WASHINGTON, D.C. -- "It is time for Iraq to take responsibility for the costs and burdens of rebuilding their country," says Libertarian Party National Chairman William Redpath, following a new report from the Government Accountability Office stating that Iraq may have a budget surplus of up to $79 billion dollars.
"Using US taxpayer money to pay for the rebuilding of the infrastructure of another nation is bad enough," says Redpath, "but it is reprehensible and unforgivable when that nation is running a budget surplus while we have a substantial and growing federal budget deficit and a crumbling infrastructure."
The Libertarian Party has been opposed to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq from the beginning. The Party, which stands adamantly opposed to the use of taxpayer money to support functions of the government not defined in the Constitution, has taken special exception to the use of tax revenues to pay for rebuilding foreign nations.
The Party calls for an end to the Iraq war and a withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq without undue delay.
"It's a case of tragic irony," says Libertarian Party spokesperson Andrew Davis. "The American public was told reconstruction efforts in Iraq would be paid for by oil revenues from that country. Now, more than five years later, Americans are shouldering the responsibility of rebuilding Iraq while facing decaying bridges and skyrocketing gas prices."
"Something is very, very wrong with this picture," says Davis.
