Foreign Policy In Focus: Assessing the Republican Party Platform

Assessing the Republican Party Platform

Stephen Zunes | September 11, 2008

Editor: John Feffer
Foreign Policy In Focus
www.fpif.org

While the foreign policy segments of the Democratic Party platform as outlined in my most recent article is disappointing in many respects, the Republican Party platform is downright scary.

Among the more frightening aspects of the platform is its unconstitutional assertion that the president has sole prerogative to make decisions on matters of war, rejecting any role for Congressional "interference" in foreign policy matters. This appears to be a pre-emptive assertion by the Republican Party that, in the event of a John McCain win in November, they would reject any attempt by the likely Democratic-controlled Congress to impose any checks and balances to prevent a possible war on Iran or other dangerous executive initiatives.

The Republican platform calls for the development and deployment of both national and theater missile-defense systems. These incredibly expensive weapons systems, which are unlikely to work in any case, violate arms-control agreements signed and ratified under the Nixon administration.

Also disturbing is the platform's classification of immigration as a national security issue, which has serious ramifications in terms of the nature of legislation and enforcement. It also claims that warrantless wiretapping of American citizens is "vital" to America's national security.

And, despite the Clinton administration's increases in the already bloated military budget after the end of the Cold War, the Republican platform insists that "national defense was neglected and under-funded by the Clinton Administration." The platform then calls for a significant increase in the size of the American armed forces, even though the United States – at barely 4% of the world's population – already accounts for over one-half of the world's military spending.

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http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5529