Adam Kokesh is the Peace Candidate

Late last week, Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani was killed by an American drone attack at Baghdad International Airport. This strike was ordered by President Donald Trump without Congressional approval. Though many of the American people were surprised by this overreach by the Republican President, those in the Freedom Movement and the Libertarian Party have come to expect this sort of aggression from the US government regardless of which party is in power.

Donald Trump ran partly on a non-interventionist foreign policy. Many people who consider themselves Libertarians believed him. Almost from the beginning, the President has shown that his policy would be more of the same. He would continue the destructive policies of both Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Whether it was dropping the largest conventional bomb in history or appointing known Neo-Conservatives like John Bolton or Mike Pompeo to his administration, Trump has certainly shown the world that he has no intention of draining the swamp. Emma Goldman, the famous anarchist, said, “Politicians promise you heaven before election and give you hell after.” The current president of the United States, yet again, continues to prove her right.

The Democrats are no different. After the assassination, the Democratic candidates came out in opposition to the strike. That being said, none of them denounced war itself. Joe Biden said Trump has, “tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.” Elizabeth Warren did not even go that far, saying that Soleimani was “a murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of Americans,” following lockstep the narrative painted by Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders feebly made reference to voting against the Iraq war in 2002, yet neglected to mention that he has always been a reliable vote to fund war. Sanders also voted in favor of H.R. Res. 64 which authorized the use of force in Iraq. Tulsi Gabbard who tries to paint herself as the anti-war candidate has a long track record of talking out both sides of her mouth. She has accepted huge donations of money from the “defense” industry, has openly supported drone strikes like the one used to assassinate Soleimani, and even supported a GOP funding bill that she said, “provides important funds for our men and women serving overseas [and] our military-related jobs in Hawaii.” All of the Democrats proved during the Obama administration that they were not anti-war when they opposed military actions over a decade ago. They were anti-Bush, and now they are anti-Trump.

From its founding, the Libertarian Party has been against military global adventurism. The Libertarian Party platform states, “American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world. Our foreign policy should emphasize defense against attack from abroad and enhance the likelihood of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements. We would end the current U.S. government policy of foreign intervention, including military and economic aid. We recognize the right of all people to resist tyranny and defend themselves and their rights. We condemn the use of force, and especially the use of terrorism, against the innocent, regardless of whether such acts are committed by governments or by political or revolutionary groups.” The majority of its candidates, both now and in the past, have stood strong against war.

The Libertarian Party will nominate its candidate for President of the United States at its National Convention in Austin, Texas at the end of May. Most of the current announced candidates for the nomination have condemned not only this action but the entire idea of war. One candidate stands above the rest, with a consistent record of opposing the violence and murder committed by the state.

Adam Kokesh is the Peace Candidate. From the beginning of his activism, Kokesh has used his drive for freedom to end the practice of state-sponsored mass murder known as war. In 2007, Kokesh joined Iraq Veterans Against the War and helped bring the organization to national prominence as its most visible leader. He first came to national attention for holding up a scorecard during Alberto Gonzales' testimony to Congress regarding the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys, keeping track of how many times Gonzales said, "I don't recall." His photograph appeared in national newspapers and resulted in dozens of TV interviews. He was later prosecuted unlawfully by the Marine Corps (while in the inactive reserves) for staging a street theater protest that included a mock combat patrol, "to bring a small piece of the reality of war home to Washington, DC."

Kokesh was invited to speak at the 2008 Revolution March in DC organized by grassroots Ron Paul supporters and it was his speech that day that put him on the map as a promising representative of the freedom movement. Kokesh co-founded Veterans for Ron Paul and organized a march on the White House where hundreds of veterans turned their backs on Obama to raise awareness about military suicide. He continues this outreach to Veterans and in 2018 at the Libertarian Party National Convention in New Orleans, he and his campaign organized “The March of the Dead Veterans,” to again bring attention to the topic of veteran suicides. Kokesh realizes that war has more victims off the battlefield than it has in combat.

In his book FREEDOM!, Kokesh says this about war: “None of the propaganda around war can disguise its true nature. It is massive organized violence for the purpose of expanding government power. It is the height of statism and is the greatest affront to freedom.”

Those who oppose war have a Peace Candidate. Adam Kokesh is running for the Libertarian Party nomination for President of the United States. It is time, not only to Finally Free America; it is also time to Give Peace a Chance.