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US Party Platforms and Iraq



Below are Iraq-related selections from the Democratic, Green and Republican Green Party platforms.  
Note that the Democratic platform is only available in pdf format and that the excerpt from the 
Democratic platform is transcribed.

Democratic Party Platform:

http://www.democrats.org/pdf/hq/platformreport2000.pdf

"In Iraq, we are committed to working with our international partners to keep Saddam Hussein boxed 
in, and we will work to see him out of power.  Bill Clinton and Al Gore have stood up to Saddam 
Hussein time and time again.  As President, Al Gore will not hesitate to use America's military 
might against Iraq when and where it is necessary." (Section: "Preventing New Physical Threats," 
pg. 46)


Green Party Platform:

http://www.greenparty.org/

"To democratize the making of foreign policy at home and to promote democracy abroad, we call for: 

End the Economic Blockades of Cuba, Iraq, and Yugoslavia"


Republican Party Platform:

http://www.rnc.org/2000/2000platform8aaa

"Perhaps nowhere has the inheritance of Republican governance been squandered so fatefully as with 
respect to Iraq. The anti-Iraq coalition assembled to oppose Saddam Hussein has disintegrated. The 
administration has pretended to support the removal of Saddam Hussein from power, but did nothing 
when Saddam Hussein’s army smashed the democratic opposition in northern Iraq in August 1996. The 
administration also surrendered the diplomatic initiative to Iraq and Iraq’s friends, and failed to 
champion the international inspectors charged with erasing Iraq’s nuclear, biological, chemical, 
and ballistic missile programs. When, in late 1998, the administration decided to take military 
action, it did too little, too late. Because of the administration’s failures there is no 
coalition, no peace, and no effective inspection regime to prevent Saddam’s development of weapons 
of mass destruction.  

A new Republican administration will patiently rebuild an international coalition opposed to Saddam 
Hussein and committed to joint action. We will insist that Iraq comply fully with its disarmament 
commitments. We will maintain the sanctions on the Iraqi regime while seeking to alleviate the 
suffering of innocent Iraqi people. We will react forcefully and unequivocally to any evidence of 
reconstituted Iraqi capabilities for producing weapons of mass destruction. In 1998, Congress 
passed and the president signed the Iraq Liberation Act, the clear purpose of which is to assist 
the opposition to Saddam Hussein. The administration has used an arsenal of dilatory tactics to 
block any serious support to the Iraqi National Congress, an umbrella organization reflecting a 
broad and representative group of Iraqis who wish to free their country from the scourge of Saddam 
Hussein's regime. We support the full implementation of the Iraq Liberation Act, which should be 
regarded as a starting point in a comprehensive plan for the removal of Saddam Hussein and the 
restoration of international inspections in collaboration with his successor. Republicans recognize 
that peace and stability in the Persian Gulf is impossible as long as Saddam Hussein rules Iraq."


http://www.rnc.org/2000/2000platform8

"That is what happened during the twelve years of Republican presidential leadership from 1981 to 
1992. The Cold War ended with the triumph of freedom. The Soviet Empire collapsed, and the USSR 
followed it into history. The proud Atlantic community welcomed a united Germany and new friends in 
Central and Eastern Europe. Iraq tried the law of the jungle and was routed, its aggressive power 
broken. The Arab-Israeli peace process was revived. Alliances and friendships in Asia were robust 
and successful. Mexico joined with the United States in an unprecedented new economic partnership 
as peace and democracy spread through Latin America. Around the globe, the word, the ideals and the 
power of the United States commanded respect. The American presidency showed bright and purposeful."

"In the last eight years the administration has squandered the opportunity granted to the United 
States by the courage and sacrifice of previous generations:..

A generation of American efforts to slow proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has unraveled 
as first India and Pakistan set off their nuclear bombs, then Iraq defied the international 
community. Token air strikes against Iraq could not long mask the collapse of an inspection regime 
that had — until then — at least kept an ambitious, murderous tyrant from acquiring additional 
nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons."

"...the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is another anachronism of obsolete strategic thinking. This 
treaty is not verifiable, not enforceable, and would not enable the United States to ensure the 
reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. It also does not deal with the real dangers of nuclear 
proliferation, which are rogue regimes — such as Iran, Iraq, and North Korea — that seek to hide 
their dangerous weapons programs behind weak international treaties. We can fight the spread of 
nuclear weapons, but we cannot wish them away with unwise agreements. Republicans in the Senate 
reacted accordingly and responsibly in rejecting the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty." 

"A new Republican president will renew America’s faltering fight against the contagious spread of 
nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as well as their means of delivery. The weak leadership 
and neglect of the administration have allowed America’s intelligence capabilities, including space 
based systems, to atrophy, resulting in repeated proliferation surprises such as Iraq’s renewed 
chemical and biological weapons programs, India’s nuclear weapon test, and North Korea’s test of a 
three-stage ballistic missile. Again in a partnership with the Congress, a new Republican 
administration will give the intelligence community the leadership, resources, and operational 
latitude it requires."

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