Although the Republican Party is dominated by neocons at the national level, there are more voices willing to express their opposition to illegal and unconstitutional wars emerging from the conservative grassroots than ever before.
One voice is Idaho Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin, who became the LG of the Gem State last year after serving for many years in the state house of representatives. She penned an op/ed in the Kootenai Valley Times calling for a non-interventionist foreign policy.
“Today, in the 19th year of an undeclared war, Afghanistan has cost us thousands of lives lost, tens of thousands wounded, and $1 trillion. The broader “war on terror,” including the undeclared war in Iraq, totals $7 trillion,” she wrote.
“Why are we losing trillions of dollars and thousands of lives in foreign conflicts? Because Congress refuses to follow the Constitution and — if these conflicts truly require our involvement — declare war before committing American troops,” she added.
In the op/ed, she quoted founding fathers Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the first U.S. President George Washington to bolster her point that America has strayed drastically from the counsel of the nation’s founders. She explained the dire ramifications that have resulted from rejecting the Constitution over the years.
“230 years after ratifying our Constitution, the U.S. has gone from having no standing army to more military spending than the next seven highest-spending countries combined,” she wrote.
“Attempting to be the world’s police force comes at a staggering cost, compounded year after year. This year’s federal deficit was $1 trillion despite record tax collections. Even if you have no moral issue with policing the world, American taxpayers simply can’t afford it. We’re tired of the death and destruction stretching us to the breaking point, with a record-high national debt of $23 trillion,” she added.
McGeachin provided quotes from President Trump as well as the retired liberty-loving Congressman Ron Paul to further bolster her points in favor of non-interventionism.
“Great nations do not fight endless wars … After two decades of war, the hour has come to at least try for peace,” Trump said during his 2019 State of the Union Address.
“Carelessly entering into conflicts jeopardizes our liberty. It does not protect it. Intervention abroad causes us to neglect our obligations at home. The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people,” Congressman Paul wrote in his book, “Freedom Under Siege.”
McGeachin is supporting “Defend the Guard” legislation that would implore state control over the National Guard to prevent their deployment in undeclared wars abroad.
“As lieutenant governor, I support efforts by Representative Tammy Nichols — backed by former Idaho National Guard Sergeant Dan McKnight and BringOurTroopsHome.US — to enact “Defend the Guard” legislation requiring that Idaho’s Guard personnel shall not be activated for combat duty overseas unless Congress has first declared war,” she wrote.
“It’s time to leave Afghanistan and Iraq and stop engaging in undeclared wars and attempts to police the world. We shouldn’t sacrifice American lives intervening in the conflicts of other nations, and we can’t afford it,” McGeachin concluded. “Congress should do their job, end these undeclared wars and bring our troops home.”
