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Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2016/National security
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2016 Presidential Election Gary Johnson 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee Running mate: Bill Weld |
Libertarian National Convention • Polls • Debates • Presidential election by state |
Domestic affairs • Economic affairs and government regulations • Foreign affairs and national security • |
Hillary Clinton (D) • Jill Stein (G) • Donald Trump (R) • Vice presidential candidates |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
Read what Gary Johnson and the 2016 Libertarian Platform said about national security.
Johnson on national security
- In an interview on Fox Business on September 19, 2016, Johnson said he would close the Department of Homeland Security. “I think it’s just another layer of bureaucracy. It’s just spending more money than we have to spend. Look, we should always be looking for ways to make government more efficient. Why is it that government makes the perfect choices and business doesn’t? Well, business doesn’t and they admit it. … It was the merging of 22 separate agencies. I just think it’s corporate reorg gone bad. I would just devolve those agencies back to where they came from in the first place. I think we can all recognize the FBI has been around a long time. They have a great reputation. Going forward, this would be FBI-driven.”[2]
- Gary Johnson discussed withdrawing from Afghanistan in an interview with The Los Angeles Times published on August 1, 2016. Johnson said, “Let's get out of Afghanistan now. I supported going into Afghanistan at the beginning. That was going after Al Qaeda, I think that we accomplished those goals after about seven months. We could have … after seven months, we didn't find Osama Bin Laden. But we could have said we're getting out, we've knocked out Al Qaeda, and we're going to come back in if we see that Osama Bin Laden raises his head. The consequences of getting out of Afghanistan tomorrow you could say are gonna be horrible. Well, we could mitigate the horrible circumstances [of] getting out by saying if your life's in danger because you've aligned yourself with the U.S. -- I imagine that might affect a lot of individuals -- we could offer them sanctuary in the U.S. and I don't think that's unprecedented.”[3]
- Johnson released a statement regarding the terrorist attack at an airport in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 28, 2016, that left at least 36 people dead and injured 147 people. He said, "My thoughts are with the victims of the horrific and cowardly attack in #istanbul, & with our ally Turkey. Violent extremism is pure evil."[4]
- During an interview with The Texas Tribune on April 12, 2016, Johnson discussed how he would secure the border to prevent criminals from entering the United States. He said the crime “has to do with drugs. The U.S. is on the verge of having the whole country legalize marijuana. I think California is going to vote to legalize marijuana in November, and then 20 state legislatures will legalize it virtually overnight. This is going to lead to the end of prohibition. This is going to lead to a tremendous reduction in border violence.”[5]
- In a statement released on November 19, 2015, Johnson said that Sharia ideology should be recognized as antithetical to American values. He said, "It is time that we have an open, honest dialogue about the politics of Sharia law. It is time that we face the reality that, while Islam is a faith that must be granted the same freedoms of religion as all others, Sharia is a political ideology that cannot coexist with the constitutional and basic human rights on which the United States is founded. We must face the fact that ISIS is a murderous, violent movement driven by Sharia ideology, not by the religion of Islam. We need not and should not be Islamophobic, but all who are free and wish to be free should be Shariaphobic."[6]
- In an interview with Reason in November 2015, Johnson criticized drone strikes. He said, "When it comes to drones, I think it makes a bad situation even worse. We end up killing innocents and fueling hatred as opposed to containing it. It just hasn't worked." He also briefly discussed the Syrian refugee crisis, saying, "We need to take our share, and I'm not sure what that share should be. I'd like to come up with a formula based on our coalition partners. I wouldn't say zero, but I don't know if 65,000 puts us in the category of 'our fair share.'"[6]
- In August 2013, Johnson opposed military intervention in Syria because there was "no clear" American interest in the conflict there. He posted this statement to Facebook: “No one disagrees that the use of chemical weapons in Syria is despicable, and the results tragic. However, those facts alone do not make going to war either justified or even a good idea. And while the Administration can parse words all day long, launching missiles or dropping bombs constitutes going to war. There is no clear U.S. interest in what is, in reality, a civil war on the other side of the globe. Likewise, there is nothing to indicate at this time that intervening in that civil war will benefit anyone -- either here in America or in Syria. The consequences of our military actions in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan should be a lesson to President Obama and others who appear determined to act without any meaningful strategic or national defense justification.”[7]
- During a Republican presidential primary debate in September 2011, Johnson said he believed that "the biggest threat to our national security is the fact that we're bankrupt." He continued, "I am promising to submit a balanced budget to Congress in the year 2013, and included in that is a 43 percent reduction in military spending. I think it's crazy that we have foreign aid to countries when we're borrowing 43 cents out of every dollar to do that. Military alliances are really key to other countries taking up the slack."[8]
- On May 27, 2011, Johnson said that the U.S. should no longer be in Afghanistan during an interview on FOX News. "Well, initially, Afghanistan was totally warranted. We were attacked. We attacked back. That's what our military is for. We should remain vigilant to the terrorist threat. But after being in Afghanistan for six months I think we effectively wiped out al Qaeda. And here it is, we are there 10 years later. We're building roads, schools, bridges, highways and hospitals and borrowing 43 cents out of every dollar to do that," Johnson said.[9]
- Johnson wrote an op-ed in The Daily Caller on March 23, 2011, to condemn U.S. military intervention in Libya to depose Muammar Gaddafi. Johnson argued that although the "world would be better off without" Gaddafi, the U.S. should not intervene because of the potential human and financial costs. "At the end of the day, what is happening in Libya is a civil war against a clearly bad leader. The world is full of clearly bad and evil leaders, and millions of people being victimized by them. What makes Libya special? Simply enforcing a no-fly zone will cost American taxpayers as much as $300 million a week, and that doesn’t include all those Tomahawk missiles and B-2 round trips. More importantly, those are American crews risking their lives. If there is some compelling reason to be doing what we are doing, tell us what it is. If, on the other hand, we are once again playing cop to the world, we can’t afford it," Johnson wrote.[10]
| The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform on national security | ||||||
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Reason.com, "Gary Johnson To Announce He's Running for President Today," January 6, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Gary Johnson: I’d close Dept. of Homeland Security," September 19, 2016
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "Editorial Possible presidential spoiler Gary Johnson speaks to The Times editorial board about siphoning votes from Hillary Clinton," August 1, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Gov. Gary Johnson," June 28, 2016
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Libertarian Eyes a Third-Party Presidential Chance," April 12, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Reason.com, "Gary Johnson Talks ISIS, Refugees, Black Lives Matter and Marijuana Leglization," November 19, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Gary Johnson," August 13, 2013
- ↑ International Business Times, "Gary Johnson 2012: Who Is He, and What Is His Platform?" September 23, 2011
- ↑ Fox News, "'Hannity' Primary: Gary Johnson," May 27, 2011
- ↑ The Daily Caller, "Here We Go Again," March 23, 2011
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Libertarian Party, "The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform," accessed August 24, 2016
