommend that:
all necessary legislative and administrative action be taken to assure that every person serving in the State Department adheres to the objectives set forth in this platform; and that all persons found to be security risks be summarily discharged;

expenditures by the Department be reduced sufficiently to limit its activities to the purposes set forth in this platform;
all nonconforming functions, such as the Peace Corps and the U.S. Information Agency, be eliminated; and that
our Government be prohibited from conducting secret negotiations, or entering into secret treaties or agreements in any way binding on the United States.

In addition, we recognize the Council on Foreign Relations and the Tri-Lateral Commission as principal organizations influencing our State Department and the foreign policy of the United States in the drive to make America a part of a one-world socialist government. We pledge full exposure of this conspiratorial apparatus.

INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
Just as the United States should oppose acts of terrorism by others, so this country should not engage in acts of terrorism. The Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) and other U.S. intelligence agencies should not be employed to seek the overthrow of foreign governments, influence foreign elections, or commit or encourage acts of violence against nations or individuals.

PANAMA CANAL
The sovereign right of the United States to the United States Territory of the Canal Zone has been jeopardized by the illegal treaties entered into between the United States and Panama. Inasmuch as the United States bought both the sovereignty and the grant ownership of the ten-mile-wide Canal Zone, we propose that the Government of the United States maintain and protect its sovereign right and exclusive jurisdiction of the Canal Zone in perpetuity, and repudiate the treaties with Panama by which the ownership of the canal was surrendered to Panama.

DEFENSE POLICIES
The defense of the United States is a primary responsibility of government. The American Independent Party supports all necessary measures to provide full protection of the United States from any foreign threat, including full and just compensation to American servicemen and women.

We recognize that it is impossible to restore fiscal responsibility to government without a complete reappraisal of defense expenditures. We believe such expenditures can be reduced and still maintain an independent defense capability fully sufficient to protect the United States.

We note that much of the defense budget is hidden foreign aid, and insist that so-called defense programs not directly related to the protection of our nation be eliminated; that every item of expenditure be carefully reviewed to eliminate foreign aid, waste, fraud, theft, inefficiency, and excess profits from all defense contracts and military expenditures.
We oppose imposition of the draft, the registration law, and compulsory military training, but support a well-trained and highly-organized volunteer state home militia. We support voluntary R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officer Training Corps) military training in our schools, colleges and universities. We oppose any and all attempts to place women in combat roles in the military. We concur with the conclusion of most military authorities that admitted or practicing homosexuals have no place in the armed forces of the United States.

Since World War II, the domestic prosperity of the United States has been built upon a hot and cold-war economy. In this context, war has become an integral part of the domestic economic policy of both Democrat and Republican administrations.

Therefore, we urge that:
the United States Government take immediate steps to encourage the reorientation of the economy to provide domestic prosperity without the artificial and inflationary stimulus of war and threats of war;

in any war in which our country engages, sufficient taxes be imposed to take the profit out of war, and to equalize the sacrifices of those at home with those called upon to fight on the battlefield abroad;

a Neutrality Act be adopted to eliminate the conditions designed to involve the United States in foreign wars. Such Act should include prohibition of arms sales to belligerents, private loans by American banking interests to warring powers, and sales by foreign governments of their bonds in the United States;

individuals and organizations who advocate American involvement in foreign conflicts be required to register as agents of the country whose interest they represent; and that

all persons actively aiding any foreign enemy, or engaging in espionage or acts of terrorism against the United States be tried for treason against the United States.

the funding of foreign military organizations which support dictatorships be eliminated.

We believe that wars would be deterred if they were required to be financed by current taxes, rather than passing the cost on to future generations through borrowing. In any future war, a pay-as-you go policy should be implemented.
We further assert that it is the duty of the Department of Defense to provide "homeland security" to the people of the United States. The nation does not need a new, multi-billion department of homeland security to accomplish this task.

DISARMAMENT
The principle of universal disarmament is a desirable goal. It can be achieved, however, only if all nations conform equally to disarmament agreements.

We recommend that:
no disarmament treaties be adopted in the absence of full evidence of good faith by all concerned powers, including the right of inspection and true equality of arms reductions;

no disarmament treaty be adopted involving the express or implied obligation of the United States to go to war to enforce arms limitations, or to protect foreign nations jeopardized by powers violating disarmament agreements; and that no disarmament treaty be adopted granting to the United Nations the power to establish an international police force to enforce the provisions of such treaty.

VETERANS
The American Independent Party appreciates the contributions of our servicemen and veterans to the preservation of American freedom. We shall continue to recognize their contributions to the national welfare by providing equitable pay and benefits to our men and women on active duty, and liberal health, education, farm and home loans, and other benefits to veterans.

We shall vigorously resist the attempt by any government agency to nullify or reduce earned benefits to veterans and their survivors, including, but not limited to, compensation, education, and health care.

We believe that abundant evidence exists that military and civilian personnel were, by conscious decision of government officials, abandoned as prisoners of war in World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. We demand a full investigation of these cases, and a full accounting for, and return of all Americans still held captive in foreign lands.